Recently, as the weather gradually warms, many people find their mental state is not ideal. They feel drowsy as soon as they arrive at work in the morning, are not in the right state for work, and need a good nap at noon. Many wonder: Am I sick? Is spring sleepiness really that severe? What causes spring sleepiness? Which groups are more prone to it? What methods can be used to get rid of spring sleepiness?
Wu Jinfafa, Director of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Zhongshan Hospital, states that spring sleepiness is mainly related to disharmony in weather, work, diet, sleep, and exercise. Among these, eating hot pot and using air conditioning can be considered two major culprits. Spring sleepiness indicates that the body has developed adverse symptoms such as lung yin deficiency, lung dryness-heat, damp phlegm, liver yang rising, and kidney yin deficiency. Consuming too many "hot-natured" foods, such as spicy, fried, and grilled foods, dog meat, lamb, alcohol, and hot pot, can easily lead to stomach fire rising, causing swollen and painful eyes, a swollen face, and in severe cases, a flushed complexion, and even heart fire rising. Internal fire affects a person's mental state and work mood, leading to problems like fatigue, drowsiness, insomnia, dizziness, and lack of concentration at work. Additionally, the effects of hot pot and air conditioning cannot be ignored. Many hot pot bases contain highly "hot-natured" traditional Chinese medicines. Consuming them not only easily causes liver yang rising and lung dryness-heat but also means that when similar traditional Chinese medicines are needed in the future, higher doses will be required.
Many homes or office buildings use air conditioning in sealed environments, causing the concentration of harmful gases like carbon dioxide in the air to become too high, which can also aggravate spring sleepiness symptoms. In an office building, if 20% of people show symptoms such as drowsiness, yawning, difficulty keeping their eyes open, flushed face, tearing in the wind, or hair loss, the air conditioning should be turned off.