Burnout Syndrome - How to Support Yourself and Begin Recovery

Part 2: Self-Reflection and Coping Strategies

After describing the causes, symptoms, and effects of Burnout Syndrome (BOS) in the first part of this blog, October's blog focuses on self-reflection and self-help strategies that may help us to start out on the often, (I've got to be honest with you), long road to recovery.

If you remember, BOS manifests as a result of a perceived (or actual) loss of control within the workplace, and within ourselves. Thankfully, this sometimes means that if we can develop insight around the factors which led us to become burnt out, we can then start to re-establish some of the control we've lost through empowering ourselves to create more options, both within our professional and personal lives, and learning how to "control the controllable."

With this in mind, here are some small steps that you can begin to take, to try and ease the symptoms of BOS.

Bottom-Up Management of BOS

I ended my last blog by talking a little about the "Top-Down Management" of occupational burnout. This included things like having access to time out spaces at work or requesting a change in hours, an Occupational Health referral, or to be referred for counselling, either through your Employee Assistance Program (EAP), your GP, or referring yourself to a private counsellor.

"Bottom-Up Management," is all about implementing things that you can do for yourself, every day, to try and help yourself through burnout or to use alongside counselling.

Take a Break

How often do you take your designated breaks whilst you're at work? I promise you, I know how fanciful that might sound - I get it, I worked in the NHS for a long time and even getting to go to the bathroom was a treat! But, if the opportunity presents itself, try not to feel bad about taking time out to meet your most basic needs. Eat something, drink fluids regularly, physically move away from your workspace, or make yourself a tea or coffee - even if it's just for 5 minutes.

Exercise

Stress is systemic and is often expressed through physical symptoms such as muscle tension, nausea, and headaches, so releasing stress which has become trapped within the body can play a key role in symptom reduction.

If you can, try to get outside for a walk, and to get some fresh air during your working day. The link between exercise, sunlight, enhanced mental wellbeing and mood is well researched and proven, so even if we can't get some natural light on our skin during working hours, getting outside on our days off will still be incredibly beneficial to us, both in the short and long-term.

If you're feeling a bit more energetic, dancing, going to the gym or engaging in outdoor exercise such as jogging, running, or wild swimming can be fantastic ways to release stress, anxiety, frustration, and anger, which are often dominant emotions when we're feeling burnt out. Martial arts and yoga can also be particularly beneficial as they incorporate aerobic exercise alongside breathwork and meditation. In combination, these elements are fundamental to reducing our overall stress levels and calming our bodies and minds.

Evaluate your Work / Life Balance

This is something I always ask my clients to self-evaluate when presenting with burnout. Through giving ourselves time to reflect on and visually record where our emotional, physical, and mental energy is being spent everyday, we get a chance to see how the balance has often been tipped in work's favour. You might like to try drawing a circle, dividing it into 8 segments, and labelling them as:

• Professional / Work / Education

• Family / Romantic Relationships / Home Life

• Social / Friendships

• Spiritual / Meditation / Mindfulness / Relaxation

• Health / Exercise / Physical Wellbeing

• Personal Growth / Emotional Wellbeing / Self-Care

• Hobbies / Interests

• Finances

Once you've done this, write all the things you do and the amount of time you spend doing these things within each of these areas of your life. You'll probably find that at least one of these segments doesn't get too much written in it.

After you've finished the first part of the exercise, start thinking about what you can do to redress your work / life balance. Some good questions to ask yourself might include things like:

• What do I do to look after my physical health?

• What do I do to look after my mental health?

• How do I release stress?

• What relaxes me?

• How much time do I spend doing things that make me laugh or feel happier?

• Who could I spend time with that makes me feel better?

• Who can I offload some of these thoughts and emotions to?

We are all more than just what we do and we all need security, connection, fun, laughter, and relaxation to make our lives rich and meaningful, so it's really important to ask yourself, how could I make room for more of the good stuff in my life?

Evaluate Your Boundaries

This is a biggie. How often are you staying behind after working hours, checking emails on your phone, taking your laptop home with you, responding to messages about work whilst you're supposed to be relaxing at home, or working overtime?

We can often develop very porous boundaries around work - especially when we feel less productive during our normal working day, that we are being criticised, or when the goal posts continually get shifted by managers or the organisation we are working for, which are all key causes and symptoms of burnout during it's latter stages. We then work harder to try to catch up, to boost our professional esteem and confidence, or to prove our worth to others, but this vicious cycle only leads burning out further.

You can reflect on your boundaries; time, personal, professional, and relational, by asking yourself the following questions:

• When was the last time I said no to the excessive demands placed on my time or energy?

• Do I want to please everyone all of the time?

• Do I say no, then end up being coerced into doing something I don't feel capable of doing anyway?

• Do I often work late?

• Do I check / respond to emails and messages when I'm at home?

• Do I take on other's responsibilities?

• Do I listen to everyone else's problems with work a lot?

• Do I take on the stress of others because I feel I need to protect them from becoming as burnt out as I am?

