The Six Week Slump is a concept I’m very familiar with. On volunteering projects it is common for volunteers working abroad to have a slump in about week 6. It may actually be week 5 or week 7 but in most cases it is pretty much week 6. At this point, some of the psychological adrenaline and novelty has started to wear off a bit, things become a bit harder. The volunteer might get annoyed more quickly than usual or just feel a bit fed up, or angry, or stressed, or anxious, etc. In quite a number of cases, the volunteer doesn’t actually notice this in themselves as it is often a gradual decline. I also noticed this during Covid too, so not just international volunteering.
Often something will happen around then that the volunteer will then think is the reason why they are feeling low (a change in weather; a new team member; a departed team member; a change of food; no bananas at the market; that time of the month; a troubling message from home; a terrible news article; etc). However, in many cases, this will just be the straw that broke the camel’s back – if that thing had happened two weeks earlier, the volunteer probably wouldn’t have thought it much of a problem.
Six-week slumps are common. I’ve experienced them myself on basically every trip I’ve done. I’ve seen them in others. I know to look for them. I know they will pass. I know some of the strategies for mitigating against them and for surviving them. This doesn’t make me immune though!
At All Hands and Hearts, all staff and volunteers have to have a break once a month. Once every 30 days you must spend 3 nights off base. This is essential for preserving good mental health amongst staff and volunteers. Sometimes people go on break with one or more other people, other times people go alone. In either case it is brilliant. Life on project is intense and odd and a bubble and amazing and weird and a Petrie dish and a fishbowl and all sorts of wonderful things. Getting away from it can really help to get some perspective and distance and to get some space. And almost everyone gets at least one comment when they come back from break about how good / fresh / energetic / enthusiastic they look! Most people also say they didn’t know how much they needed the break till they went. As I often say, if you wait till you need the break, it is probably a bit too late (well, not too late, but it would have been better to go earlier).
I’ve been doing a good job of getting away from base quite often to get some coffee shop time, reading time, blogging time, reflection time, etc. Some of this has been alone time and some of it with only one or two others. Both are beneficial for different reasons.
And I’ve had two breaks. My first was in Hetauda over New Year on my own (though I did meet up with others for some meals). The second was to Chitwan where I had four days with another volunteer (though I did still get a lot of much needed time on my own). Both were super lovely.
Despite all this, I still had a six-week slump. Well, a bit. I think. I mean, probably. Everyone does, right?
And, as I’ve just said, I put it down to all sorts of other things: a volunteer who had left and who I really miss; a staff member who was on break who I was also missing; the change in atmosphere (neither good nor bad, just different) resulting from some new arrivals and recent departures; the weather being especially foggy in the mornings; too much shovelling; not enough shovelling; etc; etc; etc.
As usual, having come out the other end of it, I’m pretty sure that it was, in fact, my six-week slump. It was a bit later than usual, 8 weeks. But I think this delay is a product of all the preventative measures I had put in place. It also wasn’t particularly severe (again, I think down to the prevention). I felt a bit down for a few days. I ate a bit more chocolate than usual (but I also remembered to eat more fruit too). So nothing terrible. And I’m already feeling better.
Lessons learned: being aware of the impending slump and taking precautions against it is a really good idea; noticing whenever I’m feeling a bit down and allowing myself to eat chocolate guilt-free but also reminding myself to eat more fruit is another really good idea; knowing that whatever is happening won’t last forever so there’s no reason to get overly worried about it is really helpful.
Take home message for everyone: be kind to yourself, self-care is really important! 
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