Remember to Breathe: Avoiding Burnout in Social Justice Work
Burnout — the physical or mental collapse brought on by overwork or stress — is a serious problem for an untold number of practitioners, researchers, and activists working to address global health and social justice issues worldwide. The irony of this problem should not be lost on us: we spend our days so focused on finding ways to improve the well-being of strangers or communities we know and love (not to mention our own children!) and in the process we completely forget or neglect to take care of ourselves.
Health is holistic. It is not just the absence of physical disease, but comprises all forms of mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. All of these systems within the often fragile ecological framework of the individual are intimately interconnected — failure to focus on one can have severe consequences for the other. Individuals who work to address malnutrition, communicable diseases, reproductive rights, the epidemic of partner violence, or other health and social justice issues carries are at serious risk of what is known as vicarious or secondary trauma. Whether as practitioners or researchers, when we enter healing spaces with the empathy required to do our work well, we go in like open wounds susceptible to taking on the pain and trauma of those we seek to serve. The mental health field is just now starting to pay attention to these critical issues, but most care providers and social workers continue to suffer in silence.
Working long hours, often in under-resourced settings and frequently underpaid, global health advocates can burnout much faster than those in less psychologically demanding professions. When working with civil-society organizations or government agencies, one may have access to counseling or other support services through human resource departments. Those who work in more remote or under-resourced work environments, or on a consulting basis, often wind up feeling extremely isolated. This is further compounded by the often overwhelming frustrations one may feel with the slow-moving bureaucracy of the development and aid sectors, perpetual lack of funding for projects, and harmful social norms that refuse to budge enough to bring about lasting change.
As Alessandra Pigni, the late author of The Idealist’s Survival Kit: 75 Simple Ways to Avoid Burnout, points out: “Burnout is fueled by a culture in which we matter because of how much we get done, how busy we are.” For those of us both on the front lines and behind the scenes, the pressure to work long hours and the associated trauma, pain, and suffering we take on in doing so pose a serious risk to our health.
Unfortunately for too many populations — such as frontline factory workers in Southeast Asia, small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and single mothers in the U.S. (and globally) — there is often a tension between pausing to address burnout and literally surviving. But for social justice and global health professionals and activists who want to be effective in transforming inequitable systems and promoting healthy decision-making in communities around the world, they must center healthy living in their own lives as well.
In the global health arena, healing is often relegated to a technocratic exercise through one-off immunization or awareness campaigns. This approach loses sight of the transformative power of healing others, healing the world, and healing ourselves. However, we are seeing more health and human rights spaces emerge such as the Healing Solidarity Collective and the Global Fund for Women which frame self-care as a form of activism in itself. Practicing self-care can build resilience and help prevent or mitigate the effects of burnout. To be an effective activist, self-care must be prioritized and there are many ways of doing it:
1. Find your wellness practice and DO IT. Whether it’s regular exercise, meditation, yoga, dance, or singing your heart out to your favorite song on your car ride home, your wellness self-care practices are yours to discover, create, modify and embrace. Once you find a practice that works for you, commit to doing it regularly. The more you make a habit of treating yourself with kindness and love, the more you will be able to show up with the same kindness and love for others.
2. Take breaks when you need them. This means taking your allotted vacation days without feeling guilty for doing so, and taking personal days when you feel like the stress is too much. Remember that your mental health is just as important as your physical health! You may feel taking a day off robs communities of your urgently needed help, but don’t let that pressure keep you from looking after your self first.
3. Don’t get lost in your vices. When the pressures of our work are too much to bear, we often turn to alcohol, drugs, binge-eating, self-harm or countless hours glued to a screen to numb the stress and pain. If you feel that coping mechanisms are getting the best of you, take the time away from work that you need and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Try to fill that space with healthy influences, such as time with friends and loved ones, time in nature, and time away from social media!
4. Reach out for support. No matter how isolating or defeating your work or activism may seem, you do not need to suffer in silence. Whether you reach out to colleagues, friends, your boss, or a support group in person or online, find an outlet to share your experiences. Each case of secondary trauma or burnout is unique and should be treated as a legitimate health concern. Never be afraid to advocate for your own needs. You are not alone.
For countless individuals worldwide, overwork is a part of life. It is arguably with great privilege that many of us are able to recognize when burnout is happening and have the ability to take action to mitigate it. This process of self-care and self-preservation is essential for us to bring our whole and best selves to the causes that we believe in most. By focusing on self-care at all levels of activism, programming, research, and academia, we may begin to build a better picture of what self-care looks like for social justice movements as a whole.
Devin Faris was a 2014–2015 fellow in Uganda.
Global Health Corps (GHC) is a leadership development organization building the next generation of health equity leaders around the world. All GHC fellows, partners, and supporters are united in a common belief: health is a human right. There is a role for everyone in the movement for health equity. To learn more, visit our website and connect with us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook.
