6 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