Sunday scaries

Last updated January 20, 2026

Sunday scaries, also known as the Sunday syndrome, Sunday blues, Sunday-night dread or Sunday evening feeling, refer to anticipatory anxiety and dread^[1] that may occur on Sundays for employees as the weekend ends and the workweek resumes on Monday.^[2] This feeling may arise from avoidance motivation stress of mental pre^[3]paration for the upcoming week's workload, processing the prior week's workload, and the challenge of maintaining work–life balance.^[4]^[5]

References

↑ Peng, Zhuochao (September 29, 2025). "When Sunday feels blue: A phenomenological study of the "Sunday Blues"". Delft University of Technology. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
↑ Degges-White, Suzanne (October 26, 2015). "Sunday Syndrome: Mourning the Weekend That Got Away". Psychology Today. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
↑ Blum, Dani (June 12, 2024). "Back From Vacation and Still Burned Out". The New York Times .
↑ Heubeck, Elizabeth (April 18, 2024). "Teachers, Tame the 'Sunday Scaries'". Education Week. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
↑ Stone, Lillian (December 26, 2023). "Ten work buzzwords that took over in 2023". BBC. Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.

v t e Critique of work
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v t e Employment
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Benefits	Annual leave Casual Friday Child care Disability insurance Health insurance Life insurance Marriage leave Parental leave Pension By country Perk-cession Sick leave United States Take-home vehicle Well-being washing
Taxes	Payroll tax Tax bracket Income tax Negative Disposable income Salary packaging Unreported employment
Safety and health	Crunch Epilepsy and employment Human factors and ergonomics Karoshi List of countries by rate of fatal workplace accidents Occupational burnout Occupational disease Occupational exposure limit Occupational health psychology Occupational injury Occupational noise Occupational stress Personal protective equipment Repetitive strain injury Right to sit United States Sick building syndrome Work accident Occupational fatality Workers' compensation Workers' right to access the toilet Workplace health promotion Workplace phobia Workplace wellness
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See also	Bullshit job Busy work Credentialism and educational inflation Emotional labor Evil corporation Going postal Kiss up kick down Labor rights Make-work job Narcissism in the workplace Post-work society Presenteeism Psychopathy in the workplace Sunday scaries Slow movement (culture) Toxic leader Toxic workplace Wage compression Working poor Workhouse
See also templates Aspects of corporations Aspects of jobs Aspects of occupations Aspects of organizations Aspects of workplaces Corporate titles Critique of work Organized labor

v t e Emotions (list)
Emotions	Acceptance Admiration Adoration Aesthetic Affection Agitation Agony Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Antipathy Anxiety Apathy Arousal Attraction Awe Belongingness Boredom Calmness Comfort Compassion Confidence Confusion Contempt Contentment Courage Cruelty Curiosity Defeat Depression Desire Disappointment Disgust Distrust Doubt Dysphoria Ecstasy Embarrassment vicarious Emotion work Empathy Emptiness Enthrallment Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Excitement Faith Fear Flow Frustration Fun Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Joie de vivre Hatred self-hatred Hiraeth Homesickness Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Hygge Hysteria Ikigai (sense of purpose) Indulgence Infatuation Insecurity Insignificance Inspiration Interest Irritation Isolation Jealousy Joy Kindness Loneliness Love at first sight limerence obsessive parental passionate and companionate Lust Mono no aware Neglect Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity self-pity Pleasure Pride grandiosity hubris insult vanity Rage Regret Rejection Relaxation Relief Remorse Resentment Revenge Sadness melancholy Saudade Schadenfreude Sehnsucht Sentimentality Shame Shock Shyness Solitude Social connection Sorrow Spite Stress chronic Suffering Surprise Suspense Suspicion Sympathy Trust Wonder sense of wonder Worry Zest
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Italics indicate emotion names in foreign languages Category

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Sunday scaries

See also

References