All About Burnout
I know it sounds slightly melodramatic to say that one journal article changed how I think about burnout.
But every so often, you come across an idea or concept that just breaks a subject open.
This article did just that.
Most importantly, it changed how I communicate the idea of burnout to patients at my California telehealth naturopathic practice, and I’m seeing it really unlock some deep shifts in their health.
We’ll get to the article shortly.
But let me set up what we’re talking about first.
What Is Burnout?
Imagine you’re in your late 30s or early 40s.
Your kids just started going to school, and you yourself had to navigate this transition.
Perhaps they felt anxious about it, and you had to talk them through it.
And there was so much to reflect and model for them, because they had so many questions.
Will I know what to do?
Will I know where to go?
Will I make new friends?
Will the other kids be nice to me?
And so many more.
All the while, you had to cope with your own feelings about watching your kids go off to school.
You might have asked yourself the same questions they did about their upcoming experience.
And you might have a whole other set of stresses about it.
Did I socialize them well enough?
What happens if they get bullied?
What happens if they have a temper tantrum in class?
And of course, the classic: how did they grow up so fast?
This is, in itself a complex process, for both you and your kids.
And then, a global pandemic hits.
All of sudden you’re working 40 hours a week, perhaps from home for the first time.
You’re figuring out how to get your kids the schooling they need safely.
You’re navigating life with your partner and kids, accepting that certain of life’s little pleasures may not be safe to do right now.
ou’re asking yourself whether or not it’s overkill to disinfect your groceries.
That’s a lot.
Now, imagine this goes on for months, maybe even years.
And you wake up one morning feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck.
If someone asks you for something, you feel like you might just scream and run for the hills.
This is burnout. In the past, we may have called it adrenal fatigue or chronic stress.
In the past, we’ve even talked about surge capacity on this blog.
But whatever you want to call it, burnout is real.
It also seems like it’s the most accurate way for us to talk about that very gnarly place where our nervous system no longer feels bouncy and resilient.
It’s exhausted, it’s panicked, it’s done.
What Does Burnout Feel Like Physically?
In technical terms, burnout has three cardinal symptoms.
First, feelings of physical exhaustion.
Burnout can come with poor sleep quality that often makes it worse.
However, it’s possible to feel burnout while getting a decent night’s sleep.
If you’re feeling exhausted at 7pm, that’s a big sign you could be feeling burnout.
An afternoon slump that doesn't lift may also be a sign or just not feeling like you’ve got the same gas in the tank and everything feels that bit harder.
Next, depersonalization.
This can come in the form of cynicism, irritation, or sarcasm.
You may feel pessimistic that anything will work out, or assume that everyone is just out for themselves with no care for those around them.
You may feel like you snap at the people around you for what, in retrospect, may feel like fairly mild issues.
Finally, lack of efficacy.
Perhaps you’re feeling like you’re not meeting the goals and expectations you set for yourself.
Perhaps you feel like you’re falling behind at work, as a parent, or as a partner, for example.
Perhaps you’re wondering what you’re doing with your life, and whether you’re any good at what you do.
It can feel like exhaustion beyond the physical, beyond the mental, but almost to a spiritual level.
Needless to say, both anxiety and depression tend to be companions of burnout.
We’ve now defined burnout, but what’s the juicy item that was so pivotal in creating a roadmap out of burnout?
I’m so glad you asked.
Goodbye Battery, Hello Bank Account
Burnout is fundamentally an imbalance in energy capacity.
We’ve over extended beyond what our resources can meet.
Burnout is a negative energy balance.
In the past, we’ve looked at human energy sort of like a battery.
But that doesn’t quite fit.
Because a battery will stop working, but we don’t. In spite of how burned out we feel, we still have to keep going.
We have to figure out how to put food on the table, keep a roof over our head, and engage with our other various responsibilities.
On the other hand, a bank account is about a relationship between deposits and withdrawals.
In 2016, Dr. Dike Drummond, MD, wrote an article on the causes and symptoms of burnout, and how to recharge from it.
He's been running a coaching practice for medical doctors experiencing burnout since 2010, so he’s a bit of an authority on this.
He’s speaking about physician burnout, of course, but it’s just as applicable to any other situation with high levels of burnout.
Dr. Drummond outlines how burnout works so simply, but so effectively.
Essentially, we have an energy account, much like we do a bank account.
We use energy from this account for the activities of our life and our careers.
We recharge the account during times of rest and rebalance.
Burnout is the constellation of symptoms that occur when your energy account is in a negative balance.
You can continue to function in this depleted state.
However, dozens of studies show you are a shadow of what you are when your account is in a positive balance.
Again, he’s talking about doctors, but burnout can have far reaching consequences in other ways as well.
We can’t stop stress from ever happening, as much as we might like to.
But we can assess our deposits and withdrawals.
Are we creating deposits?
And how those are related to the withdrawals we’re experiencing in a particular season?
This opens up some really effective and generative questions like:
What are your deposits?
What are your withdrawals?
What is a non negotiable deposit?
Where do you need support if it’s a season of big withdrawals?
How does it feel in your mind, body, and spirit when you’re beginning to be overdrawn? Or when you’re way overdrawn?
These questions have changed my own life and the conversations I have in practice.
Book Your Appointment With Wild Lemon Health Today
As I revisit this article, it’s November 2023.
The burnout so many of us felt at the beginning of the pandemic might be fading into memory, but that doesn’t mean burnout itself is over.
I do hope these questions create some food for thought for you.
Stay curious and gentle with the answers.
We’re all learning and adjusting. If you’re looking for support in managing your own burnout, we’re here to help.
Here at Wild Lemon Health, we’re focused on helping you improve your mental health, through an evidence based naturopathic approach.
Book your FREE introductory call with me, Dr. Antonella Aguillera-Ruiz, ND, today.
Together, we’ll explore your main health concerns.
I’ll answer your questions, and together we can look at how naturopathic medicine can help.
If you’re feeling burnout, it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Book your FREE introductory call with Wild Lemon Health today.
Yours in health,
Dr. Antonella
