Getting and Staying Free From Burnout
By Rachele Slotman
34
“
Burnout
” is the worst nightmare of everyone . The unrelenting , breakneck pace of modern American life means that burnout is a potential threat for everyone .
But what can a person do ? You have to go to work to provide for your family and / or take care of all the things that happen at home and with family and friends . It can feel like you have no other options . But take heart . If you know what burnout is and how to treat it , you can move toward a healthier lifestyle .
What is burnout ? Burnout is the result of ongoing stress and demands creating an unstable , lethargic and exhausted frame of mind . People with burnout are usually over-achieving , hard workers that take on unreasonable amounts of responsibility ( whether at work , at home or both ), overcommit and give all of themselves to the point that they are frazzled , angry , tired , passionless , depressed and unable to function normally due to sheer exhaustion .
What are the physical signs of burnout ? Most of these symptoms will be less severe the earlier you are in the burnout mode and will worsen the longer the burnout goes untreated . Some of the symptoms include :
• Chronic fatigue . Because the body and mind have been under stress nonstop , the person with burnout will feel a constant , clinging sense of tiredness — with a distinct sense of foreboding and dread of the smallest things in latter
COLLIN COUNTY Living Well Magazine | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2017
stages .
• Insomnia . Stress keeps your body awake because of various chemicals that keep your brain from “ shutting down .” While this might affect you only a few nights a week in the early stages , it becomes chronic in the latter ones , where you cannot sleep at all despite being exhausted .
• Various physical problems . These include chest pain , heart palpitations , headaches , dizziness , shortness of breath and gastrointestinal pain .
• Frequent illness . Your immune system is shot , so expect to have more colds , flus and infections .
• Anxiety and depression . What begins as initial worry and preoccupation and mild sadness will blossom into obsessive , uncontrolled anxiety preventing you from doing normal work and relationships , and to a deep , immobilizing depression and hopelessness .
• Regular forgetfulness and inability to concentrate . While these symptoms may be mild in the early stages of burnout , they only increase as time goes on . You ’ ll eventually find yourself unable to focus and unable to get much done .
• Diminished appetite . You may begin to lose weight due to skipping meals . Your interest in food wanes and you care less and less about eating .
• Anger . Everyone experiences anger from time to time , but with burnout it is more present than normal . It may start as little tiffs or minor irritations , but over time it grows until it becomes uncontrollable .
• Inability to enjoy life . With depression and exhaustion comes an inability to enjoy life . The hobbies that once held your attention seem bland and boring . You have difficulty knowing what to do
with yourself and don ’ t feel interested in much at all .
How can burnout be treated ? Involve your primary care physician as they can be of invaluable help with diagnosis , evaluation and treatment . Because burnout is a stress-related disorder , the only way for it to be completely solved is to dramatically reduce the amounts of stress in your life .
The simplest way to start is to take an inventory of your life and circumstances ( ask for help from a friend or relative if you have trouble doing this ). Look at every part of your life and write down all of the things that are causing you stress . Too many deadlines at work ? Too much volunteering ? A difficult romantic relationship ? Leave nothing out !
Then , try to think of one thing you can do in each area to reduce the stress . Sometimes this one thing will remove the stress entirely in that area . Other times , it will merely remove just enough so you can make another decision that will reduce it further , and then further and so on . But the important thing is you must think of something ( 1 ) doable and ( 2 ) effective . Even if it ’ s small , a bunch of little choices will accumulate to have a big difference , if they are done consistently — and this is exactly how you got burnout in the first place !
It is even possible to recover from burnout while remaining in your current job . It ’ s important to underscore that no job is worth your mental