You can call it the Sunday scaries, Sunday dread, Sunday blues, or whatever you’d like, but the harsh truth is far too many Americans spend their limited weekend free time stressed out about returning to the office on Monday.
One user came to the popular antiwork community on Reddit to find out work culture had the same negative impact on others.
“Does anyone else hate their toxic job this much? Nightmares and all?” they asked.
1000%
Most users commiserated. Dreading work so much it ruins your weekend is an all too common phenomenon.
“Sunday for me is just full of work dread,” replied one user. “I never sleep well on Sunday nights.”
“Friday night and Saturday morning are full of such potential,” commented another, adding, “Then by Sunday morning, you are worried you wasted your weekend, and then comes the Sunday afternoon existential dread of another week at work.”
Depression Sets in on Sunday Night
Many users used the term Sunday scaries or Sunday blues to describe what OP felt and shared their stories on how the Sunday dread affects them.
“Not until Sunday evening, and then I start feeling depressed,” said one user.
Others said they stay up as late as possible on Sunday night because they don’t want to wake up and go to work on Monday.
“It’s after 11 here, and I’m dreading going to bed because as soon as the alarm goes off, it’s back to h*ll,” replied one user.
Quitting Helps
Many users said not working significantly reduced their Sunday night anxiety.
“The only time in my life I enjoy is the brief window after I’ve quit a job but haven’t run out of money yet,” stated one user.
“I got laid off in October and got a decent severance package. It’s the best!” exclaimed another.
Of course, quitting isn’t a reasonable option for the vast majority of people experiencing work-related depression and anxiety. They need their jobs to survive.
Better Solutions
There are some things we can do to avoid Sunday night blues. As individuals, we can try to get better jobs without toxic managers or stop caring so much about a job that doesn’t care about us.
Unfortunately, most of the problems leading to Sunday scaries are institutional, and there’s not much individuals can do to change it.
However, we can work towards shifting culture. Currently, our toxic work culture elevates work above all else. We can change that and celebrate humanity instead. We can put people and wellness above profits.
In addition, we can shift the way we think about work and schedules. The nine-to-five and forty-hour work week are outdated. With the rise in technology, we no longer need to dedicate most of our time to work.
We can lean into remote work opportunities so people can live where they want and not stress about commutes.
Any of these changes would reduce the impact of Sunday Scaries on people’s personal lives.
It’s time to have these difficult conversations and change how we think about work.
Melanie launched Partners in Fire in 2017 to document her quest for financial independence with a mix of finance, fun, and solving the world’s problems. She’s self educated in personal finance and passionate about fighting systematic problems that prevent others from achieving their own financial goals. She also loves travel, anthropology, gaming and her cats.