The Sunday dread: when the fear of Monday morning feels more than just not liking your job

Rhian Seymour

Oct 4

6 min read

A woman stretching after a run as later afternoon light shines behind her. Counselling for work anxiety and Sunday dread online and in Marlow.

The Sunday dread and the fear of work on Monday

That Sunday dread and the fear of work on Monday is a really tough one to experience and to navigate.

It might start around 4pm on a Sunday, or maybe earlier? And it's a feeling that's been running underneath everything you've been trying to enjoy all day. It's there before you've even had chance to name it. That tight, feeling in your chest, or just a 'meh' feeling bubbling away. It's an awareness that the alarm is going to be set for tomorrow, that the meeting you've been dreading is first thing, or the inbox has got the things that weren't done on Friday waiting for you to sort. And all of this is sat in between back to back meetings or more work piling up...Eurgh.

This is the Sunday dread, the Sunday scaries, or one of my personal favourites I used to use when I was in the corporate depths of this myself, was the Sunday Sh*tshow. And something I've learnt about this from my own personal experiences and as a therapist, is that it's not really about Monday. Especially, if this feeling is happening so often.

What the Sunday dread actually is

Sunday dread, is more often than not, the anxiety or low mood that creeps in as the weekend ends and the working week approaches. It could be around the stress or impact that work brings, or the anticipation of this and it's a common experience.

According to The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures for 2024 to 2025, there are 1.9 million working people in the UK suffering from a work-related illness, of which 964,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This to me, is equally shocking, yet unsurprising. And I name these numbers because it seems there are so many of us feeling this way or have felt this way before. That unbelievable difficulty to feel present on life outside of work, where Sunday evenings have become one of the hardest parts of the week, because you know it's going to start all over again in a few hours. Where your body wishes so deeply it's Friday evening again.

Why this time of the year can make this feel harder

There's something about autumn and October that somehow makes this feel even harder. The darker afternoons drawing in and summer over. The year turning toward its end, which seems to bring with it a need for us to account where things are. Kind of confronting us in a way to look at things we might not want to. I don't know about you, but I certainly feel this more in October? (Maybe it's the cultural permission of Halloween to acknowledge what frightens me)?!

When it's more than not liking Mondays

I question I sat with for a while when I was struggling with stress (and burnout was on the horizon for me) in my previous corporate career, was 'what exactly is this trying to tell me?' It allowed me to really ask myself and reflect on what was causing this dread so much and what had I been ignoring...was it a difficult relationship, was it a project, was it the workload...But what I did find so hard in answering this question was, it was so difficult to locate one specific thing.

Once I asked that question, it felt like everything. The pressure I was putting on myself (and the pressure from others), the increasing workload, the experience that above and beyond just became the norm, the constant change in direction and needing to mask through every day for the sake of my team and being a 'leader'. Something didn't fit anymore for me and towards the end, it was a realisation that it never quite did. It was a sense that I just could never quite catch up, despite sacrificing everything else around work in my life.

Many of the amazing and courageous clients I have and do work with in therapy, have similar experiences and describe a version of this too. A job they worked hard to get, that looks great on the outside, that other people reference admiringly and yet, not just every Sunday, their body is saying otherwise. Not always loudly, sometimes more subtle signs.

What the dread was telling me and what it might be telling you

After I sat with the question above for a while and spoke about it in my own therapy, it became clear to me just how much I tied my worth to productivity and work. Being the capable, reliable one. The one who holds it all together professionally, became part of of how I knew I was 'enough'. The dread of work wasn't just about the job for me, it was about what the job had been holding in place as well. And it had worked for a long time, until it didn't...And that weight of holding up work to my worth, became too heavy to carry when it never felt quite good enough.

It wasn't just about my own worth tied to work, it was the environment there that felt familiar. And despite that environment not being healthy for me, I stayed because it felt safer than the unknown. In my mind, it was better to stay at a place that wasn't serving me, and at the very least know what I was getting. Even through all the dread of working each day, than to leave and not have the stability of the known.

And I'm also not saying that this is the same experience for you and it might feel a completely different kind of dread. Yet dread, like all feelings we'd rather not have, is information. It doesn't need to be a verdict or instruction to quit or move your life in a totally different direction...Just information. I can point somewhere. A signal that doesn't feel right for you. And it doesn't need an answer today or anytime soon...You don't even need to do anything with the dread right now except to notice it. I find it helps just to get curious about it rather than pushing through it one more week as though it wasn't there...I had many many weeks like this too.

What can shift if we listen to the dread...

The Sunday dread absolutely doesn't dissolve overnight. And I want to highlight that sitting with it also doesn't mean your whole week immediately changes. I find what shifts with time, and the right space to explore it, is your relationship with what that dread is telling you. To notice that your own voice is worth listening to, rather than seeing it as a discomfort or inconvenience to manage and push away. You can begin to understand what's underneath it. And slowly but surely, that understanding starts to lead somewhere that feels meaningful to you.

This might not be away from the job. Sometimes it can be a different relationship with it. Towards recognising perhaps what hasn't been working for you. Maybe towards a sense of self that doesn't need to depend quite so completely on performing or putting on a mask for Monday morning.

Counselling can be a place to look at this together. So you have someone who is with you on that journey to figuring out what the Sunday dread means for you and what it might be saying. I'm Rhian, and I'm a counsellor who's been on this journey too, who can support with areas like this. As well as if you find you're your own worst critic, support with people-pleasing and work stress or burnout. If you'd like to find out more and book in for a free 20 minute chat to see whether working with me feels right for you, you can get in touch on my homepage here.

Frequently asked questions about the Sunday dread or work anxiety

What are the Sunday scaries?

Sunday scaries, or Sunday dread can be the anxiety or low mood that builds as the weekend ends and the working week approaches. For some people, this can feel mild and fleeting and it's a common experience. For others, its a persistent and heavy feeling that can speak to something deeper about their relationship with work, stress or their sense of self.

Why do I get so anxious on Sunday evenings?

Sunday evening anxiety can often reflect the anticipation of the week ahead. And if it's constant and heavy, it can signal something significant. When the dread arrives every week without fail, it's worth asking curiously, what it might be pointing towards, rather than pushing through and ignoring it.

Is Sunday dread a sign of burnout?

It can be. If it feels consistent, particularly accompanied with other feelings and symptoms such as exhaustion and tiredness that doesn't go away with sleep, feelings of overwhelm, disconnection or numbness, it can be a sign that burnout is building. Everyone experiences burnout differently, so it can be worth pausing and paying attention to.

Can counselling help with work anxiety and the Sunday dread?

Yes, counselling can offer a space to explore what might be underneath the dread for you in a kind and compassionate way. And a place where someone will actively listen to your own experiences and feelings. You don't have to know where to begin with any of this to start counselling. I offer counselling online across the UK and in-person in Marlow.