Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Health, Mental Health, Science
Brenna Cooper
It's a familiar feeling that creeps up on us at the end of every week.
One minute we're enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon, the next we're noticing a familiar sinking feeling seeping in as the sun sets on another week, bringing in the realisation that we're back to the grind for the following five days.
We are, of course, talking about the dreaded 'Sunday scaries' - a phenomenon which has haunted society for as long as anyone can remember.
No one really knows when exactly you begin to feel the 'Monday blues' - as it seems to creep in from the moment your consciousness develops and lasts until your dying day - or what exactly we're supposed to be fearing.
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But it's there, an unwanted staple of every single Sunday.
And for everyone who experiences the Sunday scaries, I've got some bad news for you, as it turns out these unwanted feelings of dread are actually pretty bad for your health.
Known interchangeably as the 'Monday blues' or 'Sunday scaries', the feeling refers to a sense of anticipatory dread which sets in on a Sunday afternoon.
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It's essentially the unwanted sibling of everyone's favourite 'Friday feeling'.
Given the fact that the phenomenon revolves around the Monday to Friday work week, the feeling mainly impacts school-age children and adults whose jobs follow the standard working week.
Although I'd assume the feeling is also shared by shift workers, regardless of whether or not they've spent the weekend working.
Given the fact that it appears in the hours proceeding the start of the week, it's safe to say that work - or being in full time education - is the cause of the dreaded Monday blues.
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It's not all in your head either, as a recent study conducted by the University of Hong Kong revealed that Mondays cause a 'uniquely' biological stress on humans 'regardless of working status'.
The research - published in the Journal of Affective Disorders - reveals that a fear of the working week continues long after we retire as well, with lead author Professor Tarani Chandola explaining: "For some older adults, the week’s transition triggers a biological cascade that lingers for months.
"This isn’t about work - it’s about how deeply ingrained Mondays are in our stress physiology, even after careers end."
And that's not the only bad news, as the Monday blues may be having an adverse impact on your health.
Prolonged periods of stress can have a negative impact on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is responsible for regulating the body's response to stress.
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When the stress hormone cortisol is elevated for prolonged periods of time, it can lead to negative health impacts, such as high blood pressure, fatigue, a weakened immune system and sleep disturbances.
Researchers also discovered that participants had a 23 percent elevation in cortisol levels on a Monday.
Perhaps even more concerning was that Mondays were linked to a 19 percent spike in heart attacks. That's right folks, you're dislike of Monday is potentially increasing your risk of a heart attack.
The study concludes that Mondays were unique in producing heightened amounts of cortisol in participants, with Professor Chandola adding that Mondays function as a 'cultural stress amplifier'.
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Which means not only do we have the working week to stress about every Sunday afternoon, but also the fact that we may also be needlessly stressing ourselves into a heart attack.