Burnout is what happens when you avoid being human for too long now burnout is something
that we need to discuss raise awareness of and find out what you can do to help
before it's too late that's this week's video in a nutshell and i really hope this video helps you
so let's begin with the basics what exactly is burnout burnout is a state of emotional
physical and mental exhaustion which is caused by excessive and prolonged levels of stress
now the term burnout was originally coined by nasa to describe a rocket which is out of fuel
gravitational forces mean that it's still moving but it's essentially useless and i personally
think it's a very good analogy because there are many of us who have a stressful job and appear to
be on track working as normal yet functioning very poorly and not able to change course
so does that mean that burnout is stress well not really because stress is actually a high
energy state where everything is go go go it's caused by a lack of control so you're having
to work harder and harder to meet demand now burnout on the other hand is a low energy state
you've run out of energy to do anything you're going through motions and feel demotivated and
worst of all you may even feel that your work is meaningless so i feel like we're really starting
to understand burnout a little better now but now let's discuss the symptoms of burnout so
burnout is characterized by three main features the first one is exhaustion and fatigue this is
where you're extremely tired because you've got prolonged levels of stress for a long period
now the symptoms of this might include struggling to get out of bed or have an extreme lethargy so
you get up and go has got up and gone next up we have perceived or actual poor performance people
suffering from burnout often feel that their performance is suffering if the burnout isn't
recognized and treated perception often becomes a reality and lastly we have depersonalization
this characteristically presents a cynicism and a lack of empathy so let's say for example you're
a healthcare professional this may mean that you begin to treat patients as objects and these three
features can lead to so many symptoms and signs of burnout which include anxiety insomnia headaches
other physical illnesses feeling a lack of purpose little interesting work and a dread of going to
work among many others so we now know what burnout is what causes it what symptoms to look out for
but just how bad is burnout for our bodies well let's find out well in burnout the hypothalamic
pituitary adrenal axis which releases cortisol is put into turmoil cortisol is one of the stress
hormones released when we perceive a threat for example an imminent attack by a bear or perhaps a
complaint about you now in a normally functioning hpa axis that's what we call it for short once
the threat has gone the cortisol drops off and returns to normal however under prolonged stress
we operate under increasing levels of cortisol which never returns to normal so the body responds
by eventually down regulating cortisol production to an abnormally low level and we may experience a
state of hypocortisolism where we have literally burned out our stress response system and as we
know from our endocrine patients hypocortisolism produces low-grade inflammation which brings many
health problems including coronary heart disease so understanding the physiology of what is going
on makes it even more important that we understand how to treat and prevent burnout so let's discuss
them so when it comes to managing burnout in ourselves and others we should look into
the three r's so firstly we need to recognize it early because most of us leave it way too
late and it becomes a lot harder to treat so the first point is recognize it early and seek help
so if you find yourself being exhausted regularly dreading to go to work and you feel that your
performance is slipping then these are the kinds of signs that alarm bells should be ringing on now
the good news is there are a few tests that you can do online they're very easy to do to check for
these kinds of symptoms so i will leave a link to them in the description below for you please check
them out now moving on to the second r which is reverse and treat but please remember we're all
different so certain treatments might work for you and might not work for others but generally
speaking these are the kinds of things that you need to do rest you may need to take a significant
time off of work this is okay if you had a broken leg or you were undergoing chemotherapy
no one would expect you to be at work you often need much longer than you originally think talking
therapies like counseling cbt and other therapies can help speak to a few different therapists and
decide what will work for you remove the stressor or at least limit your exposure to it look if
you're taking time off work for burnout and then you go back to that exact same situation
with the exact same demand the same workload the same pressures the same stress it's like taking
time off work because you've had some poison and you've recovered then you go back to work and
drink the same poison again also seek professional help if you think you're suffering from burnout
make an appointment to speak to your healthcare professional about it and the final are reset
your life and build resilience resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity
it means bouncing back from difficult experiences now resilience and building it is quite unique for
each individual so the best thing to do what i'm going to do is i'm going to leave a few links in
the description below and i'd recommend everyone reads it so they can get a better idea of it
and how to apply it to yourself look i understand it can be very difficult to recognize and admit
burnout to yourself which is why it's super important that you regularly check in with
yourself with your friends with your colleagues to make sure that you prevent or treat burnout
before it's too late i really do hope that you find the information in this video helpful
and as always if you have any of your own tips please leave a comment below because i'd love
to read it and i'm sure everyone watching this video would too that's it for this week's video
always remember you're awesome i'm going to go back to my holiday now i'll see you next week
yes yes now now i'm gonna now now ready now now now now now
i've got that on me now now you're ready now burn out on the other hand now
how was that yes
it's the heat it hurts my brain when you like repeat things over and over
i three r's you've got a boat that's just appeared next to you
as soon as you press that button he pipes up so not all these treatments
now now every time i watch parties
now now now moving on to the second r which is reverse
hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure to click that
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