Monday anxiety linked to long-term stress and heart health risks in older adults
Anyone who goes to school or work on weekdays and has weekends off has probably felt anxious on Sunday nights, thinking, 'Monday is just around the corner.' A study led by Tarani Chandra of the University of Hong Kong suggested that the psychological experience of 'Monday anxiety' puts stress on the body and may contribute to long-term health problems.
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Study finds 'Anxious Mondays' linked to long-term stress and heart health risks in older adults
https://www.psypost.org/study-finds-anxious-mondays-linked-to-long-term-stress-and-heart-health-risks-in-older-adults/
A paper published in June 2025 in the Journal of Affective Disorders, an academic journal on emotional disorders , by a research team from the University of Hong Kong explored why Mondays seem to be associated with worsening health, based on past research that has shown an increase in heart attacks, strokes, and even suicides at the beginning of the week. According to the paper, although some researchers have pointed out that the transition from the weekend to the start of the week can cause stress and anxiety and put a strain on the body's systems, there is limited research evidence linking this idea to biological changes in stress hormones.
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The researchers used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a large-scale project that collects health and lifestyle information from adults over the age of 50 in England, to analyze psychological surveys and biological samples from more than 3,500 people. Participants answered on a 10-point scale how anxious they felt the day before a particular day of the week, and also had their hormone levels of cortisol and cortisone, two hormones produced in the body in response to stress, measured from hair samples.
The results showed that people who reported feeling anxious on Mondays tended to have significantly higher cortisol levels than those who reported feeling anxious on other days of the week. In particular, among people in the top 10% of overall cortisol levels, those who felt anxious on Mondays had hormone levels that were about 23% higher than those of the same age who felt anxious on other days of the week.
Chronic stress causes excess cortisol production in the body, which can lead to problems with heart health, metabolism and immune function, so if you find yourself dreading Mondays, continued stress could be putting you at increased long-term health risk.
An important point of the study is that the association between anxiety and elevated cortisol levels was not observed on other days of the week. For example, people who reported feeling anxious every Wednesday did not show any long-term elevation in stress hormone levels compared to people who felt anxious on Mondays. The researchers concluded that 'these findings highlight that Mondays pose a unique psychological burden for many people, regardless of their daily routines and responsibilities.'
Many people also believe that Monday anxiety is caused by the end of the holidays and the start of work or school. However, the study also looked at whether employed people were more affected by Monday anxiety than retired people, and found no significant difference between the two groups. The researchers point out that 'Monday-related stress may not simply be attributable to returning to work, but may reflect broader psychological associations with the start of the week.'
It should be noted that this study is an observational study using a wide range of survey data, so it does not prove that feeling anxious on Mondays directly increases stress hormone levels. In addition, the data used in the study was from a single sample, and more specific samples, such as changes in individual hormone levels, were not recorded. In future studies, if the cause of anxiety on Mondays is not the start of work or school, the research team aims to understand why some people feel more anxious and others are resistant, and what habits and personality traits protect people from these stresses.
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