BURNOUT

Usually, the New Year is met with a sense of optimism, but as we get stuck into the monotonies of everyday life, things can naturally begin to seem a bit flat. Combined with the fact that we’ve lived through two years of a dragging pandemic and any new reports about the Omicron variant is beginning to feel like too much to process, feelings of ‘flatness’ can begin to turn into something else — burnout.

Burnout was officially classified as a disease by the World Health Organisation in 2019, but its definition was more specific to the workplace and described as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. Now the term is being used more generically to describe people’s feelings brought on by the external state of the world — and, more specifically, the pandemic.

What is burnout?

Covid-19-related burnout can look and feel slightly different depending on the person, but there are some common symptoms to look for:

You avoid the news

You find yourself deliberately skipping the first 10-15 minutes of the news — or the entirety of it — to avoid the reports on Covid-19 and the Omicron variant.

Feeling cynical and exhausted

You might realise that you’ve become angrier about the world recently, or just more impatient in general. This, along with the continued anxiety caused by the pandemic, has made you more depressed and tired — seemingly all the time!

Feeling emotionally numb

Stress might have motivated you in the early days of the pandemic to scramble for solutions to make lockdown more tolerable, but now you think that you cannot control much beyond your individual behaviour. Coming to terms with this, along with constant uncertainty, can make you question why you care and whether you should pay less attention to the pandemic.

A sense of hopelessness

You feel like you’ve done everything right for two years. You’ve socially distanced, worn a mask, been vaccinated and followed ever-changing local guidelines and yet, the pandemic is still very much impacting your life. Over time, this can make you feel more negative and hopeless.

Anxious about the future

You may have made previous predictions about when the pandemic might be over, but you are still no closer to knowing exactly when things are going to go back to ‘normal’. This can cause a sense of worry related to your own future or the future of your community and the wider world.

What causes burnout?

There are two main reasons why so many of us are experiencing burnout recently:

A prolonged sense of worry

We experience feelings for a reason. Fear and anxiety are used as evolutionary tools to deal with perceived threats. Under these conditions, our brain actions a ‘fight or flight’ response, so that we protect ourselves in some way, shape or form. But, at this stage of the pandemic, we’ve dealt with the constant threat of Covid-19 for so long that we no longer trust our brains when they tell us we’re under attack.

Psychological hibernation

During periods of long lockdowns and working from home, a large amount of the population has suffered from a phase of psychological hibernation. This is where the brain is not working at the same level due to an extended lack of external stimuli. Under these conditions, we may start to dial back on emotions and endure a sense of languishing — a feeling that’s not depression, but one of negativity. The brain is pretty quick at adapting and, for many in 2020, theirs began to operate at a quieter level.

When we go back out and meet more people on a regular basis, it can be a large shock to the system. Because our brains have been used to processing at a different speed, this can make us a lot more tired than we may have been before the pandemic. Early on, the effects may not have been noticed but, as we finish the busy summer holidays, burnout symptoms may begin to manifest.

Strategies for dealing with burnout

Burnout fatigue, and how it pushes us to detach from worry, might actually have a positive effect as it can help us form an acceptance of the new normal. Anxiety can drive us to solve problems, but we cannot strategise or plan our way out of the pandemic, no matter how much mental energy we expend. This form of acceptance is simply being comfortable with prolonged uncertainty, however this isn’t easy for everyone and, sometimes, this acceptance can lead to complacency.

To better deal with burnout, try the following techniques:

Keep your routines

During times of crisis, it’s vitally important to hang onto your routines. Even if you are currently working from home, focus on the routines that are vital to your livelihood, like healthy eating and good sleep. Other habits to maintain could be socialising and exercise.

Strengthen ties with your close relationships

Finding and fostering new relationships takes lots of time and energy. If you’re feeling fatigued and overwhelmed, it may benefit you more to lean into established relationships.

Be aware of bad habits and addictions

During times of uncertainty and extra stress, people are more likely to search for something comfortable. However, that comfortable thing may not be the best thing for you. One study entitled ‘Covid‐19 and implications for eating disorders’ found that 38% of people being treated for an eating disorder had an increase in symptoms during the early part of the pandemic. Instead of allowing bad habits to creep into your life, look to do more relaxing and enjoyable activities, practice meditation or breathing exercises, or partake in mindfulness exercises such as writing down positive experiences during the day.

Build on mental fitness

By setting achievable goals around activities like exercise, mindfulness, sleep, and connecting with nature, you can build your resilience to external changes. This is the theory behind mental fitness, that, just like an athlete builds their muscles to deal with the rigours of their sport, you can exercise your brain to help maintain and improve your overall mental wellbeing.

When to seek professional help

It’s important to remember that you’re not alone. Burnout is real and many people are dealing with it. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you’re experiencing depression and/or notice that your anxieties are affecting your wellbeing, your relationships, or your daily functioning.

By: Converge International