An alarm clock begins to chime as an exhausted woman slowly opened her eyes. Is it really time to get up already? It feels like I just fell asleep a minute ago.
Rolling out of bed she trudged her way to the kitchen where she poured herself a hefty cup of coffee. Sipping her caffeinated wake-up call, she began to feel a pit of dread creep into her stomach as she reviewed her day ahead. The meetings to attend, the programs to run, the documentation to complete, the workplace conflict to deal with, and the high-stress environment to endure all flooded her thoughts at once. She felt hopeless, exhausted, and fearful and she hadn’t even had her breakfast.
Full disclosure, this woman was me a few years ago. It was the first time in my life that I entered into a stage of burnout. At the time, I had no idea what was going on with me. All the knew was that I didn’t feel like myself and that I couldn’t keep going like this.
Flash forward to the present moment, and we’re living through a time in history when burnout is at an all-time high for everyone, but especially for those in the helping and healthcare field. In this post, I dive into what burnout is, how to identify it within yourself, and tangible strategies and coping skills you can use to work through and prevent burnout in your life. If you are interested, keep reading The Recreational Therapists Guide to Burnout Prevention.
What is Burnout?
Burnout was a term coined in the early ’70s when young working professionals in a research study were asked to explain how they were feeling after a few years in their new jobs. Descriptions like āhaving no fire left in meā, lead the research team to visualize a candle burning out, hence the saying, “I’m feeling burnout”.
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a psychological syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, feelings of cynicism, and reduced personal accomplishment. In 2019, 7 out of 10 people have experienced or come in contact with burnout. With the reported numbers of burnout being so high, there is a need to reflect if your life has been impacted by this global workplace phenomenon.
Letās try a little checklist activity to see if you are you have experienced, or may currently be experiencing burnout.
Are you experiencing feelings of:
- sadness
- depression
- irritability
- frustration
- hopelessness
- anger
- overwhelm
Physical symptoms include:
- excessive tiredness
- lowered immune system (getting sick more often)
- frequent headaches/migraines
- IBS, indigestion, GERD, etc.
- sore stiff muscles
Or other signs and behaviors such as:
- social isolation
- poor hygiene
- loss of concentration
- inability to make decisions
- confusion
- etc.
Burnout is not the answer to all of these symptoms, but if you identified with a few of them I highly recommend speaking to a trained professional or taking a standardized burnout assessment.
The Burnt-Out Recreational Therapist
Are you feeling burnt out?Ā If so, my friend YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Listen, life is always going to throw surprises our way. It’s a guarantee, but I don’t think anyone could have expected 2020 to go the way it has. A proud and shiny moment for the world of Therapeutic Recreation this year was when it was announced on live television that recreational therapists are considered essential workers.
It was something we knew all along, but it is always nice to be recognized in such a large capacity.Ā The extra stress that is placed on recreational therapists that isnāt really talked about is how we are often looked at by the rest of the interdisciplinary team as the āfunā staff member. In times of high work stress, the expectation that we also provide staff appreciation and other morale-boosting activities also increases. Double whammy!
But I am here to empower you to take the burden off of your shoulders and remind you that no one can pour from an empty glass, not even the “fun” team member.
Why You Should Care About Burnout?
Burnout isnāt your lack of skill or your inability to handle the stress at work. Itās a psychological syndrome that affects a lot of people and can have a huge impact on your life. Often associated with mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout can and will affect your quality of life if left untreated. Without prevention strategies, there really is no divide between professional and personal life.
Picture this, itās Friday at 5 p.m. and you just finished another taxing week at work. You havenāt seen your friends in a minute when you get a text from a friend inviting you to a social gathering.Ā You want to go and know that it would be good for you to blow off some steam with people you enjoy spending time with but you’re exhausted.Ā Worried that you will be a horrible company, you decline and decide an evening on the couch at home leaving you feeling isolated and lonely.Ā So although burnout is usually associated with work-life, you can see how easily it transfers to other aspects of your holistic health.
