Restore and recover: recommendations for bouncing back after burnout
Burnout: what is it?
Mental Health UK describes it well: burnout is a state of multilevel-exhaustion. Whether it be mental, emotional, and/or physical, burnout describes reaching a breaking point that overall results in symptoms similar to depression. However, this phenomenon was pinpointed as something that occurs at work, also known as ‘occupational burnout’. This is still largely the case, but sometimes people imagine those in a professional space or office building. But we know that this is not something only doctors, social workers, and teachers experience. Students at risk of experiencing burnout, just as parents are! Because life is hard. And sometimes you just reach a point where you are tired, and you feel it in your bones. It’s highlighted everywhere - like a neon sign flashing in the night sky, “WATCH OUT FOR BURNOUT”, but once you experience burnout, getting back to a place where you feel better sometimes can feel daunting, and in some cases impossible. And the truth is that it may very well be daunting but its not permanent.
Symptoms that can indicate someone is experiencing burnout include a range of things - Mental Health UK also describes the symptoms well so below are the symptoms break down from their resource. Its helpful to keep in mind that every person will be unique and have different symptoms and circumstances which suggests different methods of recovery.
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Feeling tired or exhausted most of the time
Reoccurring insomnia and sleep disturbances
Frequent headaches
Muscle or joint pain
Gastrointestinal problems, such as feeling sick or loss of appetite
Frequent illness due to lowered immunity
High blood pressure
Issues breathing
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Feeling helpless, trapped, and/or defeated
Self-doubt, feeling a failure or worthless
Feeling detached and alone in the world
Feeling overwhelmed
Feeling demotivated, having a cynical/negative outlook
Lacking sense of satisfaction and achievement
Loss of interest and enjoyment
Persistent feelings of dread, worry and anxiety text goes here
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Procrastinating and taking longer to complete things
Difficulty concentrating
Decreased output and productivity
Becoming isolated and withdrawing from people, responsibilities etc
Reliant on food, drugs or alcohol to cope
Irritable and short-tempered, likely to have outbursts and take frustrations out on others
Increased tardiness, being late for work and/or higher absenteeism
Moving past burnout
There are many recommendations for what someone can do to move past burnout but largely it will be based on trial and error. It may feel even more tiresome to test different things but it truly is crucial to finding the right combination for you. I use the word combination, because its quite rare that one thing will be the solution to getting back on track. So the following are some recommendations from burnout researchers.
“It's Not Just Time Off”: A Framework for Understanding Factors Promoting Recovery From Burnout Among Internal Medicine Residents Nauzley C Abedini 1,✉, Shobha W Stack 1, Jessie L Goodman 1, Kenneth P Steinberg 1 suggest these key elements for recovering from circumstantial burnout = Resolving Workplace Challenges, Nurturing Personal Lives, Taking Time Off.
Resolving workplace challenges is a great thing if you feel confident in confronting those challenges. If you are looking to resolve a challenge the first step is identifying the problem; is it communication based? An interpersonal conflict (this one sucks)? Or something that is out of your control?
Nurturing your personal life is of course the gold standard, but of course life doesn’t go as planned. If you are looking to add to your personal life starting small is best. If it’s 5 minutes of listening to your favourite song of the moment undisturbed or reading for 10 minutes in a park, this can start reminding you of the things that might have fallen to the wayside without taking away from your day completely. Consistency is really key here! Trying to do it regularly is the best way to start
Taking time off is of course a wonderful option, if its an option at all. But its crucial to pinpoint what is driving the burnout to begin with, if you are able to take time off, it would be beneficial to determine what is going on and then considering what might help when you return.
“Recovery activities are needed every step of the way”—exploring the process of long-term recovery in people previously diagnosed with exhaustion disorder Ingela Aronsson, Anna Stigsdotter Neely, Carl-Johan Boraxbekk, Therese Eskilsson & Hanna M. Gavelin give a nice stepping stone image to show some recommended steps.
Figure 2 from the paper, illustrating one way to help recover from burnout.
These steps while can be useful might not all be possible but integrating some of them can very well help! You don’t need to do everything, but sometimes taking that first step is crucial to recovering from burnout.
Lastly, a great article form the APA The impact of parental burnout - What psychological research suggests about how to recognize and overcome it by Ashley Abramson Date created: October 1, 202115 min read. Vol. 52 No. 7 Print version: page 36. Has a quick break down for parents that I think can be adapted to many people. They highlight: Talk about it, Re-evaluate your stress, Make small changes. Stop saying ‘should’, Find meaning
All of these recommendations can help anyone, but the one I want to highlight is stop saying should.
When we hold ourselves to any kind of standard there is a little voice in our head that shouts ‘you should have….’ its largely unhelpful but its there for many of us. Starting to use language that is more forgiving can be the best place to start in both rest and recovery. Phrases like, ‘I did my best’, ‘Next time might be different, but I can’t change the past’, and ‘I will’ .
Just remember, burnout isn’t permanent, but its important to give yourself the space to actually recover and sometimes that is the hardest part.