If you're finding the answer to at least 1 of these questions is yes, you might not have as healthy boundaries in place as you think.

Start small and say no to one request that's unfairly made on your time or energy over the next week. The following week, do it twice, and build from there. It'll almost definitely feel uncomfortable, but like I touched on before, you only have a finite amount of emotional, physical, and mental energy each day. Establishing healthier boundaries will help you to save some of that precious energy for yourself.

Emptying Your "Stress Bucket"

Self-care is a real sticking point for a lot of us. Often seen as "being selfish," self-care allows us to engage in activities which boost our physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing, meaning that we have more energy, willingness, and resilience to then give of ourselves to others. You've probably heard the phrase, "You can't pour from an empty cup," and this is never truer than when we're feeling completely burnt out.

Imagine that all of us have a "Stress Bucket." Life throws us daily challenges and stressors in the form of work, relationships, family, health, finances, education, and so, so much more. Now imagine all these stressors are drips of water, slowly but surely, filling your bucket to the brim. Eventually, if there's no outlet for this water, your bucket begins to overflow. You might find yourself unable to sleep, angry, anxious, or sad all of the time, increasingly irritable, demotivated, procrastinating, or feeling emotionally numb. We feel these things and behave in these ways because there is simply no room left within our bucket; we unconsciously begin to avoid any more stress in any form, and us and our lives become hollow and static.

Now imagine that Self-care represents a tap. It provides a release valve for all that water to be emptied gradually, allowing more room for day-to-day stressors to keep dripping in, but not letting us ever reach our maximum volume.

Starting points for engaging in self-care might include things like meeting a friend for coffee, eating more healthily, drinking more water, walking, reading, listening to music that uplifts you, watching something that will make you laugh, implementing sleep hygiene strategies, or practicing controlled breathing, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), or meditation.

There are lots of apps that can help you to structure and begin practicing some of these small changes and I usually recommend Balance, Headspace, Calm, Sleep, Spotify - (particularly the 12 Minute Mindfulness podcasts), NHS Active, and FitOn as good starting places for my clients.

Develop your Support Network

Research consistently demonstrates that the primary factor in the development of resilience is strong social support. It's a primary, human drive to seek connection and meaningful relationships with others, but it's often one of the first things to fall by the wayside when we become depressed, anxious, or when chronic stress takes over our lives, as our natural action tendency in these situations is to socially withdraw. What's important to remember when feeling like we don't want to be around anyone, is that it's not the quantity of relationships that we have with others which is important, it is the quality.

The key thing is to spend time with positive people who'll lift your mood, because there's nothing more detrimental to our struggling mental wellbeing than spending time with someone who'll only drain your batteries further - (think emotional vampires!) Solidarity, trust, good communication, genuine care, and mutual obligation all feature strongly in the most beneficial relationships, alongside having similar values, morals, and beliefs, so try to spend as much time as you can tolerate with someone who really 'gets you.' Sometimes though, we might feel that friends and family just wouldn't understand what we are going through and this is where our colleagues might just be able to help.

Through taking a little time to informally chat or formally debrief with our colleagues at the end of the day, (or night) especially if it's been horrendous, we give ourselves the opportunity to become part of a shared experience, to feel that we belong, to swap ideas for coping, and to strengthen our relationships within a valuable support network. Perhaps next time you see a colleague struggling, and you feel emotionally robust enough to take it, offer to be that listening ear. They might not have anyone else who might be able to help and may be able to repay that kindness when you most need it in the future.

I honestly cannot stress enough the importance and benefits of talking it out with another person.

I hope that this month's blog has given you lots to reflect on and some good self-help tips to get started with. In an ideal world, these tips would be enough to help everyone however, I completely understand that sometimes our best and only option is to resign our position and move on to a new job or career, because I've been there myself in the past too.

In a future blog, I'll be talking more about what we can do when it becomes clear that enhancing our resilience just isn't enough, making balanced, informed choices around changing our jobs or careers, and some of the pitfalls we might expect when making such a big decision.

If this blog has resonated with you, then please do get in touch if you'd like to work with me, and always remember that help is available to you 24/7 through the following organisations within the UK.

Helpful Contact Numbers

The Samaritans: Call 116 123 - (mental health support for all age groups - via phone 24/7 and free)

Shout 85258: Text SHOUT to 85258 - (mental health support for all age groups - via text 24/7 and free)

Papyrus: Call 0800 068 41 41 - (mental health support for people under the age of 35 - via phone - every day from 09:00 to 12:00 midnight and free)

NHS 111: Call 111 - (mental health advice, support, and intervention for all age groups - via phone 24/7 and free)

NHS 999: Call 999 - (for advice, support, and intervention during an immediate, life-threatening mental health crisis)

Disclaimer

Whilst all information and interventions offered within this blog are both factually correct and evidence-based, it does not aim to replace the individualised medical or psychological advice which may be given to the reader by their GP, or other suitably qualified mental health practitioner. Always seek the support of a qualified medical or psychological practitioner if you feel that you are struggling with your mental health.