What is burnout and the signs of it?

Burnout is a state of mental, emotional and physical exhaustion. It happens when you are in a stressful environment for a prolonged period of time. Most commonly experienced when you are in a job with high levels of workload, stress and pressure, possibly unrealistic targets, challenging colleagues/patients/clients, or even just hating your job - the list is endless. Burnout can also be experienced if you are caring for a sick relative and it’s taking its toll. Perhaps you are being bullied, maybe you’re in a toxic relationship or you’re a frazzled parent. I could go on but all these different types of burnout will have similar symptoms: -

·       Constant and relentless tiredness

·       Demotivation

·       Irritability

·       Inability to concentrate

·       Feeling dissatisfied

·       Lacking in energy

·       The level of care for yourself is going downhill

·       Changes in normal appetite or sleep patterns

·       Getting ill more frequently

·       Every day feels like ground hog day

·       You feel unappreciated

·       Feeling detached from life and people

·       Imposter syndrome might start to set in

·       Using unhealthy ways to cope – food, alcohol, drugs

·       Health issues – headaches, skin, sleep, food or stomach issues, cold sores, ulcers, muscle pains are just to name a few!

 

What does burnout mean to you?

I once asked a client if they were experiencing burn out… and they replied ‘no. I cant burnout’.  I then explored what burnout meant to them and they described a full blown mental breakdown. We then discussed what I would describe as burnout and they then replied - ”Yes then, in those terms I’m burnt out”. So, what burnout means to you can actually be a crucial bit of the jigsaw puzzle of burnout. If you are feeling over half of those bullet points above, I’d say there is a high chance you are currently experiencing burn out!

Burnout can also be unique to you. While one person might be able to sleep fine, the next might not and while one may never be ill during burnout the other may be fighting a cold every second week. So, burnout is also not always a straight forward diagnosis (I’m not even sure if it is a recognised medical term – although I feel it should be!).

 

Burnout V Mental Breakdown?

Although the two could be seen as very similar, there are differences.  Burnouts are usually distinguished by stress and exhaustion type symptoms, possibly even some kind of brain fog, depression or mental fatigue.

Whereas a nervous breakdown can be typified by a more mental specific breakdown, for example psychosis, suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis which could lead to erratic or reckless behaviour. A mental breakdown can also come on quite suddenly and means a person is no longer able to function day to day.

 

How to recover from burnout

If you are currently or have already burnt out then we can look at the various ways to recover and then more importantly how to prevent it from happening again.

Recovering……or the 3 ‘outs’

Reaching out for the support you deserve is extremely important. Being ‘brave’ and ‘getting on with it’ or ‘sucking it up’ is not the approach to go for here. We all need a helping hand at some point in our lives and so it is actually brave to reach out and know its time for you to do so. There are professionals such as your GP or Counsellors, or there is your HR Department (if its job related) or you hopefully might have some friends or family members you can reach out to. Any of these are possible so please don’t deal with your burnout alone!

Getting out – What I mean here, is to get out of your house, as being in nature can make a huge difference. More and more research is showing how beneficial nature is for our mental health. Also, you can get out and be with friends, do exercise, do a hobby, do something you love again. Put the positives back into your life and level out the negatives playing field.

Helping out –According to Dr David Hamilton (a writer, columnist, speaker & kindness scientist) kindness can slow aging, can help with depression, improve relationships, can lower risk of heart disease and can have a raft of other benefits. Basically he is suggesting by helping others the dopamine levels in the brain increases and we may experience more positive emotions.

And in addition to this, being with others and helping others is actually also a great distraction from whatever may be causing you to burnout.

“What else can I do?” I hear you ask.

Basics…

• Eat a healthy diet – (or take to it to a deeper level and make an appointment with a nutritionist!)

• Exercise regularly

• Get into a regular sleep pattern

What else…

• Explore less stressful positions or tasks or departments or way of being

• Limit negative contact with your negative environment or people

• Take set and regular breaks

• Learn meditation / mindfulness

• If financially possible – plan and take a holiday!

 

How to prevent burnout?

o   Remember the basics

o   Check in with self each week

o   Selfcare strategies – know what your selfcare is

o   Healthier strategies and way of being (including regular breaks)

o   Regular Holidays (don’t let your work be chasing you to take your holidays – this is a burnout give away!)

o   Learn how to manage stress

o   Know your limits (e.g. give your self deadlines, switch your phone to airplane mode during family time)

o   Build upon your resilience

o   Keep a Journal – to note your feelings, thoughts and stress levels

 

What healing burnout can look like in the therapy room?

Sometimes as a therapist and a regular human (we are one of those too!) when I see my clients once a week burn out can be noticed more easily by an outsider. If you are looking more tired, your skin has changed, you are running late when normally on time, there are often some give away signs.

A therapist can help you to keep on top of your healthy routines. You can work together with the therapist to set your deadlines, find out what your self-care is (which is unique to you) and set up strategies to check in on your burnout/stress levels on a weekly basis.

There is a great deal that therapy can do for burnout, and the very minimum is to take you out of your busy life for one hour once a week and ensure you get the space and time to offload and decompress.

We might look into mindfulness (and dispel any myths or preconceptions it!) and look at exercises to balance out the energies in and energies out in your life i.e., what charges your batteries and what drains them.

Sometimes I have clients who might come with burnout specific issues however there are also clients who are struggling and know something isn’t right in their life but haven’t managed to put their finger on it yet, and together we figure out that it may well be burnout!

I hope this blog has helped you to recognise if you are burning out and also help you if you are recovering from burnout. Please don’t experience burn out alone, Aberdeen Bespoke Counselling can be there for you. All you have to do is visit my website or email me on Catherine@aberdeenbespokecounselling.co.uk.