aliciajohnsonlmft

Makes sense to me!

For me I think of burnout as a long term pattern. If I am unmotivated once in a while then I am human and give myself a break those days. When I notice the motivation stays for long periods of time, like weeks or months, that is a signal from my body that something is going on such as burnout, depression, or anxiety and I have to do some reflection to see what's going on. So I would start out with just noticing what is going on and maybe see if other symptoms are showing up too such as tiredness, irritability, soreness, etc.

Riight! I feel like all movies show one bubble bath and problems go away!

I will say- bubble baths can be a piece of your self-care plan but it alone won't cure burnout.

I always tell people to start with basic needs. So make sure you're drinking water, moving your body, eating snacks, etc. In order to fight burnout, you need physical and mental energy so self-care is helpful for that!

Then theres deeper steps like figuring out what you have control over, if you need to set any boundaries, if theres underlying anxiety, etc. Those are tougher to tackle and may be helpful to chat with trusted folks or professionals.

Yes breaks often aren't enough to "fix" burnout. I could probably rant about burnout in academia but I will try to be short and sweet.

I often talk about the systems we are in that contribute to burnout. Places we work in often put high demands/expectations on us without offering much support. For those situations, boundaries become really important but it is unfair and hard because some work places/settings end up pushing back and creating more burnout when people try to set boundaries. It also may not be safe to do these. If possible, in these situations I encourage people to find one safe person to talk to so they don't feel alone and can figure out a game plan

I think many people who say "it gets better" are well meaning it often comes across as invalidating especially when you're feeling like crap and in the deep of it. For my clients who come to me in those dark spaces, I try to not invalidate the helplessness and hopelessness that are very real. I often try to bring up balance and alternative thoughts so maybe having them list 3 things that suck from the week and 1-2 things that went okay. We often start really small with gratitude like being grateful for our pets or our favorite beverage.

Then- my personality type is to bring out the strengths in people, because if someone has been fighting for their life for years, that is some strength and their body is doing something to survive.

Hope this answered the questions!

I wish cutting out toxic people from our lives was simple! For some people, setting boundaries, limiting contact, or no longer talking to those people is the right call but it isn't easy and may lead to them trying to put you down further (not that that should be your responsibility at all). For others, they want the people in their life still and find ways to make sure the toxic people's thoughts and emotions do not impact how they feel/think about themselves. Those folks do things like positive mantras, examining evidence of the beliefs, and creating mental boundaries.

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A book that may be helpful is adult children of emotionally immature parents.