May 10, 2023

Studio Talk Podcast: Real Conversation About Mental Health 

A Conversation About Burnout and Mental Health Episode #23

In this episode host Xiomara A. Sosa and Co-host Lisa early discuss burnout, how it happens, what to do about it, and how it doesn’t only apply to work environments anymore. They get into their own personal experiences as well as their professional experiences with burnout. Xiomara and Lisa not only get personal about this topic but also encourage listeners to really pay attention to the seriousness of burnout. 

Burnout can cause significant challenges with your mental health whether it is work related or something that happens because of things going on in your personal life. Both hosts are open about their own experiences with burnout. They talk about what happened, what they wish they had known at the time, how they recovered from it and offer words of wisdom to listeners who might be experiencing burnout now. 

In addition, they provide resources and references that listeners can refer to if they need to explore this topic further. They also encourage listeners to support loved ones or coworkers who are starting to show the tell tale signs of burnout. They provide examples on how listeners can support others while appropriately maintaining their own boundaries and protecting their own mental health and wellbeing. 

What is burnout? 

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. 

Burnout can be difficult to describe. However, it’s not a medical condition. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, burnout is defined as “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.”

It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. 

As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.

Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. 

Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give.

The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life—including your home, work, and social life.

Burnout can also cause long-term changes to your body that make you vulnerable to illnesses like colds and flu. 

Because of its many consequences, it’s important to deal with burnout right away.

You may not realize you’ve hit burnout until it’s too late when you’ve crossed the line between “really tired” and “too exhausted to function.” 

Alternatively, you might be the type of personality who likes to stay busy, and might not recognize when you’re doing too much.

Burnout also happens when your work-life balance gets out of sync. This has been a common occurrence in the last few years, with the rise in remote work and technology permeating our daily lives.

Are you on the road to burnout?

You may be on the road to burnout if:

• Every day is a bad day.
• Caring about your work or home life seems like a total waste of energy.
• You’re exhausted all the time.
• The majority of your day is spent on tasks you find either mind-numbingly dull or overwhelming.
• You feel like nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated.

Is burnout the same thing as depression?

The symptoms of burnout can often resemble the symptoms of more serious medical conditions. These can include mental health-related mood disorders.

“Oftentimes, burnout and depression can mirror each other,” explains Dr. Borland. 

“However, depression is a diagnosable mental health condition, whereas burnout is not.”

That’s not the only difference. In contrast to depression, burnout tends to be a response to a specific environment or situation — say, working more hours than usual, or dealing with something specific going on in your life.

 “Depression doesn’t have to be in response to one specific trigger,” Dr. Borland says. 

Causes of depression tend to be broader in general, whereas with burnout, we can really pinpoint what is causing these types of symptoms.

Depression’s symptoms also tend to be more general, he adds. “Imagine you’re experiencing depression and visit a villa in the South of France,” Dr. Borland says. “The reality is, those depressive symptoms are going to accompany you on that trip.”

If you’re dealing with burnout, however, you’ll have a different experience visiting that same villa. “Once you detach from work or whatever it is that’s causing the burnout, you’re going to be able to enjoy that vacation and relax,” he explains. “If you’re feeling depressed, you most likely will not.”

Signs and symptoms of burnout

Most of us have days when we feel helpless, overloaded, or unappreciated—when dragging ourselves out of bed requires the determination of Hercules. If you feel like this most of the time, however, you may be burned out.

Burnout is a gradual process. It doesn't happen overnight, but it can creep up on you. 

The signs and symptoms are subtle at first, but become worse as time goes on. 

Think of the early symptoms as red flags that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. If you pay attention and actively reduce your stress, you can prevent a major breakdown. 

If you ignore them, you’ll eventually burn out.

Burnout looks different for everyone, although it can affect you physically, mentally and emotionally.

Fatigue

Fatigue is a major symptom of burnout and can affect all areas of your life. 

You might feel like sleeping all the time, or find that even simple tasks take longer to complete. 

Feeling apathetic or dissatisfied with your work

Everyone has days when they don’t want to get out of bed and go to work. When these feelings persist, it becomes a problem. 

Do I even really enjoy what I’m doing anymore? Or am I just kind of going through the motions?’ This indicates a lack of satisfaction in the work you’re doing.”

Headaches

Tension headaches are a common burnout side effect.

Changes to your diet or sleep patterns

Are there any significant changes in diet?” This could mean you’re eating more (or less) than usual, or not sticking to a healthy diet. 

Sleeping at different times of day, or feeling the need to get more (or fewer) ZZZs than usual, might be another sign.

