People returning from a long holiday might experience fatigue, insomnia, drowsiness and a poor appetite, a psychiatrist has said, offering tips on avoiding post-holiday syndrome following the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday.
Tainan Municipal An-Nan Hospital psychiatrist Chang Chun-hung (張俊鴻) said that many of his patients have asked him why their health and mood seem to worsen after a long vacation, even though they spent their time relaxing.
The way people spend their holiday often plays a critical role, Chang said.
Many people eat and drink more than usual, and stay up late watching television or playing games, which can destabilize their blood sugar levels and circadian rhythms, he said, adding that this can induce anxiety and irritability.
People with post-holiday syndrome might also experience body aches, a rapid heartbeat, tightness in the chest, headaches, anxiety, inattention, irritability and mild depression, he added.
To avoid the syndrome, people should plan their schedules for before and after the holiday, and maintain regular necessary tasks, Chang said.
Those who need to take medication should continue to do so on a regular schedule and not skip any doses, he added.
People should engage in leisure activity in moderation, and spend at least a half-day before the end of the holiday to stabilize their mood, he said.
Chang recommended six psychiatric techniques to ease back into daily life:
People can talk about their feelings with friends or family, plan for their next vacation or recall happy memories to encourage themselves to keep moving forward, he said, adding that they should get enough sleep, avoid eating or drinking too much, and regularly engage in moderate exercise.
If symptoms persist after trying these techniques, they should consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, Chang said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS