Post-holiday stress high

The return to work after Spring Festival is a difficult transition for most Chinese as they return to the daily grind after seven days of eating and relaxing with family and friends.

According to an online poll on Sina micro blog, 65 percent of participants selected "sleepy, fatigued and lazy" from a multiple-choice list of 10 feelings people have after Spring Festival.

Some 48 percent of the more than 1,000 participants reported "fear of resuming work".

The list of syndromes includes sleeplessness, which 45 percent selected; weight gain, 33 percent; depression, 33 percent; and sickness caused by extensive Internet surfing, 33 percent."I just can't shift from the holiday schedule to the working schedule," said netizen Qingqing 112 on the micro blog.

"What a torturing experience it is to work when the firecrackers are still sounding."

Another netizen named Cuo Wenxing said he felt uncomfortable and could not even laugh on his first day to work.

"My brain feels like it's filled with paste. I want to say 'Strike! Strike! Strike!'"

Examining the reasons why people agonize over their return to work, another poll on the Tencent micro blog found that 4,154 respondents, or 28.38 percent, selected "bad mood", and 4,078 chose "high pressure".

Another 2,611 people said they were bummed about going back to work because they want to go travel, and 948 people said they are "ill" by Sunday afternoon.

"I don't want to see people I dislike. I don't want to do things I hate," posted netizen Stubborn Baby, adding "eating as many homemade dumplings as possible in Spring Festival is genuine happiness".

Xia Xiaomi, a university lecturer from Wuhan, posted that it is bleak to think how "everything will go back to a routine that repeats again and again".

Many netizens also voiced their unwillingness to leave family and friends whom they rarely see during a year.

Du Hanqi, a therapist with MindCare Counseling Service, said the post-holiday syndromes are becoming more pronounced because competition is escalating in China.

"People have the best excuse - Spring Festival - to neglect whatever problem they may have and find a spiritual shelter over the holiday but only temporarily."

"They have to face the issues once they come back," Du said, explaining the root of the post-holiday pressure.

She added that people eating and resting irregularly during the holiday could cause new problems.

"Finally, many find themselves unexpectedly fatigued and their holiday plans ruined. That makes them even more frustrated."

Doctors suggest that appropriate exercise and a healthy diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruits would help ease the syndromes, she said.