Burnout – What is it and are you in danger of having it?

Burnout is a buzzword in recent years but it’s far more than feeling tired after a long week. Burnout is the result of ‘chronic workplace stress, followed by exhaustion, increased negativity, and reduced performance’. But its far more than that as and there is far more at risk than we think.

What are the symptoms of burnout?

Burnout can be filled with complex symptoms with everything from severe exhaustion, cognitive issues such as forgetfulness, trouble focusing, and difficulty retaining information to even a complete loss of passion for living. It doesn't just impact work and can contribute to anxiety, insomnia, and increased rates of depression. Physically, it can lower immunity.

So, is burnout depression?

Burnout and depression often look similar, but aren’t identical. Burnout feels more like helplessness and overwhelm, while depression is a feeling of no hope to carry on and no sense of fulfillment.

There are also biological differences as depression is usually linked to higher cortisol (the stress hormone) and burnout is linked to lower cortisol, meaning your stress response is blunted over time.

What are the signs you could be burnt out?

Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It creeps in slowly, and you may not notice the changes until you are overwhelmed. Typical signs include withdrawal from friendships, over worrying, low concentration, taking a longer time to finish tasks, unrefreshed sleep, feeling stuck, stagnation or diminished productivity

Who is at Risk?

Burnout can affect anyone, but studies show there are certain professions and personalities that are more vulnerable. These all seem to need huge amounts of concentration in a full-on job such as doctors and nurses, teachers, police, emergency workers and lawyers just to name a few professions.

The reason is that these fields tend to attract personalities that are perfectionist, conscientious and super reliable due to what is asked of them in their career. Nevertheless, there are many other people passionate in their field that are also at risk.

How does this impact employers?

Employers have a legal obligation to minimise work stress by managing high workloads, long hours, and unrealistic expectations. It is important to have an open dialogue with your staff and speak clearly if you notice early signs of something. Burnout can cost you many good employees if you are not alert and paying attention to your employee’s health and reactions.

How is burnout treated?

Burnout is treated by taking a proper break from the environment causing the issue. Addressing the concerns of your staff if you are a manager, self-care and therapy if it’s personally affecting you and learning new tools. These include lifestyle changes and returning to work with a better, healthier perspective and a feeling of renewal. Here at Stressfree Management® we assist individuals and companies to work on burnout and eliminate it from staff and individuals. We help make that shift to improve your health but it is up to you to take the first steps.

Talk to management about taking some time off, confide in a friend or call and make an appointment for a trusted professional to assist you in setting up future, realistic expectations of yourself. Also, we can assist you to begin a regular exercise routine, teach you meditation and mindfulness, help you with better food choices and help you get a good night’s sleep. We also have techniques we can teach you to let go of those past worries and intrusive thoughts.

Burnout is real, serious, and common but it’s also treatable. Recognise the signs early and take action. It can save your health, your career, and your wellbeing. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, depleted, or like you’re losing your passion, it might be time to pause, reassess, and reach out for support. You deserve a career and a life that doesn’t burn you out. Contact us today to see how we can help www.stressfreehealthmanagement.com

Coping with anxiety – Part II

Last month we posted part I on how to deal with those anxious moments in your life. Now in Part II we will give you some more tips to help you overcome and move forward from your anxiety into a brighter future.

Tune in on your perspective

When you are feeling anxious it can be difficult to decipher what is real and what may not necessarily be true. When you are feeling anxious you may find that everything irritates you, even small things that you know normally wouldn’t bother you. You may even find that no matter what someone says or does, you cannot break through that feeling of irritation. This can cause you to want to remove yourself from others. The problem with this is, when you are alone you may start filling your mind with more and more anxious thoughts. You may find yourself thinking that the people around you don’t want you there or that you don’t belong. Luckily there are a few things you can do to help cope with these feelings and thoughts.

