Why 81% of People Get Depressed About Going to Work on Monday
The “Sunday Scaries” Are Yet Another Symptom of the Meaning Crisis at Work
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Me: What’s up with you? You seem off…
Her: Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just the Sunday Scaries.
Me: The what…?
Her: The Sunday Scaries. I’m just having an existential crisis about going back to work.
What Is Sunday Depression?
One survey found more than 80% ‘became progressively more anxious as their restful Sunday came to a close.’
Nearly two-thirds reported a restless night’s sleep Sunday night.
Psychologists call it “anticipatory anxiety.”
But the rest of us call it Sunday Depression or the Sunday Scaries.
The Real Cause of Sunday Depression
CNN: “It’s not because they don’t like their jobs…”
Like hell, it isn’t!
Do you know what people call anxiety about something they like? Excitement!
Do you know what people call anxiety about something that matters? Nothing, because they don’t bother complaining at all. It’s worth it.
It’s actually worse than just “not liking” your job. It’s that you find no meaning and no purpose in the thing you spend one-third of your life doing.
Even in the case of, say, a therapist, who believes in her work, sees the amount of money she gets paid, compared to the amount siphoned off by her corporate overlords, and the amount of time she spends jumping through bureaucratic hoops and can’t help but ask, “Why the fuck don’t I just do this myself?”
That’s the Meaning Crisis at Work and it’s growing…
5 Symptoms of the Meaning Crisis at Work
- First, there was the Great Resignation — In 2021 alone, 47 million people quit their jobs. People weighed the cost-benefit of showing up to a meaningless job amid a global pandemic and decided to stay home, switch jobs, or strike out on their own.
- Then, Work From Home, the Great Migration…
