Why you’re always anxious on a Monday, and it’s health risks

A new study has found there could be long term implications on your mental and physical health from a “phenomenon” caused by working.

In news that should come as no surprise to anyone with a job, the Monday Blues aren’t great for your health.

Not to be confused with its older, scarier sibling, the Sunday Scaries, the Monday Blues describes that feeling of dread you have starting another working week.

Not only do you have to return to work after a two-day break, but you’re still five days away from your next respite.

Now, a study has shown that feeling jittery as the week kicks off isn’t just a mood – it leaves a biochemical footprint and drives long-term stress across the body.

Monday Blues are linked to long term stress. Picture: iStock

Monday scaries linked to higher stress hormones

The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, found that older adults who get that pang of anxiety on a Monday have significantly higher long-term stress hormone levels up to two months later.

And here’s the kicker. Even after you leave the workforce and retire, that almost automatic feeling of anxiousness on a Monday will still haunt you – showing a deep-rooted link between the start of the working week and dysregulation of the body’s natural stress response system, which is a known driver of heart disease.

A new study has shown that the so-called ‘Monday Scaries’ cause dyregulation to the body’s natural stress response, a known driver of heart disease. Picture: iStock

Unlikely to be random, researchers say

Researchers, including those from the University of Hong Kong, analysed data from more than 3500 adult participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Older adults in the study who experienced anxiety on Mondays showed nearly 25 per cent higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their hair samples.

This suggests increased cumulative stress over two months compared to those reporting anxiety on different days.

Alarmingly, Mondays are linked to a nearly 20 per cent spike in heart attacks.

“The increase in (cardiovascular) events on Mondays is unlikely to be a random phenomenon,” the researchers said.

Scientists suspect that the body’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which manages stress hormones such as cortisol, may be involved.

The study found this effect in people who were retired as well. Picture: iStock

Prolonged elevation of the HPA axis is associated with hypertension, insulin resistance, and immune system problems.

“This study found strong evidence for an association between reporting anxiety on Mondays and HPA-axis dysregulation,” the researchers explained.

“The anxious Monday association with HPA-axis dysregulation measured subsequently was evident among both working and nonworking older adults, with no reduction in the association among those not at work,” they wrote.

‘This isn’t about work’

Previous studies indicated higher stress hormone levels during weekdays compared to weekends, but the newest research is the first to identify Mondays as particularly disruptive.

“For some older adults, the week’s transition triggers a biological cascade that lingers for months. This isn’t about work – it’s about how deeply ingrained Mondays are in our stress physiology, even after careers end,” Tarani Chandola, one of the authors of the study, said.

Researchers hope that addressing Monday-specific stressors could reveal new ways to fight heart disease in ageing populations.

Originally published as Why you’re always anxious on a Monday, and it’s health risks