London: The long holiday break of Christmas combined with the New Year will leave many suffering from a ‘social jet lag’, scientists have said.
They said that the festive break wreaks havoc with our body clocks and leaves them with symptoms similar to having travelled to a different time zone.
Plus feeling down and out as the holiday gets over could leave many with negative emotions, and two weeks of irregular sleeping patterns could lead workers to feel tired and lacklustre.
‘Social jet lag’ manifests itself in the struggle to get up in the morning, feeling sluggish, finding it a difficult to fall asleep at night and feeling sleepy during the day.
Other symptoms include indigestion, loss of appetite, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, clumsiness, feeling generally unwell, lack of energy, fatigue and irritability.
“Over the Christmas period we will enjoy staying up late at night and staying in bed in the morning. However, this will allow our body clock to drift later in time similar to flying a couple of time zones west,” the Daily Mail quoted Dr Victoria Revell, a researcher from the University of Surrey, as saying.
“This means that when we go back to work in the New Year our body clock will be set later than we want it to be so we will really struggle to wake up, get up and get going in the mornings.
“One way to enjoy the festive season but not let our body clock drift too far is to ensure that we still get up at a reasonable time even when not going to work.”
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.