Are you suffering from “Post Fallas stress?”

Spring has arrived – Fallas has ended!

So today is the start of Spring and the end of 5 days of craziness in Valencia, Fallas. Well, I say 5 days but the whole of March has been a spectacle of how the Spanish love to celebrate. Big statues, beautiful dresses, and loud booms and bangs almost daily.

Has Fallas stress affected you?

If I’m honest, I started the month off with a little bit of anxiety. This was our first Fallas, and we had heard lots of conflicting things about it.

“You should stay for at least one”, “You’ll not get any sleep…”, “You’ll love it ” , ‘You’ll hate it”, “Oh those fireworks all day and all night”.

The first few weeks weren’t really that bad and I think we got lulled into a false sense of security. It was only when I met a guy on a flight coming back from the UK, and he said: “this isn’t Fallas, you wait until 15th”. This kind of reignited a little bit of fear in me.

As the 15th approached, things began to get a whole lot busier and noisier.

I can honestly say I enjoyed the first 2 days, but 5 days is just a little too much.

So today I’m feeling exhausted both physically and emotionally, and I just wasn’t prepared for it! I’m a therapist, after all, I should know how to deal with this!

What might be the impact of Fallas on our mental health…?

This got me thinking, what is the impact of Fallas on our mental health? And more importantly for anyone struggling with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), anxiety, psychosis and complex issues.

1. Fight or flight mode – As the fireworks got louder and the streets became like a “rat run” in a war zone ( avoiding bangers, fireworks and those thunder things) my body felt like it was in “fight or flight” every time one went off close to me. I could feel my body reacting, automatically, not with any control. My head starting banging, my heart racing, I started sweating and last night I burst into tears. I wanted to run and escape. I guess my mind and body were telling me it felt unsafe.
2. Sleep – we are lucky we weren’t subjected to partying every night. But we could hear the fireworks. Our sleep was impaired. I would say that Saturday and last night were the worst. I think it was a case of anticipating that something would happen, therefore being both physically and psychologically unable to get into a deep sleep.
3. Anxiety – I noticed I started to avoid going out a certain way or a certain time of the day. I felt anxious about the crowds and became a little hyper-vigilant and got easily startled.

This state of mind is known as hyperarousal.

1. Hyperarousal often leads to:

• irritability
• angry outbursts
• sleeping problems
• difficulty concentrating

Other symptoms I suffered…..

• I’ve had a constant headache for about 4 days.
• A runny nose – I guess its the pollution in the city from all the “smog”
• Feeling of being “spaced out” and not quite feeling connected.
• Definitely a “cant be bothered ” attitude
• And stomach problems

What helped?

• Taking a siesta in the late afternoon
• Eating healthy food
• Going to the beach and getting out of the city
• Walking in the park – it was surprisingly therapeutic
• Practicing Mindfulness
• Yoga

Finally ……

So we’ve survived Fallas and had the privilege of witnessing a stunning and original fiesta, that even some of my Spanish friends have never experienced. I’ve stood next to Valencians and practiced my Spanish whilst waiting for the fireworks – we both agreed that “Valencia es la mejor ciudad del mundo “

But tonight, it’s back to normality – I’m going to be kind to myself, I am cooking some nice food, putting my jammies on and watching Netflix. I only wish I could have a nice long bath! No bath but I do live in this great city.

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