Burnout, Compassion Fatigue

Burnout, Compassion Fatigue

Ahhh burnout. A term frequently used these days for those who are faced with chronic life stress or working stressful jobs. It presents as a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion brought on by enduring stress over long periods. Burnout most commonly happens at work, in my field of counselling, it can present as compassion fatigue. It also presents from parenting, care-taking, or romantic relationships.

Causes of Burnout

Burnout may not merely be working long hours and juggling too many tasks but the development of multiple maladaptive behaviours, feelings and thoughts. Thes most occur when the individual is not in control of their work environment, how aspects of the job are being completed, or when tasks cause conflict with our sense of self, in other words, the tasks may go against our morals or values.

When we endure demanding environments frequently and lack support to discuss what we are enduring in these spaces, burnout can persist. We need to break away from these environments and engage in activities which altogether remove our thoughts and focus on something positive and provides us with personal growth.

How do I know if I am burnt out?

Burnout can be identified with a variety of mental and physical symptoms, and the onset can occur in stages. One crucial aspect of burnout is an individual may notice they become physical and emotional exhaustion, cynism and detachment, feelings of being ineffective and lack of accomplishment.

1. Chronic fatigue: drained, depleted, sense of dread on any given day
2. Insomnia: difficulties with falling, staying, or returning to sleep of woken
3. Forgetfulness or impaired concentration and attention
4. Physical symptoms chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal pain, headaches
5. Increased illness: the immune system is lowered so more prone to sicknesses like common cold and flu
6. Loss of enjoyment starts small then moves to all areas of your life
7. Pessimism: may start as negative self-talk but propels into glass half empty attitude
8. Isolation: remove yourself from social circles and engaging with co-workers
9. Detachment: disconnection from others or environment, responsibilities, and job
10. Feelings of apathy and hopelessness: nothing is going right, and nothing matters
11. Increased irritability: begin to feel ineffective or unimportant
12. Lack of productivity and poor performance: projects become incomplete as the to-do list becomes more abundant with each unfinished task and you cannot climb from the pile perpetuating depression and feelings of hopelessness

Stages of Burnout:

There are five stages of Burnout:

1. Honeymoon phase: When we start a new job, we are filled with new emotions and positive attitude to demonstrate we were the right choice for the job. We have a high commitment, energy, and creativity. During this time, we understand and undertake the typical stresses which come with the job or environment. This is when it becomes essential to start to establish a steady self-care routine and coping strategies. When we have a healthy self-care routine and coping strategies to handle the stress, we stay in the honeymoon phase with some movement into phase 2 but does not progress further.
2. The onset of stress: We begin to identify and feel as if some days are more difficult than others. Your optimism is not as strong, creativity is shifting, and attitude and commitment begin to decrease. Typical forms of stress symptoms may present themselves in physical, emotional, or mental forms. It is during this stage that you may begin to feel more of the symptoms mentioned above.
3. Chronic Stress: There is a definite shift in your stress levels everyday and ranges from motivation to increased symptoms of stress in frequency and intensity.
4.  Burnout: Symptoms of stress have progressed to high levels where the individual’s distress is present in the eyes of those close to them.  Distress can become high as the individuals try to continue to push themselves forward.
5. Habitual Burnout:  When we are unable to remove ourselves from the situation or environment, causing the burnout, it becomes habitual. The symptoms of burnout become embedded and seem like a fact of life. The likelihood of experiencing emotional and physical problems is high

How to Prevent Burnout

There are many ways to prevent burnout, and these activities range in time from 2 minutes to a full day of relaxation

1. Deep breathing and imagery: Still your body and close your eyes, think of a place which provides you with safety and comfort. Identify the finer details of this image; note the colour, sounds, textures, smells. While thinking, slowly breath in through your nose and hold for 3 seconds, exhale through your mouth and hold for 3 seconds.
2. Progressive muscle relaxation: My favourite and assists with chronic pain! Move through each limb while squeezing your muscles and slowly release while following the same breathing pattern above. While inhaling, squeeze your muscles, while exhaling, reduce the tension.
3. Autogenic training: Focus on the awareness of your body while imaging each body part growing heaving and warm. Note how your heart rate begins to slow and become regular.
4. Manage stressful thinking: engage in CBT practices such as writing out negative thoughts in a journal and challenging negative thoughts with facts.
5. Diet and Exercise/Meditation: Having a diet filled with fruits and vegetable has been proven to fight against depression and anxiety. Exercise reduces the negative impacts a sedentary lifestyle can have on our physical health such as diabetes.
6. Avoid substances: smoking, drinking, drugs
7. Time Management: Grab a planner and schedule out your day with tasks timed out when they can be completed
8. Reliable support system when we are feeling low and need to vent, it is always helpful to have people to talk to!!
9. Humour: Humor is the best medicine! It ignites serotonin and dopamine, reduces blood pressure, and reduces anger and frustration, and some professions engage in what is called “dark humour.”
10. Counselling: when you cannot handle things on your own, and you find your supports are not enough, seek out an empathic and nonjudgmental ear to release your distress to while learning new coping tools

If you are struggling with symptoms of burnout and feel you are detouring towards stage 4 and onward, or have any questions or concerns, you can contact us at admin@ovcs.ca. You may also want to check out our blog post on mindfulness meditation which can help you to de-stress if done a little at a time. Stress can also prevent us from getting a good night sleep so we’ve included our link here on how to get the best sleep through some helpful strategies.