BURNING OUT? GO FOR ‘NEW ESCAPISM’ As job stress escalates progressively over the past few decades, new ways of coping with the silent killer emerge

What is New Escapism and Why is it Becoming Popular?

Researchers from Australia’s James Cook University have studied how the concept of ‘new escapism’, where people not only want to stay away from the physical home environment but also disconnect from the digital world of routine work and social life, is changing leisure activity in the West, especially North Europe and North America (Tourism Management, July 2018). Initially upmarket, digital-free holidays have become a broader consumer activity in the past one year

BECAUSE TOO MANY OF US ARE STRESSED AT WORK

Why New Escapism? Simple: with demanding careers, heavy workload, lack of control over job situations, lack of emotional support, longer work hours and fewer vacation days, job burnout is rising and it can severely compromise health. Researchers have found that burnout is associated with high blood pressure and cholesterol, obesity, insomnia, anxiety and coronary heart disease

BECAUSE TOO MANY OF US ARE VACATION DEPRIVED

PAID LEAVE Sweden and Norway: 30–37 days a year Brazil: 30 days UK: 28 days India: 17 days US: 10 days Hong Kong: 7 days

India is the fifth most vacation-deprived country, after South Korea, France, Malaysia and Hong Kong

55% Indians take fewer days than the vacation period they get