Immunity by Dr Jenna Macciochi

Author:Dr Jenna Macciochi [Macciochi, Jenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-02-03T22:45:04+00:00

HAVE YOU GOT LEISURE SICKNESS …

A Dutch research group coined the term ‘leisure sickness’ in 2001 to describe the supposed phenomenon in which certain people, particularly workers under pressure, fall ill as soon as they take a break. A number of explanations have been put forward to explain this so-called ‘leisure sickness’, each with a common red thread: stress!

The pre-holiday build-up with its associated increased workload and preparations, particularly for people in high-pressure jobs/lives, inflicts a psychological stress. We may be more susceptible to catching an infection in those stressful weeks leading up to a holiday, but if the immune system is also constantly being signalled by cortisol to suppress inflammation, we may not see any symptoms. Only when that stress-induced immune suppression lifts – the moment our holidays start – can the immune system provide the familiar symptoms of the lurgy, due to the combination of pathogens living in the body, along with the absence of the anti-inflammatory signal. In other words, you might fall ill before your holiday and only notice it when you start to relax. However, we can’t exclude the possibility that change of routine, sleep patterns, jet lag, food and perhaps more alcohol than normal can also contribute. Even just sitting on an aeroplane a few seats away from someone with a cold can lead to an 80 per cent chance that you will catch it too.

… OR ARE YOU BURNT OUT?

The term ‘burnout’ was coined in the 1970s by American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger and is used to describe the consequences of severe stress in doctors and nurses, or those in care roles who, in helping others, would often end up ‘burnt out’ – exhausted, listless and unable to cope. Nowadays, burnout receives constant media attention. It even made the World Health Organization’s International Class of Diseases as an Occupational Phenomenon in 2019.33 No longer reserved for those in helping professions, or for the dark side of self-sacrificing your free time to care for loved ones, it can affect anyone, from stressed-out careerists and celebrities to overworked employees and homemakers. The term is applied to a set of symptoms, rather than a clearly defined illness. Since my own brush with burnout, I’ve been left wondering: if we are the most knowledgeable species on the planet, why do we get burnout?

SYMPTOMS OF BURNOUT

Strictly speaking there is no such diagnosis as burnout and medical professionals have yet to agree on what it actually is. But it is considered to have a wide range of symptoms:

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