Burnout, along with a slew of other things, seems to be buzzword on social media nowadays and if you know me, you know I don’t love to do things that are trendy or buzz worthy. But in this case, I need to talk about it. Mainly because I am in the thick of burnout and if I am going to be teaching my clients about vulnerability, identifying what you’re thinking or feeling, and taking ownership, then I need to do the same. Burnout is often linked to job dissatisfaction, that is not the case for me. I love my business, I love the clients I work with, and truly believe I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I have been experiencing symptoms of burnout for several months now and, I won’t lie, at times it feels hopeless. Let me be clear, I AM NOT hopeless as a person, I know I will make it out of this, I always do. But the idea of being burnt out in my career feels somewhat hopeless. I worked at a psychiatric hospital for 9 years and burnout was running rampant, self-care was minimal aside from working out. However, I was unhappy with the facility in which I worked, the higher ups and the “politics” of how things were run and I left. That burnout was “solvable.” I have an EMOTIONALLY CHARGED career, I am sitting with people in some of their most vulnerable states, listening to some of the most traumatic experiences a person has ever had, as well as empathizing with their current emotional state. I wouldn’t change it, I love what I do, I was meant to do this, but it’s unreasonable to believe I am not affected by my career.
Here is what needs to be addressed. There is more than just burnout, not that burnout isn’t enough, but think of them in stages. There is compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout. And I can tell you, I have experienced all three stages. Compassion fatigue is described as emotional and physical exhaustion leading to a diminished ability to empathize or feel compassion for others. Known as "the negative cost of caring."Here are six signs you could be experiencing compassion fatigue: Irritability, somatic complaints (i.e., stomach aches, headaches), self-contempt, emotional disconnection and difficulty in personal relationships.
Vicarious trauma coined by Pearlman & Saakvitne (1995), is the profound shift in world views after being repeatedly exposed to the traumatic experiences of others. Vicarious trauma is different than compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue affects your emotional and physical well-being. Vicarious trauma affects those as well as your overall world views which can impede your ability to fully live life. Tangible signs of vicarious trauma include: Becoming cynical or losing hope, avoiding social or work contact, becoming fearful or intensely overprotective because you now view the world as unsafe and evil, setting rigid boundaries with relations OR having no boundaries and trying to rescue EVERYONE, abandoning your spiritual beliefs.
Last but not least, let’s define burnout. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. 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 zaps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give. It is not easy for me to say I am feeling burnout, mainly because I never want my clients to feel responsible for how I feel. I have done enough work to know that is not in my control and me identifying how I am feeling is vulnerability and that is my super power. I am taking control of my life again and putting self-care and healing on OVERDRIVE. I take care of myself every single day, but now it’s time to be more intentional with my self-care instead of engaging in self- care on auto-pilot. Over these next couple months, I am excited to feel more centered, more emotionally balanced and ready to tackle anything that comes up. Cheers to beating burnouts ass! ~Stef~
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