4 • THE CAMBERWELL CITIZEN • ISSUE #12
BREAKING FREE FROM BURNOUT Still feeling exhausted after lockdown? You could be suffering from burnout. Here’s how to recognise it and overcome it.
With the restrictions of lockdown behind us and the holiday season upon us, it’s a time for celebration and rejuvenation. So why, even with life returning to some semblance of normalcy, do many of us feel exhausted? After the nearly two-year rollercoaster that has been the coronavirus pandemic, you could be suffering the lingering effects of burnout. “Being ‘burnt out’ is a popular description for the effects of chronic stress that have been unaddressed and inadequately managed,” said clinical psychologist Dr Carly Ymer, of Camberwell’s Being Well Clinic.
According to Dr Ymer, the signs of burnout can range from poor sleep – difficulty either falling or staying asleep – to changes in appetite, mood changes such as irritability and dysphoria, social withdrawal, and general levels of both physical and cognitive fatigue. “Burnout can make it challenging to remain focused on your daily living and jobs, reduces feelings of satisfaction and connection, and is often described as ‘everything feels just too hard’,” she said. Considering Melbourne has the unenviable title of the world’s most locked down city, it comes as no surprise the impacts of the pandemic have left many Melburnians feeling stressed, isolated and drained. Dr Ymer said the chronic stress of multiple, lengthy hard lockdowns has pushed our adaptive coping mechanisms to their limits.
“ N OT A L L S T R E S S I S B A D , B U T I F W E D O N ’ T TA K E A D E Q U AT E S T E P S TO C O U N T E R A C T A N D R E J U V E N AT E FROM STRESS IT CAN BECOME TO X I C TO O U R P H Y S I C A L A N D M E N TA L H E A LT H – A L S O C A L L E D B U R N O U T. ” – D R C A R LY Y M E R .
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“Although we are generally quite adaptive to daily stress and elevated pressures in daily lives, we aren’t meant to experience these long-term like we have in the lockdowns of COVID-19,” she said. “As such our biological, emotional, cognitive and social resources have run dry and we aren’t getting refuelled by our typical pleasurable activities and experiences such as group fitness, family gatherings, dinner with friends, weekend getaways, and even simple things like brunches out and retail therapy.” The sudden restrictions on our movement, the isolation of working or learning from home, and the shrinking of our social circles also took a toll. “The effects of being confined to our homes, where we now sleep, eat, cook, clean, work, school, exercise and socialise all in the one place are
