Beating the burn out blues
Have you met anyone recently who is just sailing through life with ease and enthusiasm? Most people just seem exhausted and overwhelmed and in dire need of a holiday…and its only May! If you are one of those people, it’s time to recognise the signs of long term stress and start making changes in your life.
What is burn out? Most of us experience days when we struggle to get out of bed, or days when it just feels like you are doing a balancing act with balls flying at you from all directions. For some this is how they feel all of the time. Burn out is defined as “a persistent, negative, work-related state in normal individuals that is primarily characterised by exhaustion, accompanied by distress, a sense of reduced effectiveness, decreased motivation and the development of dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours at work” (Schaufeli & Enzmann, 1998). According to Hobfoll and Shirom (2000), burn out “consists of three closely interrelated factors: physical fatigue, emotional exhaustion and cognitive weariness.”
Long term stress left unaddressed leads to burn out. When we experience stress we might be hyper-reactive, exert more energy and become anxious, whilst burn out causes one to feel unreactive, depressed, detached, unmotivated, and helpless. Beating the burn out blues means recognising symptoms before they become chronic and addressing them to create a healthy measure of resilience.
Burn out is caused by excessive demands on your time and energies, a lack of boundaries, a lack of supportive relationships, engaging in monotonous tasks, chaotic environments with a lack of clarity of expectations, being responsible for too many tasks and people, a lack of positive feedback and poor self-care.
Burn out symptoms include feeling tired most of the time, getting ill often, sleeping badly and a lowered appetite. Emotionally one may experience feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, lack of drive and enthusiasm, apathy, dulled emotions, lack of concentration, poor memory and a loss of interest in things you previously enjoyed. These symptoms manifest in behavioural changes such as not arriving on time, leaving early, spending time in bed or on meaningless activities, poor grooming, procrastinating, not fulfilling commitments, withdrawing from others, disengaging from activities and using addictive habits to escape reality.
You are probably self-diagnosing a serious case of burn out by now. How do you turn it around? Life is not about surviving, but thriving. The textbook answer would be to eat an apple a day, exercise for 20 minutes and get 8 hours of sleep. While these are basic necessities you need to follow, there are other options available to get your life in balance, curb the stress and boost your resilience.
Heartmath is a dynamic, interactive biofeedback program that works with you to establish a systemic state of coherence in your body in order to experience greater emotional stability, have increased mental clarity and improved cognitive function. Using heartmath can lower elevated cortisol levels, boost resilience, decrease stress levels, enhance positive mood and increase the quality of your sleep. Heartmath coaches are available through Phela Wellness.
Exercise has huge benefits, however, some people have started to view gym as another rat race. Our fitness expert at Phela Wellness can help you design the most effective exercise program that meets all your requirements. Phela’s habit programme is an interactive goal directed initiative that will assist you in setting realistic and sustainable goals according to your personality.
Nutrition is an important part of wellness, but grass fed, free range, organic, preservative free, all natural food is expensive! What is the alternative? Good wholesome supplements. Let our resident medicine expert inform you about the options to boost your system.
But most importantly, take time to listen to your body. Don’t let guilt, fear and worry drive you and don’t look to others too much for acknowledgement. Know when to say no and when to let go of past frustrations, hurts and angers. Make an effort to release pent up feelings as they accumulate – clear the slate daily. To access the Habit programme, Heartmath or any of the other products to keep your stress at bay, contact Phela Wellness on 0800 2 B WELL (0800 22 9355) or visit www.phelawellness.co.za. By taking care of yourself first, you can live to serve another day.