Dear Dick
articles about wide ranging psychological issues
from "The Local Bulletin" (Brisbane Australia)
by Dick Rigby
©all articles are copyright 2006

October 2002
The term “burnout” is used a lot now days.  But what does it mean and how can you catch it?  Burnout is a state of mental exhaustion.  It usually results from working too hard.  You can catch it in one of two ways.  Firstly it can happen when circumstances pile too much on your plate.  For example, you are flat out at work and that is the time your child develops pneumonia and someone decides to sue you.
The second way that you can catch it is to have poor boundaries.  You say “yes” when you should be saying “no”.  For instance, your boss drops another pile in your in-tray and says it has to be ready by Friday.  You should say no, but you feel sorry for him and he is already under a lot of stress himself.  So you take on the extra job.
How do you recognise the early warning signs?  The signs are; fatigue, inability to relax, little things get you down and there is little or no joy in your life.  You may be starting to make silly mistakes and forgetting things.  You may even be suffering from depression.  You feel exhausted, but you don’t sleep well.  You never feel rested.  Yo may be drinking too much.  Also, you may be short tempered and snappy and you don’t enjoy doing things with other people.
What to do about it?  If you don’t take some action, you can put your health at serious risk.  Your immune system will be lowered by stress and you run the risk of coming down with something serious.  Sometimes, taking your holidays at this point can be helpful, but this may not be always possible.  It’s time to take an honest look at your life.  Ask the question; Is the way that I am doing things contributing to my burn out?  If the answer is yes, you may be in for making some tough decisions about change. 
You may have to put limits on what you agree to do.  Take a look at improving the balance in your life.  Try and achieve a fairly even balance between work, recreation and sleep. 
Changes in life style are often difficult to make.  If you are a people pleasing person, it may be very difficult to learn to be assertive and say “no” when it is necessary.  If you don’t make these changes, you may pay a high price with your health and relationships.
 

More about burnout

January 2003
The “Dear Dick” article on burnout in the October issue generated a lot of interest.  We are now at that time of year when most of us are feeling stressed out.  As I wrote last time, burnout is a state of mental exhaustion.
As you review the year that was, you may resolve to make sure you are less stressed in the year to come.  Good idea, but how can you do it?  If you want to succeed, you must change your pattern.
Let me tell you about two people I know.  Peter is a compulsive worker and Alison procrastinates.  Peter fills his life with work.  He always has too much to do.  His in-tray is like the “Magic Pudding”; as soon as he finishes one task, his in-tray magically fills up again. 
Peter is motivated by guilt but he doesn’t know it.  At a conscious level all he is aware of is that he must keep working or he feels uneasy. His feelings of guilt are run at a subconscious level.  As a child, he learned that his sense of self worth was determined by how much he achieved.
Alison is just as stressed at Peter.  Her in-tray in just as full but for different reasons.  Alison puts difficult tasks aside and keeps herself busy doing “this that and the other”.  As a result, the difficult tasks are left to the last minute and there is a mad panic to get them done.  Very stressful.
Alison is also not conscious of why she does this.  All she knows is that she can’t seem to get things done on time.  Her subconscious issue is that she is afraid of judgement.  When she procrastinates, she doesn’t have to get a difficult task finished.  Consequently she wont be judged on the result.  She fears that what she does won’t be good enough.
Both Peter and Alison have made new year resolutions to make their lives less stressed.  But it won’t work for either of them unless they know what is driving them.  Peter will need to learn how to be more self aware to overcome his sense of guilt when he is not working.  He can then feel more comfortable at the times when he is doing nothing.
Alison needs to work on her self esteem.  As she becomes less afraid of negative judgment, she will be able to complete those difficult tasks on time.
Self awareness is power!