Burnout: The prevention and the cure is care

Time is flying and we want to pause for a moment to take inspiration from those who have cared for us in our lives. Our moms, who bent, but never broke. Our gogos, who met life’s challenges by being flexible, never brittle. Our sisters and our daughters who are courageous in their kindness. They have much to teach us as we move forward toward next year and beyond.

Have you found yourself feeling a bit rough? Doing everything you can to keep healthy, but you still feel less than great and like you really need a hug? You might be burnt out. When last did you wake up feeling great? It’s an important question because burnout doesn’t happen instantly. It takes time to build and eventually it can lead to serious health problems.

What is burnout?

Burnout is much the way it sounds and there are two kinds. Work burnout and emotional burnout. Work burnout is often caused by emotional burnout, so the important question is how we identify emotional burnout before it’s too late.

Emotional burnout is caused by prolonged situations of stress over time. Humans react to stressful situations with our “fight or flight” instinct. You’ve probably heard this phrase in the context of a nasty scare, or violent incident. Our stress response, that fight or flight instinct, is built for instances like those because we need to address the danger (fight) or get away as fast as possible (flight). In both those instances, it’s about managing the situation so that the threat is no longer a threat and doing it immediately. Emotional burnout is what happens when that stress response is being triggered in a way that carries on, under the radar of our threat management.

What does that?

Worry. Anxiety. Dread. If you are feeling a sense of unease that is setting in for the long term, that is going to activate your stress response. While there are those who seem to enjoy stress and feel like that added spike in the blood pressure helps their productivity, for most of us it is quite unpleasant. The raised blood pressure and high levels of stress hormones over time can lead to changes in mood, sleeping patterns and even digestive health. All of which have knock on effects, which contribute to the burnout.

Many of us think of stress as a work thing, but actually it’s a whole life thing. Every aspect of our lives can have stressful aspects and telling ourselves that we’re not stressed or have no reason to be stressed achieves the opposite effect. Relationships, family, social pressures, and anything else that you care about can, potentially, cause you to take a bit of strain. It is because we care about those parts of our lives that that we feel worried if they become difficult.

Of course, that does not mean that we should stop caring, it means that we need to balance it out and care about ourselves too. We all take some care of ourselves, but this is where we need the guidance of experts in the field, some of whom might be much closer than you think.

What the experts say: Rest and Care

According to healthcare professionals, the most important aspect of self-care is rest. That does not mean sleeping all day or napping at odd hours. It means choosing to take a deliberate break from the worry. Even if the pressure is on with the kids, job, spouse etc, take 10-15 minutes once or twice a day to put it all on hold, while you take some time to breathe deeply and slow down. The deliberate choice is the key aspect of these breaks. Giving yourself the permission to rest will do more for you than a bad night’s sleep.

Be kind to yourself.

While you’re taking those 10 minutes to slow down, check in with yourself too. Take stock of how you’re feeling, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Many of us feel like we’re being weak or ungrateful if we say we’re tired or burnt out. We’re not. Taking the time to address the burnout is a way of establishing an important baseline. If we dip below that line, we will know much quicker and can take steps to address that stress. On the flip side, it also gives us a reference for when we start to feel better, and we can appreciate it that much more. Crucially, that baseline gives you vital information that you can share with your healthcare professionals, meaning that if there is a separate underlying problem, it can be diagnosed that much sooner.

When we were kids, there were probably a lot more hugs going around. As we grow up, those hugs can become less frequent, and we start to miss them. We are human and sometimes we humans just need to be comforted. In a 2021 study, it was found that a hug, from yourself or from a loved one can reduces those stress hormones that make us feel so anxious. Even the duration of the hug was tested and 5-10 second hugs were found to have greater effects on improving mood. The things that comfort us are also different for everyone, so when you find something that brings you even a tiny spark of joy, make a note to keep it close. Whether it’s that extra sugar in your first cup of tea, a blanket that reminds you of home, or a song that your mother used to sing, these things are the softness we need after a hard few years.

Choose to be active and make active choices.

Getting that circulation going is another way to counteract the effects of burnout. Choosing to be active is a mindset that prevents future burnout by releasing stress before it builds up. Some of the best ways to take care of yourself are exercise and fitness because they encourage the release of endorphins, which help counteract the effects of stress hormones. Exercise has amazing effects on how we feel, even after those muscles are no longer stiff. You can maximise those benefits by setting goals for yourself. Whether it’s getting into the club soccer team or being able to run 10km, having a goal in mind that’s just for you, is wonderfully motivating.

If that sounds a bit too much like hard work, something gentler like walking or yoga can still achieve the same benefits in mood and motivation. The active choices to take the stairs or walk from the corner rather than get dropped off at the door, will all add up over time. We don’t have to do it all right now. There won’t even be any judgement if you weightlift bags of flour with your mom, Kgs are Kgs!

Making time for the people in your life.

Spending time with the tannies, gogos and the rest of your friends and family is a great way to learn some tips about caring for yourself from the ones who have been caring about you for years. They really are the experts in that field. Playing games or catching up and treating each other with kindness is important to alleviate that stress.

Being honest about feeling less than 100% and that honesty being met with compassion is the key to addressing burnout. If you feel like maybe your friends and family won’t understand, speaking to a trained counsellor is a good way to get the advice and comfort that you need. Take it slow, and stop that burnout.

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