Back to School-itis

If you’re in England, you can’t fail to have noticed it’s back-to-school time, as evidenced by the plethora of ads for uniforms, stationary and the like.

For the rugrats, this is followed by the whole transition from long, sunny play-days to grey, rainy endless days of getting your soul sucked out by a bunch of thankless tasks. Or am I projecting?

For some kids, going back to school at the end of a long lazy summer can be traumatic. Anticipating a new teacher, classmates, grade, or school can trigger fear, anxiety, and depression - not to mention very real physical symptoms such as stomach aches, headaches, and insomnia. One doctor highlights various reasons for school-related anxiety, including fear of the unknown, academic pressure, social concerns, separation from family, routine changes, or past negative school experiences. He explained that while anxiety is a normal human response, it could affect sleep, appetite, mood, and school attendance if not addressed.

For some of us, this childhood pattern gets set and we never quite get over it, manifesting as weekend-itis, Sunday evening-itis, or my favourite, the Sunday scaries. I was surprised by how many articles I found on the subject, one blogger said "Mondayitis; back-to-work or school blues; the post-holiday comedown – these feelings snap at our heels on a Sunday night throughout life, whether children are in the picture or not."
Another said "Ever since I was a kid, I get a feeling of depression, emptiness and anxiety on Sunday nights. I think its pretty clear why, Monday, work and stress are coming the next day."

My own memories of Sunday evening go way back to being six years old, sitting under the hairdryer hood (which hung off the door because the stand broke), and definitely feeling unsettled. The thin-sandwich engineering degree had us alternating between terms at college and work placements, and I distinctly remember coming the closest I've been to anxious at uni, every time we swapped from one to the other. That is apart from taking exams, when I got so nervous I had to go in early to chuck up before it started.

I was okay through most of the 23 years writing software, apart from the three times I returned from a 6-month maternity leave. Now, of course, being retired means I'll never have to face those kind of stresses again.