The Let-Down Effect: When De-Stressing Makes You Sick
Psychology Today | 13.04.2026 09:30
Twenty-five years have passed since I first described the syndrome I later called The Let-Down Effect in my book When Relaxation Is Hazardous to Your Health (2001). At the time, the relationship of stress and illness had been well established. What had not been discussed was the relationship between relaxation and illness, and the Let- Down Effect was not even a searchable term in Google. Today, however, the idea resonates with many people who recognize a familiar pattern in their own lives: They become ill, exhausted, or emotionally depleted not during stressful periods, but immediately after the pressure lifts and they begin to relax.
