Are You Suffering from Burnout?

by Nina

“Burnout, as it is defined, is not a medical condition — it’s “a manifestation of chronic unmitigated stress,” explained Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, a physician scientist who studies burnout at the Mayo Clinic.” — Melinda Wenner Moyer, “Your Body Knows You’re Burned Out,” New York Times

The other day I read an interesting article in the New York Times Your Body Knows You’re Burned Out that was about how to recognize the physical symptoms of work-related stress.

What was interesting to me is that rather than telling people to notice how they were feeling emotionally (the article mentioned “helplessness” and “cynicism”), the author suggested they listen to what their bodies were telling them. And as I read through the article, I noticed that the physical symptoms the author mentioned were some of the same ones I list when I discuss the problems caused by chronic stress. (Of course, your body can’t tell the difference between work-related chronic stress and stress caused by other challenges.)

I actually do think it was very helpful for the article to point out that these physical symptoms may be indicating you’re reaching a “burnout” phase of chronic stress and that if you haven’t already taken action already to address your chronic stress, you really should. So these physical symptoms, which I will list below, are important warning signs. Chronic stress that lasts for an extended period of time can cause physical harm to you.  As Moyer said in the article:

“When people are under stress, their bodies undergo changes that include making higher than normal levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These changes are helpful in the short term — they give us the energy to power through difficult situations — but over time, they start harming the body.”

For those who come to the conclusion that they’re suffering from “burnout” as a result of chronic stress, the article recommends lifestyle changes over “self care,” saying that it is most effective to address the “root of the problem”—the things that are causes your chronic stress—as opposed to just trying to reduce your stress levels. While I agree that it can be very beneficial to make changes in your life and/or work situation that will eliminate some of the stressors that are causing you to burnout—if that is possible—it seems to me that also using yoga to lower your overall stress levels is going to make everything easier for you. That includes improving your physical and emotional condition and giving you the energy and focus to make changes in your life you need to make. See Stress Management for When You’re Stressed for information.

Before I get into discussing the individual physical symptoms that were mentioned in the article, I want to point out that many symptoms, especially the more serious ones, such as elevated blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and heart disease, and a weakened immune system, were left out of the article. I’m not sure why. Since your body doesn’t know what type of stress you’re experiencing, it doesn’t make sense that work-related chronic stress wouldn’t cause those types of problems along with the symptoms the article does mention. In fact, there are so many physical problems that can be caused by chronic stress that every medical website I looked at while writing this had a different list. For example, one site mention jaw clenching and teeth grinding, which causes cracked teeth.  Yeah, that happened to me during the early days of the pandemic. So if you think you’re suffering from chronic stress, you might want to search around for more information about the physical problems it causes.

1. Insomnia

According to the article, one common burnout symptom is insomnia. The author says that “research suggests that chronic stress interferes with the complicated neurological and hormonal system that regulates sleep.” My article Why Stress and Insomnia are Closely Linked discusses the relationship between chronic stress and insomnia, and it provides links to articles about how yoga can help you improve your sleep.

2. Fatigue

According to the article, physical exhaustion is another common sign of burnout. I think that is because being in a constant state of stress depletes your resources. Not spending time in a state of relaxation—the rest-and-digest state—means your body doesn’t have a chance to rest and recover from the stress you’re experiencing.

Yoga does provide two basic ways to rest when you’re feeling fatigued and the bonus you get with using yoga to rest is that you’ll also be lowering your stress levels while you rest:

• Restorative yoga poses with a mental focus, including the gradual relaxation of your body, your breath, a mantra, or any other mental focus you might use for meditation. See Restorative Yoga: The Big Picture for information.
• Savasana with a mental focus as mentioned above or with a recorded guided relaxation track or yoga nidra. See Savasana: The Big Picture for information.

3. Changes in Eating Habits

According to the article, eating more than usual or less than usual can both be signs of burnout. You might be eating less because chronic stress can reduce your appetite or simply because you’re overly busy or distracted. And you might be eating more because you’re turning comfort foods to make yourself feel better or because one of the stress hormones, cortisol, can increase your appetite, especially for sugar (see Not So Sweet: The Problem with Cortisol and Sugar).

In general, practicing yoga for stress management may be helpful for both problems, so see Stress Management for When You’re Stressed. If you’re having digestive problems as well, see number 5 below.

4. Headaches

The article mentions that chronic stress can cause headaches. I think stress headaches are pretty common for people who tend to get headaches. See Yoga for Headaches: The Big Picture for information about how yoga can help.

5. Digestive Problems

When you’re in a fight-flight-or-freeze state, your digestive system doesn’t work as effectively because your body’s resources are diverted to preparing the body for fighting or fleeing. (This is the same reason that your immune system doesn’t work as effectively when you’re stressed out.) The article mentioned these digestive problems: nausea, gas, and indigestion. Medical websites I checked also mentioned GERD, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease.

See How Yoga Helps Your  Digestive System  for information about how yoga can help.

 

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