Going on holiday is no cure for depression

By Johanna Uchtmann Nov 7, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Berlin - Going away on holiday may serve to deepen depression, and anyone discerning signs of psychological illness in themselves while at work should think twice about going on leave.

The head of a German foundation that helps people who suffer from depression, Professor Ulrich Hegerl, says that depression tends simply to travel with the sufferer. 'One experiences the condition as even more painful if one is somewhere far from home.'

He notes that depressives often experience feelings of exhaustion and usually want to sleep a lot in the hope of waking up refreshed the next morning. The truth is that sleep and going away on holiday often have the effect of deepening the feeling of depression.

Alongside the compulsive urge to sleep, general hopelessness and the feeling that one is not able to cope with the normal workload could also be signs of depression.

Symptoms could also include physical factors, such as hearing noises or experiencing headaches or back pain. For this reason patients should always inform their doctors of their psychological difficulties alongside their physical symptoms.

'Depression tends to make all physical problems unbearable, even if one has previously accepted them as a normal part of daily life,' Hegerl says.

Following diagnosis with depression, the patient should under no circumstance give up work while undergoing therapy, the professor says. 'Many patients are happy if they are allowed to continue their daily working life, even if with a considerably reduced workload.'

Overwork is rarely the cause of depression, while major changes in one's life are more likely to trigger it. These could include a loss, or even seemingly positive events such as starting a holiday or passing an exam. 'Sometimes no clear cause is evident at all,' Hegerl says.