Almost three quarters of Irish workers suffer 'Sunday Night Fear'

A leading psychologist is calling on workers in Cavan to reclaim their weekends and create new experiences as new research finds that almost three quarters of Irish workers are affected by ‘Sunday Night Fear’ and dread the working week ahead, with almost one in five experiencing it every week.

The wake-up call comes as a survey finds that local workers are having unfulfilling weekends, meaning that they get to Sunday night feeling dissatisfied and uneasy, with females aged under 34 most affected. The majority of workers say they feel the weekend goes too quickly. Other fear factors include the feeling of not having had enough excitement or adventure in the weekend.

Commenting on the research findings, Psychologist Allison Keating said: “This new research shows that workers in Cavan want more excitement and adventure from their weekends, yet two thirds of Irish workers admit they spend their weekends doing household chores or other menial tasks, such as shopping (40%) or preparing for the week ahead (22%). With some planning, some of these activities could be tackled during the week to ensure you make the most of your weekends and break up your routine so that you feel more positive on a Sunday night.”

“It is vitally important for our wellbeing to ensure we switch off and take a well-deserved break and avoid having the same monotonous weekend by giving ourselves something to look forward to, such as a weekend break away. Many of us can relate to the rut of being busy, but this is very wearing on us mentally. We need to feed our senses and have some fun to re-charge the batteries to be more productive during the week.

'By filling the weekend with new experiences, we create new memories and this alters our perception of time - we actually feel that the weekend is longer, which ultimately helps keep those feelings of working week dread at bay.”

The research was conducted by VisitScotland, who clearly want readers to recharge by heading east to visit our bonnie neighbours.

When asked how they would rather spend their weekends, Ulster locals say their favourite activities are enjoying the view of dramatic landscapes (46%), enjoying local cuisine (38%), visiting a new city (38%) or visiting historical places and landmarks (30%). Almost a quarter of Ulster locals (23%) want to visit somewhere new and feel awestruck.