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Interesting article from USA today
Sure, vacations can be hazardous to your
health: Beachgoers get sunburned, campers get poison ivy, air travelers
get headaches. But stay home, as record numbers may be doing this
summer, and your health could suffer much more.
"Vacation deprivation," as it has been dubbed by
Expedia.com, has been spreading for years as Americans' vacations get
shorter or are skipped entirely. But this year's high travel costs,
flying hassles and spooky economy may be creating a "perfect storm"
that keeps people hunkered down as never before, says Geoffrey Godbey,
professor emeritus in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism
Management at Pennsylvania State University.
•More heart disease and death. Middle-aged men
who were at high risk of heart disease were 20% less likely to die of
any cause and 50% less likely to die of a heart attack over nine years
if they took frequent vacations, a study published in 2000 in the
journal Psychosomatic Medicine found.
•Poorer sleep. People not only sleep better during vacations, but they also keep sleeping better afterward, some studies show.
•More tension, depression, fatigue and marital
strain, at least for women, according to one study of 1,500 women in
rural Wisconsin, published in 2005 by researchers from the Marshfield
(Wis.) Clinic.
"Vacation is not a frill," says Joe Robinson, a
life coach and author who founded Work to Live, a group that advocates
for more leisure time.
