We all have ‘off’ days when we feel helpless, overloaded, or unappreciated. The alarm sounds and we reluctantly drag ourselves out of bed. however, If you feel like this most of the time, you may be burned out.
Like you, I have experienced burnout many times in my life. It’s something that is insidious. You don’t notice it’s happening, It sneaks up on you and you are not aware of it until you just crash.
Being aware of what burnout is, and recognising the symptoms is half the battle won.
What is BURNOUT SYNDROME?
Burnout is exhaustion as a result of high levels of stress. Your mind, body and spirit can only handle feeling overworked and overwhelmed for so long. Your body will be tired, your emotions will be fraught. Your spirit( your inner core) will feel simply dried out.
Burnout will make you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet daily demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose interest and motivation and the feeling of overwhelm takes hold.
In our modern society, we think that constantly living under stress is a ‘normal’ way to live. But I have news for you- it’s NOT!
Burn out left unchecked, may lead to a nervous/ mental breakdown. The problems are, that burnout happens gradually, therefore, you might not notice symptoms immediately. But once it takes hold, it can affect your ability to function across all aspects of your life.
SYMPTOMS OF BURNOUT
By no means is this is not a comprehensive list, and you may experience just a few or, many of these symptoms.
- You may begin to feel less motivated since it seems like nothing you do really matters.
- If you are experiencing burnout, you may view your living environment and/or your job as increasingly stressful and frustrating.
- You may develop a distrust, or disinterest in the people in your life, and may also feel emotionally distant and indifferent.
- You may develop a distrust, or disinterest and your life in general.
- You may feel detachment, and alone in the world.
- Where once you were content with your life in general or work, but now You may feel resentful of the responsibilities and demands it imposes.
- Burnout may lead to physical symptoms, like headaches, muscle pain, and stomach-aches or intestinal issues, etc.
- Burnout causes people to feel drained, lack motivation, emotionally exhausted, unable to cope with the smallest of tasks.
- Constant Tiredness is a symptom of burnout.
- Difficulty in focusing one’s mind and concentrating and often lack creativity is also a symptom.
- No zest for life, you feel like you are on a constant treadmill.
- Every day is a struggle
- Caring about your work or home life seems like a total waste of energy.
- The majority of your day is spent on tasks you find either mind-numbingly dull or overwhelming.
- You may feel one step forward and 2 back and nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated by others.
- Lowered immunity
- Frequent illnesses
Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. Stress can be a positive motivation tool. It may provide the metal fuel to forge forward. Stressed people can still get everything under control, to feel better.
Burnout, on the other hand, is about destructive, extreme unrelenting stressors. Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring, unable to pull one socks up and get on with it.
People experiencing burnout often cannot see any hope of positive change in their situations. Burnout is a sense of being all dried up, wrung out, parched as a desert, in mind body and spirit.
Burn-out shares some similar symptoms of mental health conditions, such as depression. Individuals with depression experience negative feelings and thoughts about all aspects of life, not just at work. Depression symptoms may also include a loss of interest in things, feelings of hopelessness, cognitive and physical symptoms as well as thoughts of ending one’s life to get some relief. You may not be depressed, but just burnt out. Once you rest and recover, the veil of gloom will lift and you will feel your old self again. If it does not lift- you may be clinically depressed. If this is the case- you must seek medical help!
In my next post, I will share some tips about how to recover from Burn-out
I want to share with you my Holistic journey. This post is not the whole story but a snippet from my new book about Holistic Living, which features Mindfulness and issues around mental health. It will be published and made available to you later in the year – so keep a lookout for that! If you struggle to make self-care a priority or do not know how to start your mindfulness journey, check out my course, which will be available in the Summer of 2021- subscribe free to this blog to get updates on this! Regardless of where you are on your journey, I hope you will find something useful here- if so, please let me know down in the comments.
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Love & Grace
Paula Rose Parish IHS
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I have worked internationally with over 40 years of experience, having a Bachelor of Pastoral Counselling and Theology and a Master of Arts in Counselling & Professional Development. BACP Life Coaching Certificate. I currently work as a Christian educator, blogger, author, and grandmother living with my two dogs in Wales, UK.
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?Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in Difficult Times.