Physical signs and symptoms of burnout

• Feeling tired and drained most of the time.
• Lowered immunity, frequent illnesses.
• Frequent headaches or muscle pain.
• Change in appetite or sleep habits.

Emotional signs and symptoms of burnout

• Sense of failure and self-doubt.
• Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated.
• Detachment, feeling alone in the world.
• Loss of motivation. Increasingly cynical and negative outlook.
• Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

Behavioral signs and symptoms of burnout

• Withdrawing from responsibilities.
• Isolating from others.
• Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done.
• Using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope.
• Taking frustrations out on others.
• Skipping work or coming in late and leaving early.
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The difference between stress and burnout

Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. 

Stress involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and mentally. 

Burnout is about not enough. Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations. 

Excessive stress feels like you're drowning in responsibilities, burnout is a sense of being all dried up.

And while you’re usually aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always notice burnout when it happens.

Emotions are overreactive.

Emotions are blunted.

Produces urgency and hyperactivity.

Produces helplessness and hopelessness.

Loss of energy.

Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope.

Leads to anxiety disorders.

Leads to detachment and depression.

Primary damage is physical.

Primary damage is emotional.

May kill you prematurely.

May make life seem not worth living.

Causes of burnout

Burnout often stems from your job. 

But anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout, from the hardworking office worker who hasn’t had a vacation in years, to the frazzled stay-at-home mom tending to kids, housework, and an aging parent.

Burnout is not caused solely by stressful work or too many responsibilities. 

Other factors contribute to burnout, including your lifestyle and personality traits. In fact, what you do in your downtime and how you look at the world can play just as big of a role in causing overwhelming stress as work or home demands.

Work-related causes of burnout

• Feeling like you have little or no control over your work.
• Lack of recognition or reward for good work.
• Unclear or overly demanding job expectations.
• Doing work that’s monotonous or unchallenging.
• Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment.

Lifestyle causes of burnout

• Working too much, without enough time for socializing or relaxing.
• Lack of close, supportive relationships.
• Taking on too many responsibilities, without enough help from others.
• Not getting enough sleep.

Personality traits can contribute to burnout

• Perfectionistic tendencies; nothing is ever good enough.
• Pessimistic view of yourself and the world.
• The need to be in control; reluctance to delegate to others.
• High-achieving, Type A personality.

Burnout is often the first step to making a plan for recovery. “You might not necessarily recognize burnout at its early stages,” says Dr. Borland. “It’s usually once burnout has really taken hold, that’s when you might say, ‘Something is really off here.’ That’s because we’re so used to going at that 100-mile-an-hour clip.” But there are tangible steps you can take to get back on a better path.

Care for your mental health

Seeing a therapist is often a good first step to tackling burnout. 

Having that safe place to talk with someone who is not a family member, or a friend, or a coworker, or a neighbor — but someone who is impartial and is trained to give clinical feedback — can be life-changing, especially during these stressful times we’re living in.

One of the first things a therapist might want to know is what you’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis. For example, Dr. Borland says if you say you’re not sleeping, eating or concentrating properly because you’re so worried about a work presentation, that’s a big clue something is going on.

Build breaks — and personal check-ins — into your schedule

Taking breaks.

Exercise

Finding the energy to work out provides an abundance of health benefits, including helping you deal with burnout. 

Exercise doesn’t have to mean a trip to the gym.  It can really be just taking a few minutes every day to get some physical exercise.

Practice mindfulness

The concept of mindfulness revolves around the idea of trying to be as emotionally present as possible. 

One way to do this is deep breathing. 

Establish a daily routine

With work-life boundaries blurred, it can be difficult to put up strict divisions between your job and personal life.

But Dr. Borland says establishing a healthy daily routine for sleep, diet,and non-work time is crucial. “It’s important to say, ‘Okay, I’ve put in a hard day’s work. Now I need to press stop, and I need to attend to social aspects of my life, things that are just fun and relaxing,’” he explains.

Creating and maintaining boundaries does take work, however. Setting an alarm to signal when it’s time to stop working is one helpful technique. Writing down your to-do list is another technique that can help make what you need to get done clearer. “When you write things down, you break them down into small, achievable goals,” says Dr. Borland. “That’s a wonderful way to approach things. You can cross those things off during the day.”

Start to build — and enforce — work-life boundaries

Dr. Borland notes that job burnout is so common because we often have a difficult time saying no. “We have a difficult time maintaining necessary boundaries, especially because technology plays a significant part in the work field today,” he says. “We are accessible 24 hours a day. And especially now with all the virtual platforms, it takes our ability to disconnect from work and makes it all the more difficult. I see people across all stages of their career who are saying, ‘I need to do a better job finding this balance in order to preserve my physical and emotional health.’”

