Let's Talk About Burn Out, It's Not Stress Anymore

Statically speaking those in certain professions experience a higher rate of burnout in the first year of their career than others. Counseling is considered one of the leading professions that lead to burnout. Most of those in the therapeutic world will experience some form of burnout in the first year of work. When one is in school, they pound this concept into the student's brain, but until you actually go out and work in the field, one cannot comprehend its impact. Burnout can be avoided, if one recognizes the signs and practices self care. However, the sense of duty and caring that goes with this profession, somehow has us forget that it is "we" who must take care. It is another one of the many research topics, I have been working on while offline.

What is Burnout?
Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place. Burnout reduces your productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give. Most of us have days when we feel bored, overloaded, or unappreciated; when the dozen balls we keep in the air aren’t noticed, let alone rewarded; when dragging ourselves out of bed requires the determination of Hercules. If you feel like this most of the time, however, you may be flirting with burnout.

The difference between stress and burnout
Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. Stress, by and large, involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and psychologically. Stressed people can still imagine, though, that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel better.

Burnout, on the other hand, is about not enough. Being burned out means feeling empty, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations. If excessive stress is like drowning in responsibilities, burnout is being all dried up. One other difference between stress and burnout: While you’re usually aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always notice burnout when it happens.

Work-related causes of burnout
Feeling like you have little or no control over your work
Lack of recognition or rewards for good work
Unclear or overly demanding job expectations
Doing work that’s monotonous or unchallenged
Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment

Lifestyle causes of burnout
Working too much, without enough time for relaxing and socializing
Being expected to be too many things to too many people
Taking on too many responsibilities, without enough help from others
Not getting enough sleep
Lack of close, supportive relationships

Personality traits can contribute to burnout
Perfectionist tendencies; nothing is ever good enough
Pessimistic view of yourself and the world
The need to be in control; reluctance to delegate to others
High-achieving, Type A personality

When I read the three above, I think I could be the Poster Child for Burnout. In additional to the above, there are physical, emotional and behavioral signs that you are in that stage known as Burnout.

Physical signs and symptoms of burnout
Feeling tired and drained most of the time
Lowered immunity, feeling sick a lot
Frequent headaches, back pain, muscle aches
Change in appetite or sleep habits

Emotional signs and symptoms of burnout
Sense of failure and self-doubt
Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated
Detachment, feeling alone in the world
Loss of motivation
Increasingly cynical and negative outlook
Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment

Behavioral signs and symptoms of burnout
Withdrawing from responsibilities
Isolating yourself from others
Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done
Using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope
Taking out your frustrations on others
Skipping work or coming in late and leaving early

So if one finds themselves in Burnout, the next section is a "must" if one is to climb their way out.

Burnout recovery strategy #1: Slow down
When you’ve reached the end stage of burnout, adjusting your attitude or looking after your health isn’t going to solve the problem. You need to force yourself to slow down or take a break. Cut back whatever commitments and activities you can. Give yourself time to rest, reflect, and heal.

Burnout recovery strategy #2: Get support
When you’re burned out, the natural tendency is to protect what little energy you have left by isolating yourself. But your friends and family are more important than ever during difficult times. Turn to your loved ones for support. Simply sharing your feelings with another person can relieve some of the burden.

Burnout recovery strategy #3: Reevaluate your goals and priorities
Burnout is an undeniable sign that something important in your life is not working. Take time to think about your hopes, goals, and dreams. Are you neglecting something that is truly important to you? Burnout can be an opportunity to rediscover what really makes you happy and to change course accordingly.

And though it is not a strategy, acknowledgment of loss is very important. Someone told me once that one should feel their sadness and surrender to it in order to move forward. I know that I am not alone in the fact that I would address sadness by throwing myself into something else such as work to avoid the pain that comes with sadness. Really? Who wants to feel the pain of loss? Problem is one must feel the pain in order to get through it. Over-Thinkers and Over-Achievers try too hard to work through a problem. Intelligence is great, but at the same time, it is not so great. Someone told me once that "I" try too hard and do not know how to "Let go". So guess what I decided to do? I began trying really hard to let go. Contradiction or what? Writing that last sentence made me smile. Anyway, there is one more piece to address in burnout and guess what it is?

Recovering from burnout: Acknowledge your losses
Burnout brings with it many losses, which can often go unrecognized. Unrecognized losses trap a lot of your energy. It takes a tremendous amount of emotional control to keep yourself from feeling the pain of these losses. When you recognize these losses and allow yourself to grieve them, you release that trapped energy and open yourself to healing.

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  Loss of the idealism or dream with which you entered your career
  Loss of the role or identity that originally came with your job
  Loss of physical and emotional energy
  Loss of friends, fun, and sense of community
  Loss of esteem, self-worth, and sense of control and mastery
  Loss of joy, meaning and purpose that make work – and life – worthwhile