Burnout Prevention vs. Burnout Recovery
A closer look at burnout. Figuring out my prevention vs. recovery needs.
Source: Fried the Burnout Podcast with Cait Donovan; Harvard Business Review;
I wish I could say it was recently that I acknowledged that I was burned out, and felt an overwhelming need to do something about it. But I can’t. If I am being honest, I have felt these intense feelings building for quite some time. I have to acknowledge that I am not in the space of burnout prevention, but instead well past the point of prevention and in the mess of burnout recovery.
Burnout Prevention and Burnout Recovery: What is the difference?
If I am being honest, I feel like it is important to define the difference between stress and burnout.
Stress: Stress feels like it can come and go because while I might be stressed, I am still able to deal with it in a way that I can manage it before it gets to the point of burnout. If I am stressed I am likely to have over reactive emotions. But that feels intensified in burnout.
Burnout: Burnout feels deeper, and far more intensified. You might still have overreactive emotions, but emotions are far more blunted. To me prolonged stress leads to burnout, and the sometimes hopeless feeling. Burnout feels like (to me) that while sleep and intentional rest is important, it feels like no amount of rest will rejuvenate your soul; i.e. that feeling of hopelessness.
So chronic stress leads to burnout. That’s how it feels to me.
Is Burnout a Mental Health Issue or is it Systemic: While I think for me, I know the answer is - it’s both. I know that burnout impacts my mental health status is a way that is severe. But it took a reminder from the podcast Fried the Burnout Podcast with Cait Donovan (linked), that burnout is also a systemic issue. It is my brain, yes, but it is also impacting my brains processing ability. It isn’t just my emotions and how I attempt to process burnout. Burnout is - It is my environment, and what is going on in my environment that produces prolonged and intensified stress. And sometimes burnout is the relationships in my life; particularly at work. If they are strained or simply not fulfilling, over prolonged periods of time burnout feels inevitable.
Dealing with Burnout: I am not even sure that phrase quantifies the amount of work that dealing with burnout entails. Because it is more than simply doing yoga or removing some items that take up mental and emotional time. Besides, those sound like stress reducing tactics; which seems to make more sense when we think about burnout prevention.
Sure - Yoga, deep breathing, exercise, etc. these are part of the recovery process, but it feels like once you are past the point of preventing burnout the recovery process itself requires far more than just prevention techniques.
In the Podcast Fried the Burnout Podcast, something Cait Donovan said really resonated with me.
She implied that if I were in a state of burnout, simply taking two weeks off from work (although helpful), would not be enough to fully recover from burnout. If I were in a state of stress, time off and the ability to get back to your old self would be a reality. In burnout, you lose the ability to get back to your old self simply with taking intentional time, alone.
How Burnout is Viewed: I can’t lie. This is something I struggle with.
A colleague of mine left their job, citing burnout as one of the leading reasons. As it turns out, I was in a meeting where this individual’s departure was brought up. When the reason of burnout was noted, the leader within the group did not seem to react well. It felt as the the leader was frustrated that burnout was cited as the reason. The leader almost seemed agitated, as if they could not acknowledge that how they were leading the team overall could have had something to do with the burnout.
An article in the Harvard Business Review (linked) noted research from one of the leading scholars on burnout. Christina Maslach, from UC Berkley, noted that when the World Health Organization classified burnout, they did indicating something was wrong with the person as opposed to something being wrong at the company. This it’s not me; it’s you mentality plays a role in how organizations view burnout. This negative assertion, in my opinion, contributes greatly to whether or not staff will feel comfortable sharing burnout concerns.
I remember sitting in that meeting regarding the individual I know that left their job due to burnout, and I remember the rather cavalier response, and having it re-confirmed that the environment was not supportive to burnout discussion and concern.
If burnout is not accepted; how do we truly recover? Or do we?
For my own sake, I sure do hope a full recovery from burnout is achievable. Having said that, I have to acknowledge that it feels like no matter how much rest; no matter how much intentional attention I pay to self care practices; no matter how much time off I take from on-going stressors that have led to burnout - It feels like my soul is so tired that no amount of a break will truly provide recovery.
Daunting thought; I know. But while time away helps. And while it helps to take intentional time to practice self care. And journaling helps. And shaking up a movement routine mixed with rest, helps. These things do not seem to sustain.
The same concerns and stressors return. Sure, I can keep them at bay for a while. But will these on-going challenges ever fully subside to the point that burnout isn’t a thing for me again? Or am I just susceptible to burnout when I don’t do a good enough job at the prevention part?
This is a terrifying thought for me. But again, I had to take some stock in a quote that the Fried the Burnout Podcast shared.
“No man ever steps in the same river twice. For it is not the same river. And he is not the same man.” - Heraclitus
Although, I am reading more and more about burnout recovery, I am not yet at the point where I feel confident in my own plan. I have read some content that suggests it takes months if not sometimes years to fully recover - to get back to the point that burnout is not a crippling, and is simply back to the category of stress management.
If I am being honest, I am not sure that I even feel better acknowledging I am burnt out to a point that it cripples my decision making ability as much as it does. But it is a start.
