Avoiding Burnout: The What’s and How’s

At this state of pandemic, it is evident that people become too occupied at work and school, as well as being restless, especially when the workloads are already due. Restlessness has become normalized, to the point that being able to catch a good night’s rest and a warm shower to soothe the back pain gained from a long day becomes one’s guilty pleasure and no longer one of the basic life necessities. If tolerated in the long run, the body will deteriorate, making it more difficult to function and adequately decide on the smallest to the biggest moments in life.

What you may be feeling right now is no longer the state of stress–a mental or physical tension to an individual–for it may already be burnout. Burnout is used to describe the constance of severe levels of stress in a person, an emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by continuous stress wherein an individual is likely to withdraw from their usual routine, as the feeling of burnout makes a person unable to do much work due to the loss of interest and motivation on their life roles.

It diminishes one’s productivity and energy, leaving one to feel hopeless on a daily basis, and somehow become cynical and resentful in finding the origin of the prolonged stress. Once acquired, it gradually affects every aspect of one’s life, be it at home, work, school, and the social life. Not only that burnout has its way to take over one’s mental health, but the weakening of the body also comes through, for which an individual is almost always at the state of being feverish.

As per World Health Organization (WHO)’s declaration last 2019, burnout has already been named as one of the medical diagnoses, but it is safe for one to recognize if they may be suffering from one, if not all the initial symptoms of burnout.

According to Healthline, here are the compiled symptoms of burnout that one may use as a guide before it escalates to something greater:

• Exhaustion – physically and emotionally used up that is also partnered with physical symptoms such as migraine or headache, stomach to abdominal pain, lack of appetite, or shifting of sleeping patterns.
• Isolation – the overwhelming feeling of stress tends to restrict a person from socializing with loved ones.
• Chemical substance as coping mechanism – as the person experiences stress from the extent of daily demands at home, school, or work, it is likely for them to resort to temporary numbing of emotional and physical pain such as to confide to drugs, alcohol or smoking. Excessive eating may also be one of their coping mechanisms.
• Irritability – burnout can cause people to have a series of mood escalations because the origin of their stress gets blurred out due to numerous stressors that they encounter each day.
• Vulnerability to illnesses – when the mind weakens, the body falls through thereafter–it causes one to lower one’s immunity to illnesses, making one attain colds, flu, and sleeping disturbances that become chronic in no time. Burnout is also one of the main causes of mental health illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders.

There were also 12 phases of burnout that was identified:

1. Excessive drive/ambition – often called the burnout “honeymoon phase”, this phase is common for people starting a new job or undertaking a novel task, driven by many tasks and ambition about the position may gradually lead to chronic stress up to burnout.
2. Pushing themselves to work harder – with the acquired ambition from embarking to a new role or work, the person tends to push themselves harder, canceling the idea of being tired.
3. Neglecting your own needs – the individual begins to sacrifice self-care like sleep, exercise, and eating well due to demands of life
4. Displacement of conflict – instead of acknowledging the restlessness, the person begins to blame the people around them.
5. No time for socialization or me-time – the person begins to dissociate from the usual routine of socializing with friends and other people out of work or school.
6. Denial – in line with irritability, the person who experiences burnout tends to be impatient with other people, and instead of them taking responsibility for their outbursts, they tend to blame others, seeing them incompetent, lazy, or overbearing witht the tasks.
7. Withdrawal – almost the same with isolation, the person who is burnout tends to withdraw from their support system, as social invitations become more of a burden than enjoyable for them.
8. Behavioral changes – those on the road to burnout may become more aggressive and snap at loved ones for no reason.
9. Depersonalization – feeling detached from life and the ability to control their life.
10. Inner emptiness or anxiety – due to emptiness and anxiety, the person who is bound to burnout may resort to substance abuse to cope with what they are feeling.
11.  Life becomes blurry and the person feels hopeless in their situation.
12. Burnout – the mental and physical collapse.

However, stress may be inevitable for one, but its shifting to burnout is likely preventable, should people follow these steps given by Healthline to thwart stress from consuming one’s whole being.

• Daily exercise – not only that exercising is essential and beneficial to one’s physical health, but it surely gives one’s mental health a boost–serotonin and endorphins– both are happy hormones that promote positive feelings such as those of pleasure, happiness, and love, that could all be obtained upon being nudged through exercising. Exercising also improves one’s memory as it increases the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory.
• Balanced diet – foods rich in omega-3 are natural antidepressants, if supplied with good sleeping patterns.
• Avoiding caffeine before bedtime – establish a relaxing bedtime ritual by avoiding the consumption of caffeinated drinks and to fully relax once situated in bed.

It is inevitable for one to not experience stress, but it is important to maintain a good relationship with your support system and to refrain from lashing out on the people who are all for guiding you along the way, as this could damage relationships that are worth keeping and not worth a blow from an emotional outburst. In times of stress, harder as it seems, but choosing to give a five-minute break to yourself is essential to continue living peacefully. Small self-care gestures such as napping, eating while working or studying, or even a 25-minute break to watch your favorite series is enough to prevent stress from developing into its higher degree, burnout.