Burnout
What is Burnout?
Have you felt exhausted, overwhelmed, feeling like you hate your job or like you’ve got nothing left to give? You could be suffering symptoms of burn out. Burn out refers to a state of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion.
Symptoms of burnout:
Physical symptoms of burnout can include things stomach aches, headaches, intestinal issues, the general feeling of fatigue and an inability to sleep. Behavioural symptoms include isolating yourself from friends, family and co-workers. Withdrawing from responsibilities, procrastinating and skipping work all together, or coming late and/ or leaving early. Emotional symptoms can include feelings of failure, self-doubt, helplessness, loss of motivation and a more pessimistic outlook. Emotional symptoms can include the reduced ability to feel empathetic and compassionate towards others i.e., not having the ability to listen or deal with other people’s problems, feeling unable to text/ call people back or feeling unable to attend social events.
What Causes Burnout?
No one thing causes burn out. Burn out is caused by multiple stressors and is a result of a build up of stress that is not dealt with. This can include things like work stress, lifestyle stress and even things like personality traits! Often work stress is the major contributor to burn out, however overall lifestyle stress contributes as well. Take the current pandemic we are in, COVID-19 is a huge contributor to burn out. Being in lockdown and having restrictions (flying overseas or interstate, going into work, seeing friends & family) means we aren’t able to partake in daily routines & activities. This can negatively impact our mental health as our normal coping strategies are limited. Another contributor is personality traits. Those who tend to have more pessimistic views of the world, those with perfectionistic tendencies, or those who struggle delegating tasks and who need to be in control have a higher likelihood of suffering from burnout.
So how do we help ourselves?
Dealing with burnout can seem like an impossible task, especially when you’re already so drained and exhausted. Here’s a few ideas to help yourself start to feel on track again:
Simple things such as talking to those who are closest to you, telling them how you feel can help lift the weight off your shoulders. If there’s no one close to you that you feel comfortable talking to, why not try someone impartial; a psychologist or a helpline.
Acknowledging and accepting that you need help or that you’re not coping can be a great first step towards improving your mental health.
Set boundaries, especially at work or where you feel the most stress is coming from. Get used to saying “no” to work or to friends or family, it is okay to have me time or to take a day off. Boundary setting is important particularly while we are going through a pandemic and working from home. Setting boundaries within yourself and knowing when to stop work and shut off for the day is important. Make sure you have space in your house where you can escape work and have time to unwind and relax.
Take technology breaks! Put away the laptop & phone, ignore the news and social media for a while.
Bury your head in a good book.
Nourish your creative side and start a new fun project.
Get those endorphins flowing by doing some exercise!
Set aside time in your busy day just for relaxation. Look up a mediation, take a yoga class, take a walk outside or do some mindful colouring!
Try to take at least 15 minutes a day for a mindful activity and give your brain and body time to unwind.
If you’re concerned you might be suffering from burnout or you’re not sure, feel free to contact us on 8838-8687 or book an appointment online and come in to see one of our friendly Psychologists.