Harriet Griffey - From Burnout to Balance: How to Reclaim Your Life & Improve Your Health

activities, shared

adrenal glands

adrenaline

alcohol

alpha brain waves

amygdala

antioxidants

anxiety

and emotional self-regulation

exercise and

medication

melatonin and

omega-3 fatty acids and

rumination and

social isolation and

uncertainty and

apps

atrial fibrillation (AF)

autonomic nervous system (ANS)

balance: first steps to

recovery plan

work-life balance

baseline: altered

normal

resetting your

baths

biophilia

blood pressure

the brain: brain fog

rewiring

brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

Bramson, Dr Robert

Bratman, Gregory

breaks, taking

breathing: breathing exercises

shallow breathing

bullies

Bullmore, Edward

burnout: 24-hour crisis plan

avoiding

burnout quiz

identifying the problem

long-term impact of

Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)

pandemic-induced

signs & symptoms of

when to ask for help

WHO definition

caffeine

carbohydrates

catastrophising

central nervous system

chronic fatigue

cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

colleagues

commutes

continuous partial attention (CPA)

coronavirus

cortisol

counselling

creativity

crisis plan, 24-hour

depression

alcohol and

CBT and

and emotional self-regulation

exercise and

medication

omega-3 fatty acids

rumination and

serotonin and

social isolation and 64 diet

Dines, Christopher

discontent, social media and

dopamine

downtime

EMDR (eye movement desensitisation reprogramming)

emotions

endorphins

environment, workplace

exercise

and BDNF

calming

and endorphins

mindful

pre-bed

and stress hormones

exhaustion

expectations, workplace

fatigue

fats

fertility problems

fibre

fight/flight/freeze response

Firestone, Lisa

FOMO (fear of missing out)

food

foods to avoid

foods to increase

free radicals

GABA

gardening

Garg, Dr Parveen

genes, our well-being and

gig economy

glucose

Glycaemic Index (GI)

group therapy

habits, reinforcing new

happiness, baseline level of

heart problems

help, asking for

hippocampus

hobbies

hormones, feel-good

Horta-Osorio, Antnio

HPA axis

hugs

hurtful words

hydration

hyperventilation

hypothalamus

immune system

inflammation

insomnia

Institute of Stress Medicine

isolation

JOMO (joy of missing out)

judging yourself or others

Leiter, Professor Michael

life-work balance

limbic system

loneliness

lunch breaks

maladaptation

Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)

medication

meditation

melatonin

micro-interruptions

millennials

MIND

mindfulness: meditations

mindful living

mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

minerals

multitasking

music

Myers, Benjamin

nature

negativity

Neve, Jan-Emmanuel de

news

nicotine

omega-3 fatty acids

optimism

outdoor environments

overtime

oxidation

oxytocin

pandemic-induced burnout

parasympathetic nervous system (PNS)

personality types

perspective, sense of

Pichai, Sundar

pituitary gland

play

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

processed foods

productivity

protein

psychotherapy

recovery plan

relationships

repetitive strain injury

resilience

rumination

Sandburg, Sheryl

screen time

sedentary lifestyles

self-acceptance

self-care

self-esteem

self-help

serotonin

sex

sick days

sleep

bedtimes

insomnia

snowflake generation

social media

Stone, Linda

stress: being stress smart

chronic

continuous low-level

definition of

exercise and

expectations and

and fertility

how to manage

inflammation and

personal stress responses

sleep and

social media

understanding

workplace

stress hormones

alcohol and

effect of the news on

exercise and

and fertility

the heart and

hyper-alert state

sleep and

stretches

supplements

sympathetic nervous system (SNS)

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

talking treatments

therapy

time management

time out, taking

to-do lists

tryptophan

uncertainty

vagus nerve

vitamins

work and workplaces

colleagues

environment

expectations

home working

mental health provisions

work life

workplace stress

World Health Organisation

worry

young people, social media and

How do you know whether what youre experiencing might be symptoms of burnout?

Do you feel permanently exhausted, wrung out, trapped, angry and dissociated? Do you feel you are working harder and longer but achieving less? Do you constantly feel under the weather, or suffer from persistent aches, pains, niggles and minor illnesses that wont go away?

Can you tick these three boxes without a seconds hesitation?

Emotional, mental and/or physical exhaustion that isnt alleviated by sleeping............................

An increasing sense of being cut off from yourself and from other people............................

Feeling that you are less effective at doing what youve always done, either at work or at home............................

If you feel youve reached this stage, burnout isnt just an emotional state: theres also a significant physical effect on your health. One will impact on the other, affecting how you feel both physically and emotionally. Living in a constant state of low-level stress, with an increasing reliance on your stress hormones to keep you going, can lead to adrenal exhaustion. If you reach a point of total collapse, it takes a long time to come back from.

One of the difficulties with burnout is that its build-up can be very gradual. Its all too easy to hit crisis point without realising that this is where weve been headed for weeks, if not for months or years. This is because the human body (and mind) is a marvel of adaptation and will, in time, adapt so well to a state of continuous low-grade stress that it begins to feel normal, even while were heading towards burnout.

When we are faced with a stressful situation, the resources we need to manage it will rev up; but once the stressful situation has resolved, our body should then return to its baseline, resting state. However, if we subject ourselves to relentless stress that continuously activates and re-activates our stress response, that baseline moves to a new place of adaptation. But this is actually a place of maladaptation, because its not how we are designed to function in the long term. The damage this may do, and how long it will take to kick in, is difficult to assess because we are all different. However, if we continue down this path it will become unsustainable, the cracks will show, and eventually the dam will break.