According to a recent US Travel Association study, Americans are vacationing less today than they did 15 years ago, often wasting earned vacation days. Seventy percent of the survey’s respondents admitted to choosing work over kids’ activities, birthdays and vacation time. Yet in the same survey, 73 percent indicated they realized spending time with family makes life richer and more meaningful. Notice the paradox?

Expedia’s 2015 Vacation Deprivation Survey showed a stark difference between European and American attitudes toward vacations. According to the survey, the median number of paid vacation days worldwide is just under 25 days per year. Collectively, workers take about 20 of them, leaving 20 percent unused. Americans receive 15 to 40 percent fewer days than the global average and take only 11, leaving 27 percent unused. By contrast, the Germans, Spanish and French each get double the vacation days and use all 30.

In the same survey, however, 49 percent of Americans indicated they would give up alcoholic drinks for a full week for a single extra day of vacation. Forty-seven percent would avoid social media for a week, 40 percent would give up coffee for a week, and 26 percent would give up sex! Notice the paradox?

Why not just take the vacation days you’ve earned, America?

American experts in business, psychology and health all agree with the European attitude that vacation time isn’t trivial. It’s essential for your work performance and your physical and mental health. Given this consensus, here are give signs that you need to stop being a vacation martyr, and give yourself (and your family) the time off you’ve earned:

1. You’re experiencing health issues. If you’re dealing with issues of pain and inflammation, or headaches and upset stomach, your body is trying to tell you something, according to recent medical findings. Excessive stress, negative work environments, and the hurdles you face every day in order to complete your work are correlated to these types of health issues, which can develop into more serious conditions or diseases if left unchecked.

2. You are having sleep issues. If you’re feeling tired and fatigued during the day, or if you aren’t able to get a complete restful night’s sleep, this expression of burnout is often a result of being overworked. A 2007 study from the University of Georgia revealed that people who believed they were overworked were more likely to have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and spending more time in the restorative part of their sleep cycle.

3. You are becoming less effective or counterproductive at work. The chronic stress that can result from working too much and relaxing too little often results in workplace errors. For those of you vacation martyrs who forgo the time off to impress your bosses with your dedication, consider balancing that against the risk of making more mistakes. Even worse, too much stress can lead to cynical and abrasive behaviors that can rub your colleagues the wrong way and get you fired.

4. You are overreacting to little problems. Got a bill in the mail with a $15 charge that shouldn’t be there? If you’re feeling furious as you’re navigating the company’s automated call system, or if you’re having more incidences of minor road rage, these are signs that you’re at your boiling point. The best way to simmer down might be with your toes in the sand and a margarita in hand.

5. You’re resorting to alcohol as an escape. If you’re having just one glass of wine before going to bed, when you never did this before you started feeling overworked, there’s a correlation. Many people use even small amounts of alcohol as coping mechanisms instead of addressing the underlying problem. You don’t need that drink, unless it’s at a water bar on the shores of Puerto Rico.

We often hear of the “French paradox.” The French have low obesity and coronary heart disease rates in spite of their high intake of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. It’s a mystery no more.

Consider the American vacation paradox and its likely relationship to the higher prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and other diseases and the reason for the French paradox becomes clearer: The French offset the health risks of their fatty diets by taking 30 vacation days each year. If you thought they were just lucky, think again. If you don’t, you could be foreclosing on a longer, happier and more productive life.