OVERLOAD without BURNOUT Bob Rich http://anxietyanddepression-help.com/burnout/ Overload: More than what you believe you can do. Herbert Freudenberger, (1974) Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement. MIT: http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/w /c/wchuang/News/college/MIT-views.html Burnout: Maslach Burnout Inventory: http://www.cpp.com/ http://www.sarbc.org/ciss8.html SARBC Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia Burnout Quiz (from H. Freudenberger and G. Richelson) ARE YOU BURNING OUT? Have you noticed changes in yourself over the past 6 months? Assign a number from 1 ( for no or little change) to 5 (for a great deal of change) for each of the following 15 questions. Burnout Quiz 1. Do you tire more easily? Feel fatigued rather than energetic? 2. Are people annoying you by telling you, “You don't look so good lately?” 3. Are you working harder and harder and accomplishing less and less? 4. Are you increasingly cynical and disenchanted? 5. Are you often invaded by a sadness you can't explain? 6. Are you “forgetting” (appointments, deadlines, personal possessions)? 7. Are you increasingly irritable? More short-tempered? More disappointed in the people around you? 8. Are you seeing close friends and family members less frequently? Burnout Quiz 2 9. Are you too busy to do even routine things like make phone calls or read reports or send out Christmas cards? 10. Are you suffering from physical complaints? (aches, pains, headaches, a lingering cold)? 11. Do you feel disoriented when the activity of the day comes to a halt? 12. Is joy elusive? 13. Are you unable to laugh at a joke about yourself? 14. Does sex seem like more trouble than it's worth? 15. Do you have very little to say to people? Burnout Quiz scoring Don't let a high total alarm you, but pay attention to it. Burnout is reversible, no matter how far along it is. The sooner you start being kinder to yourself, the better. < 25 fine 26 - 35 there are things you should be watching 36 - 50 you're a candidate 51 - 65 you are burning out > 65 you're in a dangerous situation, threatening to your physical and mental well-being. About Burnout “Skills and knowledge remain intact, but the will to perform, the spirit within, is gone.” Beverley Potter Jennifer Senior: http://nymag.com/news/features/24757/ In summary, My definition • when you need a vacation to get away from what used to be your vocation, • when money is the only reason you need to keep going, • when you reach for your favourite tipple to drown out the blank within you, • when you try harder and feel you are achieving less... you are in a state of burnout. Adaptation level Overload: More than what you believe you can do. Your expectation always comes true. Solution: Change the belief. (All the same as exposure therapy for phobias.) A paradoxical attitude 1. ACCEPTANCE: I know I’ve got cancer. It’s life threatening. It may well kill me, and if so, I accept it. 2. BLOODY MINDEDNESS: I am going to fight this. I know I can survive. I know I can win. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Professional distance It’s not your pain. You are not there to share it, but to relieve it. My problem is how to empower the client so she can solve her problem. When it fails: Refer on. Displace emotion. Debrief with supervisor or colleague. Yerkes-Dodson law You can’t care for others unless you care for the carer first. performance arousal 1firstaid.rtf on the web page Adequate sleep ‘Adequate sleep’ is not something that can be objectively defined. It is the amount that allows you to function well while feeling rested much of the time. It varies from person to person, time to time, and situation to situation. Too much sleep Decide on a time to get up. Do so 7/7. Shower, dress, breakfast etc. Then you may go back to bed if you wish. Insomnia David Morawetz http://www.sleepbetter.com.au/ When I lie here, eyes closed, fully relaxed, breathing softly, it is just as restful as if I was asleep. Sleep mantra: “Just as restful... Just as restful...” Thought stopping: http://mudsmith.net/bobbing2-6.html - thoughtstop Scheduling: Make an appointment with the worry, and keep it. Any other time, send it away. Relaxation Exercise A few minutes of exercise is guaranteed to lift the miseries. 1. Thorough checkup. 2. Have program designed for you. Healthy nutrition You are what you put into your body. What you breathe, drink, eat and put on your skin contains toxic chemicals. These interact in complex ways. Any substance that affects your mind can do you harm. Fun Creativity Mindfulness Fun Life is too short to be treated with the seriousness it deserves. Siegfried Gutbrod: Laughter is the best analgesic. “If you don't have a sense of humor, get one.” Cancer survivor, 12 years after she should have been dead according to the doctors. A very shy bloke goes into a pub and sees a beautiful woman sitting at the bar. After an hour of gathering up his courage, he finally goes over to her and asks, tentatively, “Um, would you mind if I chatted with you for a while?” She responds by yelling, at the top of her lungs, “NO! I won't sleep with you tonight!” Everyone in the bar is now staring at them. Naturally, the guy is hopelessly and completely embarrassed and slinks back to his table. After a few minutes, the woman walks over to him and apologises. She smiles at him and says, “I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. You see, I'm a graduate student in psychology, and I'm studying how people respond to embarrassing situations.” To which he responds, at the top of his lungs, “What do you mean, $200?!” Creativity You can do ANYTHING creatively. It’s not what you do, but how you do it. Creativity is a rejuvenator. It makes everything fresh. If you do everything in a creative way, you live in a bright world. Mindfulness I know the thought is quite absurd but it’d be fun to be a bird: to soar above the treetops high and fly under a pale blue sky. Birds are people of little brain. That’s a great plus: let me explain. Troubles and sorrows do not last, but soon become the distant past. The joys of NOW fill all the world -it’s quite clever, being a bird. Come to think, you don’t need wings to get such a good view on things. ...Mindfulness Depression, PTSD and many other problems: being imprisoned in your past. We face a thousand dangers every day. One or two may actually come true. The Past is history. The Future is a mystery. I give you a Present. Social connectedness At least three (possibly overlapping) social groups needed. Animals qualify! A social connection is when you as a unique person are important in the life of another person who is important in your life. Positivity Mitzvah: a secret good deed a day. Gratitude list: all the good things I encountered today. Meaning “He who has a WHY of living will endure almost any HOW.” Nietzsche The more you give, the more you get. Life is lessons: a journey not a destination. A few random quotes... Reality is nothing but a free choice of one of many doors that are open at all times. Hermann Hesse The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. Albert Schweitzer One is hurt not by people and events, but by the internal interpretations given to them. Diana Elton. Changing attitude doesn’t guarantee a remission. Neither does chemotherapy... the former has no physical side effects. Rubin Buttino You cannot find happiness. It will ensue from what you do. Viktor Frankl Fake it till you make it. Jamie Blyth Seem the man you wish to be. Socrates