Since human beings are sociable by nature, most people enjoy the company of others, whether it is to enjoy a quiet afternoon at home, have an aperitif on a terrace or give it their all at a party. There are those who wonder how many friends they can have at the same time and who have more than enough with a couple. However, everyone has their own social battery, in some people it has a greater capacity and others, less. Therefore, after a meeting with friends, the so-called social hangover can occur.
During interactions with others, the brain consumes resources, despite the fact that it is a quiet activity or with trusted or very close people. However, then comes a feeling of tiredness and that the body and mind need rest. Although some people are more susceptible than others to this, anyone can suffer from a social hangover.
The first thing to clarify is that it is not about any kind of medical condition. The social hangover is the name given to the state of fatigue that a person experiences after having participated in a social interaction. The reason why it receives this name is because its effects can be reminiscent of a hangover from excessive alcohol. These are physical and psychological fatigue, apathy, irritability, slowness or even difficulties concentrating.
The chances of the social hangover appearing increase in certain cases. One of them is in introverted people, since the effort they must make to socialize, together with the lesser need to do so that they experience, means greater exhaustion for them. So they will also require more time to recover.
The social hangover will also be greater when you have to deal with people who are not pleasant or with whom you do not like. And especially if it is about individuals with toxic personality traits. This will cause more energy to be invested and fatigue to appear much earlier.
Although one of the most frequent reasons for a social hangover has to do with excessive socialization. Periods in which several social commitments arise in a short space of time, or that occur after a long time without social plans. That is why the concept of a social hangover became especially popular after the confinements due to the pandemic.
But there is a case in which the social hangover does have to do with a clinical cause, it is about social phobia. This disorder makes people who suffer from it feel anxious in social gatherings and their exhaustion is much greater and requires more recovery time.