Of course, job burnout can be complicated. You likely aren’t in a position to quit a job, so you have to make the best of things. “If you have the opportunity to communicate with your boss, with their manager, with someone higher up in the organization, and explain to them some of the difficulties that you’re dealing with, that’s ideal,” Dr. Borland says. “Hopefully [they can] find some sort of schedule or some change in responsibilities [or] change in daily routine that could help.

“But not everyone has that opportunity,” he adds. “So you have to try and remember that your health and well-being matters. If things are really out of whack, I have to figure out how to do something for myself.”

Explore a hobby

If you don’t necessarily feel satisfied at work, looking for something outside of work — for example, starting a hobby, volunteering or joining a club or organization — can often help.

Dealing with burnout

Whether you recognize the warning signs of impending burnout or you’re already past the breaking point, trying to push through the exhaustion and continuing as you have been will only cause further emotional and physical damage. Now is the time to pause and change direction by learning how you can help yourself overcome burnout and feel healthy and positive again.

Dealing with burnout requires the “Three R” approach:

• Recognize. Watch for the warning signs of burnout.
• Reverse. Undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress.
• Resilience. Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health.

The following tips for preventing or dealing with burnout can help you cope with symptoms and regain your energy, focus, and sense of well-being.

Dealing with burnout tip 1: Turn to other people

When you're burned out, problems seem insurmountable, everything looks bleak, and it's difficult to muster up the energy to care, let alone take action to help yourself. But you have a lot more control over stress than you may think. There are positive steps you can take to deal with overwhelming stress and get your life back into balance. One of the most effective is to reach out to others.

Social contact is nature's antidote to stress and talking face to face with a good listener is one of the fastest ways to calm your nervous system and relieve stress. The person you talk to doesn’t have to be able to “fix” your stressors; they just have to be a good listener, someone who’ll listen attentively without becoming distracted or expressing judgment.

[Read: Social Support for Stress Relief]

Reach out to those closest to you, such as your partner, family, and friends. Opening up won't make you a burden to others. In fact, most friends and loved ones will be flattered that you trust them enough to confide in them, and it will only strengthen your friendship. Try not to think about what's burning you out and make the time you spend with loved ones positive and enjoyable.

Be more sociable with your coworkers. Developing friendships with people you work with can help buffer you from job burnout. When you take a break, for example, instead of directing your attention to your smartphone, try engaging your colleagues. Or schedule social events together after work.

Limit your contact with negative people. Hanging out with negative-minded people who do nothing but complain will only drag down your mood and outlook. If you have to work with a negative person, try to limit the amount of time you spend together.

Connect with a cause or a community group that is personally meaningful to you. Joining a religious, social, or support group can give you a place to talk to like-minded people about how to deal with daily stress—and to make new friends. If your line of work has a professional association, you can attend meetings and interact with others coping with the same workplace demands.

Find new friends. If you don’t feel that you have anyone to turn to, it’s never too late to build new friendships and expand your social network.

The power of giving

Being helpful to others delivers immense pleasure and can help to significantly reduce stress as well as broaden your social circle.

While it’s important not to take on too much when you’re facing overwhelming stress, helping others doesn’t have to involve a lot of time or effort. Even small things like a kind word or friendly smile can make you feel better and help lower stress both for you and the other person.

Tip 2: Reframe the way you look at work

Whether you have a job that leaves you rushed off your feet or one that is monotonous and unfulfilling, the most effective way to combat job burnout is to quit and find a job you love instead.

Of course, for many of us changing job or career is far from being a practical solution, we’re grateful just to have work that pays the bills. Whatever your situation, though, there are still steps you can take to improve your state of mind.

Try to find some value in your work. Even in some mundane jobs, you can often focus on how your role helps others, for example, or provides a much-needed product or service. Focus on aspects of the job that you do enjoy, even if it’s just chatting with your coworkers at lunch. Changing your attitude towards your job can help you regain a sense of purpose and control.

Find balance in your life. If you hate your job, look for meaning and satisfaction elsewhere in your life: in your family, friends, hobbies, or voluntary work. Focus on the parts of your life that bring you joy.

[Read: Mental Health in the Workplace]

Make friends at work. Having strong ties in the workplace can help reduce monotony and counter the effects of burnout. Having friends to chat and joke with during the day can help relieve stress from an unfulfilling or demanding job, improve your job performance, or simply get you through a rough day.

Take time off. If burnout seems inevitable, try to take a complete break from work. Go on vacation, use up your sick days, ask for a temporary leave-of-absence, anything to remove yourself from the situation. Use the time away to recharge your batteries and pursue other methods of recovery.

