Burn Out
Feeling overwhelmed, detached from your usual caring state, and questioning your motivation to continue in your current role?
Burnout can strike whether you are parenting challenging children, working in a demanding job with little reward and acknowledgement, or caretaking for a sick loved one. Feelings of emotional, physical, and social exhaustion may have gradually replaced feelings of excitement or hope about your role. Other common symptoms of burnout include experiencing resentment, detachment, and hopelessness.
While chronic stress is a major contributor to burnout, the two are not the same; whereas stress is related to heightened emotion and hyper-arousal, burnout is generally related to deadened emotions, feeling under-appreciated, devalued, and hopeless about making a difference. Burnout, in this sense, is more of an emotional response of exhaustion and apathy than the hyperactivity of caring too much related to stress.
The condition of burnout is typically a slow progression with warning signs, such as feeling “stuck” in a role, helpless, cynical, and avoiding responsibilities. Preventing burnout involves mindfully setting boundaries, self-care, and getting support. Managing stress is also a key aspect to preventing and treating burnout
If you feel that you’re beyond preventing burnout, your first step may be seeking professional support.
At Synergy Counselling, our counsellors can help you to emotionally heal, regaining your sense of joy and purpose in life.
Our counsellors will help you to also evaluate and set healthy boundaries, prioritize self-care, and explore options related to your current role(s) so that you can feel engaged, hopeful, and motivated once again.