Students and teachers agree: The “August scaries” are painfully real

As summer nears its end, TikTokers are feeling the end-of-season dread and gloom to the point that they’ve dubbed it the “August scaries.” It’s the same deal as the Sunday scaries—students and teachers alike can feel the end of their break on the horizon, and it’s bringing them down.

What are the August scaries?

Average workers with your typical Saturday-Sunday weekends have long spoken of the Sunday scaries—the anxiety and depression they get from knowing they have to go back to work in the morning. It’s a common problem among those who hate their jobs, which encompasses far too many people.

@lmoneyy222 #endofsummer #august #brucespringsteen #fypシ ♬ I’m On Fire – Bruce Springsteen

School is often no picnic either, especially in the U.S. Plus, everyone knows that American teachers have one of the toughest, least appreciated jobs in the country. On top of that, summer is a rather popular season in general. That’s why you might have started hearing about the August scaries this month.

The dread felt at the end of the summer can be so much more intense than the Sunday scaries because a nearly three-month vacation is far longer than a weekend.

That’s why the term “August scaries” is blowing up on TikTok right now.

@hollieandsomehobbies
not letting the summer scaries catch me this August!!!!!🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️
♬ original sound – hollie’s hobbies

“I swear, every year when July turns to August, I get so sad,” said TikToker @hollieandsomehobbies. “I get the summer scaries, and I’m just so panicky that summer feels like it’s coming to a close.”

@lovinglylight August is the month version of the Sunday scaries and I’ll never be convinced otherwise. I just need about one more month of summer break. It went by too fast for my liking. #educatorsoftiktok #backtoreality #teachersbelike #educatorlife #teacherstruggles ♬ original sound – Rosario cannata

“August is the month version of the Sunday scaries and I’ll never be convinced otherwise,” wrote educator @lovinglylight.

It’s not just on TikTok. The phrase also spread among summer fans on X.

“August is like Sunday and also grief,” said @cbcradio2. “It’s kind of just a vibe. I wouldn’t expect most people to get it.”

User @yuuiichive also called August “the Sunday of the year…things shifting and changing, time slipping, the past coming to the forefront… everything covered in nostalgia and indecipherable grief but also late afternoon sunlight and quiet acceptance.”

User @netcapgirl summed it up simply as “august is the sunday of months.”

How to beat the August scaries

The solutions to the August scaries should be the same as those for the Sunday version, though you might need to apply them harder. For the Sunday scaries, psychotherapist Gina Simmons Schneider, Ph.D. offered some techniques she recommends to her patients.

A lot of people need the help.

“The American Psychological Association found that 76 percent of those surveyed felt that workplace stress negatively impacted their mental health,” she wrote.

These three mental skills can help stave off those weekly or yearly blues:

Think of your anxiety as a useful signal and listen to it. If you’re feeling stressed, maybe your vacation needs to be more restful. If you’re nervous, maybe you can do something to prepare for the upcoming school year.
Practice “present-moment awareness.” Use deep breathing and meditation to keep yourself out of the future and in the here and now.
Stop judging yourself for how you feel. Getting down on yourself for experiencing the August scaries only compounds the problem. Try practicing gratitude for your body’s signals instead, and take care of yourself.