Are you Burned Out?
5 Ways to Know if you’re Burnt Out and 6 Ways to Deal with Burnout
You were wide awake at 3am, so when your alarm went off at 5:30, you did not want to get out of bed. You poured a cup of coffee, checked your email (which only made your heart pound and brain spin thinking about the to-dos piling up), scrambled to get the kids ready, and then ate your toast in the car on the way to work. You spent your whole drive to work anticipating the upcoming meetings and endless list of things to accomplish and when you finally got there, you grabbed another cup of coffee, scrolled your Instagram while dreading actually getting started on your work. As the day rolled on, you stayed glued to your screen until you finally realized it’s 2pm and you missed lunch so you zipped downstairs and grabbed a salad which you ate at your desk. An hour later, you felt your energy start to tank, so you snacked on a muffin and downed another coffee. Once you finally got out the door to head home at 6pm, you got stuck in traffic and felt really annoyed by the other cars and drivers. You kept speeding up and then braking abruptly as if it would help you get home sooner. You opened the door to your home and your kids were so excited to see you. The problem is that you couldn’t handle their excitement because all you saw is that your house is a mess and dinner isn’t ready, and the laundry is piling up. All you wanted to do is sit down and watch tv, but instead you jumped on your peloton to do a super sweaty intense workout. Now you’re starving and there’s still no dinner, so you order from Skip the Dishes and pour yourself some wine. You tuck the kids into bed and while reading to them you fall asleep in their bed. When you finally wake up, you transition to the couch, you turn the TV on and binge four episodes of a show you’re not even interested in. You’re exhausted, but you feel buzzy and wired. When you finally get into bed and your husband wants to cuddle, you snap at him that you’re too tired for any “funny business.” You both go to bed annoyed. Then you wake up at 3am and it repeats…day after day…
Sound familiar? All of it or certain parts?
This buildup of stress, day in and day out can lead to a state of exhaustion and eventually to what we commonly refer to as burnout.
While burnout was first identified in a medical journal in 1974, it wasn’t added to the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) until 2019. And despite it being added, it has been listed as an occupational phenomenon and not a medical condition. The World Health Organization’s definition is as follows:
The Three Characterizations of Burnout
“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
reduced professional efficacy.”
While this addition of burnout to the ICD is a step in the right direction, we know that burnout can come from more situations than occupational stress. So, before we look at how you can identify if you’re suffering from burnout, let’s take a deeper dive into what it is.
To understand burnout, we must understand stress:
Stress is a necessary part of our existence. Our natural stress response gives us the kick of energy to get out of bed, the drive to complete tasks and projects, the additional energy for physical activity, and the ability to survive hardship and danger. The body’s stress response was developed biologically for short-term acute stressors like outrunning predators and foes and battling illness and hunger. However, modern-day demands have resulted in the stress response of most adults (and children alike) being overactivated for long-term durations. A never-ending to-do list, family stress, financial worries, and constant connectivity via text, email and social media have left our nervous systems on heightened alert.
The two divisions of the autonomic nervous system (the sympathetic nervous system, often called the fight or flight system and the parasympathetic nervous system, often called the rest and digest system) are meant to work in harmony with one another. Stress is meant to be balanced with rest. And indeed, this balance is required for our health and well-being.
When stress is not balanced by rest, the fight or flight system begins to shift into overdrive, signalling to the adrenal glands to pump cortisol and adrenaline through the body. This is not your body fighting you, but merely trying to keep up with the demands being placed on it. Nearly every cell in the body has receptors for cortisol which means that the widespread impact of this hormone is pronounced. In the short-term, the heart rate and breath rate increase, the digestion slows, blood is shunted away from central organs towards limbs, alertness increases and pupils dilate. All of this is perfectly normal and is designed to support fast action responses in times of need.
However, over the long term, the impact of increased cortisol production can be profound.
Symptoms of stress may include:
Muscle tension, chronic pain, headaches and migraines: caused my increased muscle tone and tightness
Liver stress: caused by the increased demand for energy, forcing the body to undergo a process call gluconeogenesis, where the liver converts stored resources into glucose for energy
Anxiety and panic attacks: this results from the buzzy and wired feeling that can accompany stress
Immuno-suppression: the body diverts its attention away from the immune system and to the imminent “threat” of the stress
Coronary artery inflammation: increased demand on the heart in addition to immunosuppression can cause inflammation of the arteries supplying the heart with fresh oxygen
Changes to digestion: shunting blood away from the digestive tract can lead to decreased stomach emptying, acid reflux, nausea, diarrhea and/or constipation as well as changes to appetite
New cravings: it’s not uncommon to crave sugar, fat and salt which are all signs that the body is out of balance and in search of an energy source
Decreased libido, testosterone and sperm production, painful and irregular periods: cortisol uses the same chemical “backbone” as testosterone, progesterone and estrogen and thus competes for it when there is limited supply and increased demand. As a result of cortisol winning the battle, changes to function that require these sex hormones may be present.
Despite all these symptoms that may pop up during prolonged periods of stress, it’s not uncommon to ignore these whispers for help. The body is good at trying to signal the need for a change, and yet we are often so good at ignoring it. Eventually these whispers turn into shouts as the body tries to get its message across.