Helping with the negative thoughts

When it comes to the cycle of negative thoughts that may be running through your head, the first thing you should stop and ask yourself is, “it what I am think actually true?” You need to stop and think hard about it, don’t just automatically react and say ‘yes’. You can ask yourself questions like, ‘do I have reason to believe it’s true?’ ‘What are these reasons?’ ‘Can I read their mind and know what they are thinking?’ You need to be able to prove that the people or person you are having the negative thoughts about are actually having ill feelings towards you, if you cannot prove that this is the case then you need to think about reflecting on yourself and not on them.

When you learn to change your thoughts in these situations and say to yourself, ‘why am I thinking this?’ you will allow yourself to be more in control of your negative thoughts and it will help you see past them when you do get irritated, anxious and/or frustrated at everyone and everything.

Look after yourself

If you look after yourself on the outside it can help you feel better on the inside. You can try exercise, yoga, meditation or even just getting some ‘you’ time when you feel you need it, can all be helpful in making you feel better inside and out. Remember to not only do these things when you feel anxious, do them all the time.

Don’t burden yourself with other people’s rubbish

When you feel anxious and are struggling, it can be very easy for you to take on the burden of someone’s lies and rubbish without even thinking twice about it. However, this is something that you need to recognise and stop from happening. Call people out on their lies and if they are not treating you well.

Think positive

If you are surrounded by negative people it can be easy to fall into the same way of thinking all the time. This is why it is better to surround yourself with positive people. If you can force yourself to think of happy thoughts in the moments when someone is being particularly negative, it will help create serotonin in your brain and provide you the extra boost you need to remove yourself from the situation.

These tips will help you a bit along the way but if you have persistent negativity, anxiety, stress, panic attacks or depression then contact us as we can help. We do both face to face and online consultations and we can quickly help you overcome those feelings that are holding you back from having joy in your life. 

Healing Depression with music

Music is a part of our everyday life. Many people listen to music while working, cleaning, exercising, and driving. Listening to music often changes your mood. If your feel down, listening to music can help lift your mood. There have been studies done that show that music can be used in combination with psychological therapies to help lower stress levels, blood pressure, anxiety and depression. It can also help with pain and fatigue.

Helping with coronary heart disease

Studies have shown that listening to music can ease anxiety in a person who has coronary heart disease especially if they have a myocardial infarction. The anxiety reducing effects of the music increase when you are listening to music you chose yourself rather than someone else’s choice. Music can also have a positive effect when it comes to systolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, quality of sleep and the levels of pain a person with coronary heart disease feels.

Music and Therapy

Studies have shown that studies done by trained music therapists offered by medical staff to clients purposely pre-recorded may be beneficial when it comes to helping you with anxiety, pain relief, fatigue, and perhaps even to increase the quality of life of cancer sufferers. However, the studies showed that this kind of music therapy only providing short-term effects for people with depression, but if it was combined with traditional treatment it actually enhanced the effects of that treatment. Music was able to decrease anxiety and improve the functioning of people who were feeling depressed. In children and adolescents, music may be effective in reducing the severity of internalising symptoms.

Impacting brain connectivity

In a study using MRI's music was found to have an impact on brain connectivity, particularly in the part of the brain that is involved in internally focused thought, empathy and self-awareness. When you are listening to music you dislike the brain circuit known as the default mode connects poorly however the more you like the music the greater the connectivity. Music will help you to reduce your stress levels, lower your heart rate and blood pressure, and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Relaxing music can enhance your meditation and relaxation techniques and assist with your anti-anxiety supplements or medication as well as assist your body with inflammation as the positive psychological affect reflects physically into the body.

If you find that you are feeling down and need a mood booster try listening to some of your favourites which will lift your spirits. If however this does not help have a word to your health care practitioner who will give you some tips to relax more and overcome those negative feelings. A good natural practitioner can teach you to meditate, relax and alter your perspective. There are many techniques to do this. Call our clinic to see how we can help you today.

Image thanks to Samantha Hurley - Burst