Burnout (29/10/20)

Burnout 

Last week I listened to a really insightful podcast – Brene Brown interviewing twins Emily and Amelia Nagoski about their bestselling book 'Burnout: The Secret to Solving the Stress Cycle'.

So what is burnout? Google tells me that it is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when we feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained and unable to meet constant demands. If you have experienced this, you will know that it is debilitating and can impact on your ability to function at your normal level. Energy levels drop and even the simplest of tasks can be overwhelming and exhausting.  

 

Emily & Amelia believe that burnout occurs when we do not complete ‘stress cycles’. When we experience a stressor in life, dealing with that stressor (completing the task/eliminating the cause of stress) does not eliminate the impact of the stress within our body. To complete the cycle, the stress needs to be released through activities such as movement and physical activity, relaxation, crying, laughing, talking (releasing emotion). Their theory is that when we constantly push through stress without completing that cycle of release, we store it in our bodies and it can lead to physical illness, anxiety, depression and ultimately burnout and exhaustion. It is another way of saying really, that we need to make the time and space for our self-care.  

The times that we are living through at the moment make us particularly vulnerable to burnout - I found this podcast really helpful and will definitely be checking out the book. You can listen to the podcast here.