The Three Stages of Burnout
This process on the road to burnout is sometimes called “adrenal fatigue”, though it’s not actually your adrenal glands getting fatigued. In fact, it’s the brain that shuts down the body’s stress response as a protective mechanism against the long-term damage that can result from elevated cortisol. There are different stages before reaching true burnout which can manifest with different symptoms:
Stage 1: “sympathetic overdrive”: constantly activated with elevated cortisol patterns
Stage 2 “tired but wired”: feeling fatigued at the core but wired on the outside. This usually manifests as a reversed cortisol pattern with low cortisol in the morning (when it should be higher) and higher at night (when it should be lower)
Stage 3: “exhaustion”: steady low cortisol levels leading to constant exhaustion
The Five Symptoms of Burnout
Once you have reached stage 3, you can be certain that you are in the burnout stage. Despite the long list of symptoms that may be present, there are five hallmark symptoms that can help you identify if you are burned out.
Exhaustion: you’re tired to the bone, never feeling rested (despite a full night’s sleep) and your body feels weak and tired.
Insomnia: you may fall asleep quickly because of your exhaustion, but you wake during the night (sometimes in a panic), lay in bed with thoughts swirling through your head, and never feel rested upon waking.
Agitation: you feel quick to anger, your fuse is short and you often wonder why everyone else can’t understand?!
Anxiety: this can show up as a racing heart, as fear, ruminating thoughts, or even feeling frozen and unable to make decisions.
Decreased motivation and drive: you’re too tired to care, you’re frustrated that you can’t concentrate, and your brain feels fuzzy. Everything just feels like too much right now.
Can you relate to any of these? If you’re experiencing more than three of the symptoms above after a period of prolonged stress, then it’s likely you are experiencing some level of burnout. You know this is no way to function, let alone live for the long-term and you want to feel better.
When recovering from burnout, it’s important to remember that it takes time and you need to be patient and consistent with your efforts. It likely took you some time to get to this place, so expecting an overnight recovery or a magic pill just isn’t realistic (as nice as that would be). At Radiant Effect, we have supported hundreds of people to overcome burnout to feel better.
Here are our top 6 ways to treat burnout:
Acknowledge your triggers
To feel a difference, you must make a change and acknowledge your triggers: this is the tough love part. If you want to feel different, you must do something different. What got you to this point? In making changes, you have two choices. Either remove the cause or increase your capacity to manage it. Likely your road to recovery will involve both of these. First, you must identify what your stressful triggers are. Perhaps your job (or an aspect of it), a relationship, or set of tasks. To change something, you must first acknowledge the role it has played. Setting boundaries is a necessary component of this. Saying no to additional workload, no to working beyond your business hours, no to requests, no to relationships. Starting to tune into your personal yes’ and no’s is important and begins that path to building back the trust within yourself.
Listen to what your body is telling you:
whether you wish to acknowledge it or not, your body was sending you cues of dysregulation before you got here. And you likely ignored them or pushed them aside. The concept of listening to your body may be a foreign one, so it’s important to start with the basics. When you need to go to the bathroom, go. When you are hungry, eat. Thirsty? Drink! These are basic cues that start to increase the communication. Eventually you can tune into the way your body responds with an astounding YES or a definite NO. Listening to your body helps to pave the way back to health, because ultimately, your body is the best healer there is…you just need to give it the opportunity.
Prioritize rest:
your body is begging to rest. This doesn’t mean laying in bed all day, but it does mean decreasing the intensity of your day. Finding quiet time, gentle movement, non-sleep deep rest practices like meditation and yoga all support the gentle shift towards your rest and digest system. When you need a break, take one. When you’re falling asleep on the couch, go to bed. You cannot optimize your energy and resources without getting adequate rest.
Attend to your self-care practices:
this is not a daily bubble bath or spa day (though maybe it is once in a while), these self-care practices are the foundational health practices of caring for yourself. Ensure that you are gently moving your body daily (try a walk, restorative yoga practice, or Qi Gong class) and for right now, avoid the higher intensity activity (and the accompanying ‘should’ that you may have about getting that done). Eat whole foods that nourish your body. Trying to eat the rainbow, avoiding processed and packaged foods as well as refined sugars and alcohol, all support your body’s healing capacity. Getting a good quality and quantity of sleep each night is also essential to your healing. If you’re having trouble, try a yoga nidra recording or reach out to a qualified healthcare professional (like us) who can supply you with supplements and support.
Build your support network:
you are not meant to heal alone. Bringing your personal network (like friends, family and colleagues) on board is essential to supporting your efforts. They are there to encourage and support you. On top of your personal network, developing a healthcare team who can guide and support you with tools and resources is essential to your success.
Develop your toolkit:
recovering from burnout means building an arsenal of resources that can support you with daily habits, in the moment quick tools, and self-awareness that all move you towards long-term health. We believe that the way to develop and implement tools successfully is through the steps of education, embodiment and reflection. First, you must learn what the tools are and why they work. Second, you must bring that knowledge from your brain to your body, action what you have learned and make it more accessible when needed. And lastly, reflection allows you to build awareness around how these tools have worked for you and make any adjustments into the future.
Burnout is an intricate healthcare condition that requires awareness, support and change to feel better for the long-term.
This is why at Radiant Effect we focus all of our attention on developing a healthy nervous system and repairing nervous system dysregulation (aka burnout in this case). Our signature course Recalibrate is a six week nervous system restoration course which addresses the causes and symptoms of burnout so that you can heal and feel better now. If you’re interested in learning more, reach out to us or visit www.radianteffect.ca/reclaibrate to learn more.
We know how frustrating feeling this way can be and we also know how hard it can be to navigate the road alone. The good news is that you don’t have to (and quite honestly, you’re not meant to).