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Wednesday, November 18, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Your Story
MATTERS
Audry Van Houweling, PMHNP
Columnist
I’m tired,
you’re tired,
we’re all tired:
Let’s talk
burnout
Aren9t we all feeling so
invigorated lately? Life has
been so dang swell, right? It
is just so easy these days to
rise and shine with a smile,
ready to seize the day! Don9t
forget the glass is half-full so
please turn that frown upside
down.
OK. Insert sarcasm here.
Enough of the toxic positiv-
ity. In all honesty, 2020 can
kiss my... glass that has not
always seemed half full. Yes,
there have been meaningful
moments and hints of silver
linings, but let9s be honest,
this has been no cakewalk.
Let9s talk burnout.
Here is a list of 10 types
of burnout that you might
relate to:
1. Occupational burnout
2. Caregiver burnout
3. Academic burnout
4. Parental burnout
5. Relationship burnout
6. Political burnout
7. Technology burnout
8. COVID burnout
9. Seasonal burnout
10. Spiritual burnout
Defining burnout is not
an exact science and mani-
fests differently for every-
one, but in general can be
characterized by the fol-
lowing characteristics as
defined by the World Health
Organization:
1. Feelings of energy
depletion or exhaustion
(fatigue that comes from car-
ing too much for too long).
2. Decreased sense of
accomplishment (sense of
futility, missing a sense of
purpose).
3 . Deperson a liz a tio n
(depletion of empathy, car-
ing, compassion).
Daily, I talk to patients
with concerns about lack of
motivation, difficulty find-
ing meaning, chronic pes-
simism, mental and physi-
cal exhaustion, and a sense
of detachment. If there are
not productive avenues
toward restoration or heal-
ing, burnout can evolve into
clinical depression or other
more serious mental health
concerns.
I often give my patients
the metaphor of a train track.
The train track represents
wellness, balance, and con-
tentment. It is where we
feel best 4 emotionally,
physically, and spiritually.
Life will inevitably jolt us
from time to time. We will
be knocked off the tracks 4
sometimes gradually, some-
times suddenly. Sometimes
the valleys of life will take
us so far off the tracks that
we need a helping hand
guiding us back. Sometimes
we aren9t so far away. One
decision might allow us
back, but for various reasons
we convince ourselves that
we are more comfortable on
shaky ground than stability.
I don9t think anybody I
have spoken to profession-
ally or personally in the
past year has been enjoy-
ing a drama-free stroll on
the tracks. The events of
2020, and not to mention our
personal challenges, have
inevitably thrown us off a
bit 4 the force of which has
been different for each of us.
Burnout resilience is not try-
ing to convince yourself that
you can stay on the tracks
indefinitely, but accepting
that you will veer off course
from time to time, and
building on the knowledge
of the actions and thought
processes that aid in you
returning once again, how-
ever brief your stroll may be.
Sometimes we develop
defense mechanisms and
rigid thinking that con-
vinces us life away from the
tracks feels more powerful,
more exciting, more pleas-
ing to others, and may sim-
ply be what we are familiar
with. Workaholics, people
pleasers, and perfectionists
may be especially prone to
burnout as they will go far
off the tracks in order to
make the next sale, meet a
deadline, appease another,
or meet their own lofty
standards.
Staying on the track man-
dates vulnerability and emo-
tional awareness 4 two con-
cepts often stigmatized in
our society. Prevailing popu-
lar beliefs still equate certain
feelings to weakness and
in our go-go-go lifestyles,
feelings often seem incon-
venient. And so, we become
accustomed to repressing,
to numbing, to distracting,
to running away from emo-
tion. When we don9t have
the tools to confront emo-
tion, we get stuck in emotion
4 an exhausting precipitator
to burnout. Essentially, we
must feel to heal.
Building burnout resil-
ience requires both actions
and thought.
In action, there are cer-
tain pursuits that can help
unlock stuck emotions.
Movement, creativity, phys-
ical touch, laughter, a good
cry, positive social interac-
tions, and simply breathing
can all help us move through
life9s hardships. On a per-
sonal level, 2020 has left me
craving routine and simplic-
ity. Cultivating routines can
help trick our bodies that we
are safer even amid hard-
ship. Regardless of splitting
my work week in two loca-
tions, my Monday-Friday
routine leaves little to the
imagination.
Audry9s workday routine
(thanks for caring to read
this): Go for a run, share
laughs with the barista while
also procuring a double shot
hemp milk latte, go to work,
eat my signature lunch that
is more like breakfast (eggs,
avocado, bacon), work some
more, venture out to another
friendly barista to procure
another double shot (split
shot, mind you), oat milk
latte, work some more,
maybe sweat it out again,
eat some version of dinner,
chart, family time, perhaps
indulge in what is often an
unintelligible hour of Netflix
(my latest being <Selling
Sunset=), go to bed. Repeat.
Spontaneity may be
spared a bit, but 2020 and
my work has been every-
thing but routine and so
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creating my own version of
Groundhog Day seems use-
ful. And yes, I should cut
back on caffeine, but that is
a sacrifice I am choosing to
delay for now.
In thought, we must be
able to question our own
standards. Are such stan-
dards in themselves causing
more of a feeling of deple-
tion than restoration? Are we
running on fumes because
our personal value is based
on unrealistic standards of
productivity? Perfection is
akin to running a race and
the finish line keeps on
moving. It is exhausting. I
don9t recommend it. How
often are we judging or
laying guilt upon our own
emotional response? Are we
finding the glimpses of grat-
itude and meaning amid the
chaos?
Building burnout resil-
ience is a daily, intentional
practice that prioritizes
self-care, sets boundaries,
and honors the concepts of
vulnerability and emotional
awareness. If you have felt
burnt out, please know that
you are in good company,
but also please know that
the issues facing our world
ought to implore us to get a
little closer to the tracks by
leaning on each other, asking
for help, and taking care of
ourselves.
There is simply too much
work to be done.
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