Overcoming Burnout: Causes, Effects, and Recovery Strategies

Overcoming burnout. Burnout is something that a lot of people call Therapy Now SF about. We live in a work focused society and the San Francisco Bay Area, I feel is especially really into work and working overtime and all the startups and everything. So burnout is huge.

Let's define burnout. It's a state of chronic physical, emotional, mental exhaustion, which is caused by prolonged stress. And it's often related to work. But it can also be from caregiving roles too. It's not just work. I think that's maybe where we go to- that's where I often go to, but it can also be from some caregiving roles too. It's something that a lot of people experience at one point or another, I've experienced it myself.

Common Signs of Burnout

So what are some common signs? I'll go through each one that I briefly mentioned.

So emotional exhaustion. You feel drained, overwhelmed, maybe you're not sleeping well and you just feel unable to cope.

And then another one is detachment or cynicism. So you are just feeling disconnected from your responsibilities. You're pessimistic. You're feeling indifferent. You're not motivated. And then lastly, some reduced performance. So it's, you're struggling to concentrate, your productivity has gone down and you're not feeling any sort of sense of accomplishment.

Causes of Burnout

So the causes of burnout can be work related stress. So excessive workloads, unrealistic expectations, whether you put that on yourself or a boss puts that on you or the company. You're feeling a lack of control or a toxic workplace environment.

It can also be personal life stress. So whether that's financial pressures, some chronic illness or maybe, you're trying to balance caregiving roles can be incredibly stressful.

And it can also be attributed some to some of your maybe own personality factors. So you might be somebody who people pleases. You have those tendencies. Or you're a little bit more of a perfectionist, and maybe you have some high achievement, just that orientation. And so you're going to be more prone and susceptible to burnout.

The Effects of Burnout

So the effects of burnout on mental and physical health. So some physical symptoms you might see talked about insomnia, headaches, you have a weakened immune system, you're getting sick all the time and then just chronic fatigue.

And the mental health aspect you might be experiencing anxiety or depression, just feelings of constantly worrying or you're abusing substances as a way to cope.

How to Recognize Burnout

So ways to recognize burnout early that can be really helpful so that way it doesn't get to these intense symptoms. So, if you're noticing some loss of motivation, or you're feeling maybe emotionally numb. Or you're starting to feel that fatigue day after day that can be assigned to you to sort of maybe start to address the burnout before it becomes more severe into mental and physical health issues.

Strategies for Recovering from Burnout

So let's talk about strategies from recovering from burnout. So you're now in that space of feeling burnt out. What are some ways to deal? You got to set boundaries. So you've got to learn to say no, you've got to delegate tasks, and you've got to prioritize rest. That is a big piece, and so that might be if it's work related, you work 9 to 5, period, and you're getting emails from co workers and bosses at 9 pm at night, you don't look at your phone, you don't read those emails, you wait till the morning to answer it. And people might start to get upset and, or they might start to realize you are setting boundaries and so maybe they need to as well. And that often then is a ripple effect, which can be really helpful.

You need to practice self care. And so what that means is get outside, try to get some sunlight, have some physical activity. You want to try to eat healthy and try to get some sleep. You want to have some mindfulness, some relaxation, meditation. Even if it's literally five minutes, the research shows that can be incredibly healthy and really helpful. Deep breathing can really help yoga can also be another one.

Seek support. So whether that's friends or family, going to therapy, getting some coaching, all of that can be really helpful.

And lastly, reevaluate your goals. Consider having different expectations and career and life goals. So that way it can be more sustainable and fulfilling for you moving forward.

Preventing Burnout in the Future

How can you then prevent burnout in the future? So time management is huge and having that balanced schedule. So putting in time in your schedule for a walk, time in your schedule for five minutes of meditation. You're literally, I've put that in my schedule before, because sometimes it doesn't happen. The day just zips by and you're like, I haven't eaten. I haven't taken a moment to myself.

Another one is to have some work life balance to see if you can't get some hobbies in, to spend time with people you care about.

And then regularly having some mental health check ins. You want to be able to assess your stress levels and your emotional well being to catch burnout early.

So in summary getting ways to take care of yourself and noticing, I think sometimes we have all these symptoms, physical and mental symptoms, and we don't really know what's happening. And we're just stressed all the time. We're feeling anxious. First step is recognizing it and then recognizing the triggers and then how do we take action to change what is happening to lead more balanced and fulfilling life.

And if you're finding you've noticed you're burnt out, but you can't seem to grasp ways to change, that's when it can be helpful to reach out to a therapist.

And Therapy Now SF that is something we work with people all the time on burnout, whether that's work stress or caregiving stress or personal stress, and you're just feeling like you can't cope.

And so you need a third party to help you manage all of that and tackle it.