Tip 3: Reevaluate your priorities

Burnout is an undeniable sign that something important in your life is not working. Take time to think about your hopes, goals, and dreams. Are you neglecting something that is truly important to you? This can be an opportunity to rediscover what really makes you happy and to slow down and give yourself time to rest, reflect, and heal.

Set boundaries. Don’t overextend yourself. Learn how to say “no” to requests on your time. If you find this difficult, remind yourself that saying “no” allows you to say “yes” to the commitments you want to make.

Take a daily break from technology. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect. Put away your laptop, turn off your phone, and stop checking email or social media.

Nourish your creative side. Creativity is a powerful antidote to burnout. Try something new, start a fun project, or resume a favorite hobby. Choose activities that have nothing to do with work or whatever is causing your stress.

Set aside relaxation time. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response.

Get plenty of sleep. Feeling tired can exacerbate burnout by causing you to think irrationally. Keep your cool in stressful situations by getting a good night’s sleep.

Boost your ability to stay on task

If you’re having trouble following through with these self-help tips to prevent or overcome burnout, HelpGuide’s free Emotional Intelligence Toolkit can help.

• Learn how to reduce stress in the moment.
• Manage troublesome thoughts and feelings.
• Motivate yourself to take the steps that can relieve stress and burnout.
• Improve your relationships at work and home.
• Rediscover joy and meaning that make work and life worthwhile.
• Increase your overall health and happiness.

Tip 4: Make exercise a priority

Even though it may be the last thing you feel like doing when you’re burned out, exercise is a powerful antidote to stress and burnout. It’s also something you can do right now to boost your mood.

Aim to exercise for 30 minutes or more per day or break that up into short, 10-minute bursts of activity. A 10-minute walk can improve your mood for two hours.

Rhythmic exercise, where you move both your arms and legs, is a hugely effective way to lift your mood, increase energy, sharpen focus, and relax both the mind and body. Try walking, running, weight training, swimming, martial arts, or even dancing.

To maximize stress relief, instead of continuing to focus on your thoughts, focus on your body and how it feels as you move: the sensation of your feet hitting the ground, for example, or the wind on your skin.

Tip 5: Support your mood and energy levels with a healthy diet

What you put in your body can have a huge impact on your mood and energy levels throughout the day.

Minimize sugar and refined carbs. You may crave sugary snacks or comfort foods such as pasta or French fries, but these high-carbohydrate foods quickly lead to a crash in mood and energy.

Reduce your high intake of foods that can adversely affect your mood, such as caffeine, unhealthy fats, and foods with chemical preservatives or hormones.

Eat more Omega-3 fatty acids to give your mood a boost.

The best sources are fatty fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines), seaweed, flaxseed, and walnuts.

Avoid nicotine. Smoking when you're feeling stressed may seem calming, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant, leading to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety.

Drink alcohol in moderation. Alcohol temporarily reduces worry, but too much can cause anxiety as it wears off.

How to avoid burnout in the future

Although it can feel overwhelming in the moment, Dr. Borland reassures that you can recover from burnout. “It takes work,” he says. “It comes down to establishing a meaningful daily routine, and creating and maintaining boundaries so you can attend to your health and well-being while also attending to the responsibilities of your job or your personal life.”

Once you recognize your burnout symptoms, you’re better able to take a break and recalibrate your actions if you do feel your life becoming out of sync. “You can say, ‘You know what, I know how bad this felt last time I dealt with this. I need to do a better job of maintaining that balance and attending to my self-care and those boundaries. I don’t want to get to the point I did last time.’”

Keeping the lines of communication open with your support systems can also help ward off burnout. “That’s another aspect of therapy — you often learn how to communicate,” Dr. Borland notes.

 “You’re not internalizing these emotions perhaps like you once did.”

At the end of the day, it all comes down to balance. “We often misconstrue the idea of attending to our self-care as somehow being selfish,” Dr. Borland says. 

“And it’s really not. I often remind my patients that in order to be the best friend, spouse, parent or child, you have to attend to your self-care. If your tank is empty, you can’t be the type of person you want to be to these others in your life.”

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References:

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm#:~:text=Burnout%20is%20a%20state%20of,unable%20to%20meet%20constant%20demands.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/signs-of-burnout/

Resources:

• The Road to Resilience - Prevent burnout by building your resilience to stress and adversity. (American Psychological Association)
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• Job Burnout: How to Spot it and Take Action - Find out if you’re at risk of workplace burnout and what to do if you are. (Mayo Clinic)