What is burnout?
Burnout can happen any time, to anyone.
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. People often talk about it in relation to jobs, but burnout can be caused by a whole host of life stressors.
People with divergent neurotypes, mental health issues, and disabilities are at a much higher risk for experiencing burnout because we tend to experience more daily stress.
Sometimes this comes in the form of a multitude of “minor” issues that add up over time, and sometimes burnout happens after an extreme period of being unwell.
It may seem counterintuitive, but a time we are particularly vulnerable is after a prolonged stressful period ends. We’ve been holding ourselves together for so long that when it’s finally “safe” to breakdown, we do. All the unexpressed emotions we’d been pushing aside to focus on survival catch up with us.
Happy summer!
If you’re feeling burnt out from the heat, or are worried about summer holiday burnout, I will share some practical and realistic suggestions for ways you can recover and take care of yourself.
Please be patient with yourself and your loved ones. Recovering from burnout can take a really long time, depending on how long we’ve been pushing ourselves, and how deeply exhausted and over-extended we’ve been.
These are things that help me, but what works for each person will be different. It can help to keep track of how each strategy you try makes you feel, especially if exploring self care is new to you, or if you struggle with interoception (or alexithymia).
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