The Five Stages of Burnout
In the healing and prevention of burnout, the first skill we must cultivate is the ability to self recognize and reflect where we are at without judgment or blame. Below are the five stages of burnout.
Stage 1 – Honeymoon
You know the first few weeks of a new job when you are so excited about it, that you bounce out of bed with excitement to start another day. This is the honeymoon period where you are highly satisfied with your job, committed to doing high-quality work, and your energy and creativity flow easily. In theory with the right coping skills, you could stay in this stage permanently. However, this all hinges on patterns of coping as high-stress situations begin to emerge.
Stage 2 – Onset of StressĀ
This stage is sometimes referred to as a balancing act and the shinny part of the job may have worn off, and you can identify days that are more difficult than others. When this begins you may start to experience symptoms such as slight job dissatisfaction, disorganization, general tiredness, sleep pattern disturbances. You may also start to utilize unhealthy coping mechanisms like excessive eating, drug and alcohol misuse, and extreme media consumption.
Stage 3 – Chronic Stress
Here symptoms described previously are taken up another notch, and occasional stress develops into a chronic stress situation. At this point, there is a feel real concern of chronic exhaustion, depression, anxiety and lacking immunity to fight off illness.
Stage 4 – Burnout
Now we enter into a full-on crisis as the symptoms have become critical. Now your physical symptoms have become so intense that you may be calling off sick from work and seeking medical assistance. You dream of leaving a position that you once loved and feel highly pessimistic and are full of self-doubt about the future of your professional life.
Stage 5 – EnmeshmentĀ
Burnout has become embedded into your life. When and how it all began is meshed together and when seeking professional help you are more likely to be diagnosed with another physical or emotional problem due to its entanglement in your entire life and overall wellness.Ā
6 Ways to Deal With and Prevent Burnout
Whether you are full-on in the throes of burnout, or perhaps the honeymoon period just started to fade away at work, it is so important to be aware of how you are feeling in relation to burnout.
Here are 6 examples of research-supported ways to deal with and prevent burnout in your life.Ā
1.Ā Cultivate Self Compassion
Know that what you are feeling is a normal response to stress combined with limited environmental factors. You are in a difficult position, do not make it more difficult by being harder on yourself. Instead, start to cultivate some self-compassion.
2. Reflection and Identification
You can do all the self-care activities in the world, but if you do not get to the root cause of your burnout you will be stuck in the tides of burnout much longer than you care to be.Ā Spend some time in reflection, I suggest journaling or maybe while talking it out with a close friend about how you got here. Be real honest, and identify the external and INTERNAL factors that led you here.
(HINT – The internal list won’t be easy. Through this practice, I realized that I was a classic people-pleaser and began to uncover the root cause of my need to act this way.)
3. Cover Your Basic Needs
It is hilarious to me how many of my negative human emotions come down to my basic needs not being met. So please do not take for granted the benefits of staying hydrated, eating healthy meals and snacks, getting adequate sleep, and fitting in enjoyable movement break into your day.
4. Take Intentional Breaks
You can do a lot with a 5-minute break. Instead of mindlessly scrolling social media, try an activity that will stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system like breathing techniques, mindful moments, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, spending time in/looking at nature.
5. Develop Positive Work Connections
There is a difference between nurturing relationships with co-workers and toxic negativity that adds to your stress. We all need to unload sometimes and vent out our concerns. Without being mindful of your emotional response to these conversations, they can quickly go from healthy to unhealthy coping strategies.Ā
6. Create and Maintain Boundaries
Learning how to say no, and mean it isn’t an easy task for a lot of us. Especially when it is our boss or our co-workers asking us to do something. We feel obligated to help and that if we don’t do it, then who will? But without healthy boundaries, we will pour and pour and pour until we run dry. This isn’t helpful for anyone.
Comment in the section below about your biggest Burnout Prevention takes aways š