It’s not necessarily as easy to distinguish between the two as you might expect. Merly Kammerling explains why the post-festive slump is a complex phenomenon.
If you’re tired, learn to rest, not quit,” is a quote that feels especially pertinent in January. As bars recover from a frenzied run-up to Christmas and the New Year and appetites for merrymaking abruptly – and literally – dry up, I find myself in one of the busiest months of the year. Clients who come to see me for a therapeutic session are most likely feeling emotions ranging from numb, depressed and exhausted to bored, panicked, anxious, and generally ruminating about life.
These feelings are very common in January; there tend to be fewer things to do and more time for just being, which makes many of us feel uncomfortable. And, despite the January Blues being a universal phenomenon, we still tend to forget the logical, circumstantial and physiological reasons why we arrive at the new year feeling so… meh.
Most of us experience a hangover in those early days of January, regardless of whether we drink booze or not. There’s a different kind of hangover we are all susceptible to, caused by highly stimulating experiences coupled with an abrupt shift to a less stimulating pace, which results in a temporary mood and energy crash. It’s called a “dopamine hangover”.
Most hospitality workers underestimate the psychological aftermath of working the festive period. The prolonged physical exertion, high pressure, lack of sleep, dealing with demanding customers, as well as some enjoyment here and there (I hope), causes a surge in stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which keep the body in a heightened state of arousal.
Then January swings round and we are likely to be forced to seek out our own stimulation for the most part, rather than have it readily available on tap via a busy environment, constant activity and social interactions. Our brain becomes accustomed to this elevated state of stimulation, and an abrupt transition to a less energising routine can cause a range of complex neurochemical levels to drop, leading to a slump in our mood.
Despite its non-technical and informal name, the dopamine hangover is a term that is 100 times more relevant to all of us than Blue Monday (the third Monday in January, created in 2005 as a marketing gimmick by a travel company to encourage people to book holidays).
We would be much better off normalising the dopamine hangover as a more relevant and evidence-based cultural concept.
See negative emotions and restlessness as crucial cues for your brain and body to rest and restore. A temporary dip in mood is your brain and body trying to rebalance. The same self-care activities apply as with a normal hangover: sleep, good food, staying hydrated, gentle movement and creating a sensory-friendly environment. And, like my clients, just being able to talk about and reflect on the craziness of the previous year helps join the dots and normalise the contrast of life’s highs and lows, in a neurochemical sense.
Suppose we can be more accepting and caring towards ourselves in those first few days of January, and in the throes of the dopamine hangover? The knock-on effect of taking the dopamine hangover more seriously could be that it sets us up to feel more replenished and resilient towards the broader notion of the January blues.
Merly is an integrative therapist and mental-wellbeing-in-the-workplace trainer @wellandbeinglondon.