January 2025
How do you handle burnout in healthy/productive ways?
Hi Riders and welcome back to another issue of Ask a Therapist! For those of you who are new to it, my name is Caitlin Clark and I’m Roosevelt’s own individual and family therapist. Each issue, I answer a question from students related to mental health. This month, the question is “How do you handle burnout in healthy/productive ways?”.
Let’s first start by defining burnout. According to Psychology Today, burnout is defined as a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Almost all of us will experience this one time or another throughout our lives.
In order to manage burnout, you have to be able to recognize when you are experiencing it.
Many times, when we are burnt out, we get irritable (“everyone is so annoying”), isolate ourselves from others and can have negative feelings about ourselves (“I’d rather stay home alone because I’m just a burden to others”), and often feel sort of sick or very exhausted (missing work or school consistently because of headaches, stomach aches, being too tired despite sleeping more). If you can notice these signs when they start, you can intervene!
Which brings us to what to do once you realize you’re burnt out. Each person is different but the key is working on helping your brain and body relax. Anything you can do to give yourself a break is important. Some suggestions are:
- Go outside! Studies have shown that just being outside can lower our blood pressure significantly.
- Work on slowing down your heart rate/breathing. Try triangle breathing- breathe in for 3 seconds, hold it for 3 seconds, and breathe out for 3 seconds. Repeat for about a minute and you should notice a difference!
- Talk to a therapist. For some people, just talking about what’s going on in their lives with someone who isn’t a friend or family member can make a big difference.
- Talk to a doctor. Sometimes different vitamin deficiencies or other health problems can make stress/anxiety worse. Medical folks can help figure out what those are and get you what you need.
- Remember that this is temporary. When we’re in the middle of a stressful time, it can feel like it will last forever. Remember that it will pass and things will get better. Lean on your supports, take care of your body, and slooooooooow down as much as you can.
