How do you know if you are suffering from burnout in the first place?
You’re working hard but you’re tired, stressed, unmotivated, emotionally exhausted, and feeling cynical about the future. It feels like no amount of rest helps.
Could this be burnout?
Burnout refers to different physical, emotional, and mental reactions in response to prolonged stress and overworking. It can also sneak up on you without you necessarily noticing over a long period of time.
It changes the brain, impacting working memory, creativity, and problem-solving.
Signs that point to burnout (see if any of these resonate with you?)
- Feeling like you cannot emotionally handle one more thing or you will be pushed over the edge.
- Being convinced that if you just worked better or achieved perfection, things would improve.
- Chronic fatigue – You feel drained all the time, even if you have a good night’s sleep or have had a holiday. You still feel emotionally tired and overloaded.
- Sleep issues – Sleeping too much or too little.
- Focusing issues – You may experience a lack of concentration and find it challenging to keep up with your workload.
- It feels like the simplest of tasks are insurmountable.
- Feel like you’re on a short fuse (irritable) with the people around you e.g. clients, managers, or your team. Things they say annoy you and you may feel like one more request and you will lose it.
- Feel cynical about people’s intentions and what is being asked of you.
- Procrastination – You could be putting off work or avoiding responsibilities or finding you have done 80% of something but cannot motivate yourself to do the last 20%.
- A feeling that even if you were doing your job perfectly it wouldn’t matter. It’s not giving you the same value as it was before.
- Unmotivated – You have lost the drive to get things done, and you feel stuck or uninspired.
- Feeling inadequate – You start to think you are not good enough and believe you are incapable in areas you used to excel.
- Finding it hard to make decisions, even about simple things like what to have for dinner.
- Feel disconnected from your work and there is a sense of it being “pointless.”
- Frequent illness as you might have a weakened immune system.
- Feeling anxious (constantly worrying) or depressed (feeling hopelessness).
- Avoidance and withdrawal – You might avoid social events or meeting people because you don’t feel like you have enough energy.
Physical symptoms:
- Tension headaches or muscle pain (especially in the neck and shoulders). Your body feels heavy, achy, and sluggish.
- Digestive issues (like stomach aches or nausea).
- Changes in appetite
What is burnout?
Believe it or not, it’s your body trying to protect you and is in deep survival mode.
It happens when the nervous system has been stuck in high alert for so long that it has absolutely no choice but to shut down.
Your body is saying it cannot keep going at this pace and it needs to stop.
Your nervous system moves into a freeze state, leaving you drained and stuck.
Did you know there are types of burnout?
1. Achiever burnout
You find yourself working harder and ever more frantically in search of success. You are willing to risk your health and personal life in pursuit of your ambition. Constantly chasing to achieve your goals.
2. Under stimulation burnout
Signs of under stimulation burnout include not feeling appreciated, boredom, and a lack of learning opportunities. You find no passion or enjoyment in your work and cope by distancing yourself from your job. This indifference leads to cynicism, avoidance of responsibility, and overall disengagement.
Not having what we need is perceived as a significant threat to the body.
3. Worn out burnout
This burnout results from feeling helpless at work. It can be related to unstructured or unclear tasks being set. You may feel incompetent or unable to keep up with the demands of your job and feel passive and unmotivated.
How can counselling help?
Counselling can be a powerful tool in helping with burnout by providing a safe space to explore the underlying causes and offering strategies to cope and recover.
- Identifying the root causes: Identifying the factors contributing to your burnout. It could be work-related stress, personal issues, lack of balance, or even perfectionism.
- Providing emotional support: Burnout often leads to feelings of exhaustion, frustration, or even helplessness. Counselling provides a supportive space where you can express your feelings without judgment, helping to alleviate emotional stress.
- Coping strategies: Develop coping mechanisms, such as relaxation techniques, and stress management skills. These tools can help you manage stress in the long term and prevent further burnout.
- Reframing negative thinking: Burnout can often lead to negative thinking patterns, such as feeling like you're not good enough or that everything is overwhelming. Thoughts can be challenged and replaced with more balanced, realistic perspectives.
- Boundary setting: One of the key aspects of burnout is the feeling of being overwhelmed by responsibilities. You can recognise the importance of setting boundaries and saying no when needed, empowering you to take control of your workload and personal time.
- Improving work-life balance: Help you explore how to create a better balance between work and personal life. Assessing your priorities and making adjustments to ensure you're taking care of yourself while meeting responsibilities.
- Building resilience: Be guided to help build resilience, learning how to bounce back from setbacks and stressors. This can involve focusing on self-care, strengthening your support system, and developing healthier habits.
- Long-term prevention: Helping you to develop strategies to prevent it from happening again in the future. This may involve lifestyle changes, career adjustments, or better self-care routines.
Are you finding yourself trapped in a cycle of burnout, no matter how hard you try to slow down, take breaks, or establish boundaries with others?
Let’s look together at why this keeps happening and break the cycle.