Are you mental? Pandemic burnout must be normalised so we can recover quicker and better.
By Michaela Faber, psychologist and business development expert.
When I was 34, I climbed the career ladder as a Business Development Manager with giant steps. It meant 12–16 hour days, business travel that included weekends and bank holidays and constant pressure to perform at peak levels. I burnt the candle at both ends, ignoring the signs of stress, like inability to sleep at night, heart palpitations, mild anxiety attacks, headaches, sweaty palms. When I lost my hearing in both ears, my GP warned me that I was on my way into full-blown burnout if I did not start to look after myself better. As a fully trained psychologist, I knew deep down that he was right.
Pre-Covid
Stress is a psychological and physical reaction caused by internal or external stimuli that triggers a fight or flight reaction. In modern society, our brains expect high levels of stress. Even pre-Covid, we saw a rising number of people suffering from depression, burnout, and suicidal thoughts throughout the western world. We saw the impact it had on people, and when continuous stress causes the brain to go into constant survival mode, it damages our physical and mental health in the long run. There is only so much ‘surviving’ humans can tolerate.
Present-Covid
Then lockdowns, homeschooling, insecurities about the future, health and safety, and the pressure hit humans across the globe. Not surprisingly, stress levels have increased tremendously. Recent figures from a research project by Fastuna are alarming, with 81% of parents showing signs of stress-related mental health problems.
And this is not the end of it. Even our youngest are poorly affected by the lockdown imposed on them, as a recent Cambridge study has shown.
Post-Covid
We face a significant mental health crisis, or are we already in the middle of it and ignoring the elephant in the room?
As a psychologist, I know what effects the aftermath of chronic stress can have on mental and physical health. And one of the problems is that people are so used to running on high adrenaline that they may not notice the signs of depression and burnout straight away.
What is not common knowledge is that once the high levels of adrenalin wear off and the survival mode depletes, the brain goes into an automated survival mode. It will remain on high alert whilst already being exhausted. To counter this effect, it will try to slow things down, and this is when depression, fatigue and burnout may hit.
Those not in the know may argue that it will all be fine as soon as the lockdown is over. Stress levels will decrease, and people will return to normal. Had the stress been short term, this would undoubtedly be correct. However, we have people in a state of survival with high alert and high-stress levels for nearly a year. So we need to look at the impact of long term stress, and we need to prepare for the wave that will start to roll. I cannot see anyone ready for that.
Though the British government has pumped some money into the NHS and other mental health care organisations, this may not even cover the tip of the iceberg. Though studies conducted between 2017–2019 have shown increased wellbeing from pre lockdown to lockdown and a decrease post lockdown. The second lockdown may have had a longer-lasting effect than the first lockdown. At least Fastuna’s survey results indicate this for parents.
The Fastuna study also showed that people don’t want to get professional help even though they know they struggle. Several people in the U.K pointed out that they did not want to burden the NHS with their problems. In Germany, where I live now, it was hard, even pre-Covid, to get professional help, with long waiting lists at psychotherapists. So our western world system is not designed for such a high number of people seeking help. It seems that raising awareness with pandemic burnout campaigns might help support the general public post-Covid lockdown. And that the message is clear and straightforward — it’s normal to burnout after such a situation, it’s ok to stop for a moment and reflect, and it doesn’t matter who, what or where you are; it’s ok not to feel ok.
What can you do as an individual?
Some people will cope better than others when it comes to stress. Why is that? Well, various reasons impact an individual’s ability to cope with stress. Most commonly, it is how we release stress at the time when it occurs. It is the reason why some people shout with rage when something goes wrong. It is an instant release of pressure and helps lower the cortisol level.
Am I suggesting you should shout more often? Yes, if it helps to release the inner pressure, do it. If you don’t want to scare the neighbours — hold a cushion in front of your mouth and scream to your heart’s content. Invite your children to scream along. They will love it.
Make sure you exercise regularly. By that, I do not mean that you have to hit the gym every morning at 6 a.m. A brisk 10-minute walk once or twice a day will do the trick. If you have children an no one to look after them, invite them to come with you. It helps them also to release a lot of tension.
Take mini-breaks by using your imagination to travel to places you love. You can do this standing amidst screaming kids. Think of a place you once travelled to and felt amazing, happy and relaxed. For me, this is a beach in the Seychelles. Whenever I get stressed out, I think of this beach and feel how happy I was when I was there. I imagine it to the point that I can almost feel the sand underneath my feet. You can do these mini-trips throughout the day. They help release serotonin, and this increases happiness — a great way to counter stress.
When dealing with a task under enormous time pressure, this little exercise will help you relax and release tension. You can do it for 2–3 minutes in 30 second intervals. Start to watch how you breathe and start taking deeper breaths. Focus your eyes on a spot and hold your body very still, don’t even blink your eyelids. Focus on how your body feels. You may feel your bum on the chair or your feet on the ground, or even a tingling sensation. Don’t think about what you feel; just watch the feeling. Listen to the sounds around you without trying to analyse them. Do these things all at once for 30 seconds. Then relax a bit and do it again for 30 seconds. Do this until you feel the release of inner pressure.
I love my coffee, but I can only ever drink 1 cup a day. My body does not tolerate any more than that. So I exchanged coffee for green tea. It refreshes me, but at the same, it has a more calming effect, and it has loads of positive effects on the body.
Use dietary supplements such as:
- Omega-3 fatty acids — helps to reduce anxiety
- Ashwagandha — helps to reduce stress and anxiety
- Valerian — has a light tranquilising effect and helps calm you down
- Kava kava — also helps to reduce mild stress and anxiety
Find a hypnotherapist to help implement a mechanism that helps you cope with stress. Often chronic stress is based on past experience or trauma. For example, you may have experienced as a child that you woke up in the middle of the night and no one was there. For a child, this can be very traumatic. So during the lockdown, you may have reactivated this trauma subconsciously and thus experienced the separation from others as very traumatic, with feelings of anxiety, loneliness and fear. A hypnotherapist can resolve these issues and help put the experiences you had during lockdown into perspective so they no longer traumatise you.
And least but not last. I think employers need to step in and help out to keep their workforce healthy. Each one of us is the heart and the should of a company. No business owner can do it on their own.
So what can you do as an employer?
- Raise awareness, i.e. by starting a: ‘we are here for you’ campaign. This could include raising awareness of signs of effects of chronic stress: anxiety, frequent sickness, teeth grinding, increased number of headaches, heart racing, trembling, mood changes, clammy or sweaty palms, diarrhoea, decreased sex drive, digestive problems, dizziness, problems to concentrate or focus.
- Offer solutions: i.e. create an opening for a coach or psychologist specialist on depression, burn out and stress prevention who is dedicated to your employees.
- Create moderated chat groups so people can exchange information, tips and help to support each other. This will create a great sense of community, and your employees will feel they are not alone with this.
- Allow and create an atmosphere of open dialogue so your employees are not ashamed to speak about it openly and thus open up for help.
- Encourage your employees to take mini breaks and time off during the day to de-stress.
- Offer internal Webinars that educate and help employees to exercise mindfulness, self-hypnosis for de-stressing, recognising early signs of depression and burnout etc., reasons and self-help with anxiety.
If all fails, don’t be shy to seek professional help. We are all human, and we have all these beautifully trained professionals available — even if you think that you can cope. Do yourself a favour and act before you suffer. I am talking from experience. In the end, it took me nearly two years to reverse the effects of being burned out.
