Dealing With Burnout Too?

[Em C.]

Hey all!

I apparently have high levels of burnout amongst PTSD etc. Has anyone else had this and how did you deal? My doctor's general advice is to power through the next month and get everything for school done and try not to die. That was... less than reassuring. I'm really dizzy (from my somatoform disorder) and I have to keep myself decently under control so I don't fall and give my self a concussion which would aggravate everything else. So I'm not allowed to take a break from stuff to deal with burnout that way... anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks! :)

 

[izmo]

Hey,

I have had gone through burnout and exhaustion. At times I feel like I internalize messages like,''I need to get ahead in what I do,fast , and everything needs to go smoothly'' and lately I try to help myself more by reminding myself that I need to be gentler or more appreciative with myself, even if it means slowing down and appreciating the little things -- like listening to soothing sounds.

Besides, overworked and exhaustion can badly effect the quality of work. My suggestion is that you can work, at the same time be sure to schedule breaks..maybe just a little more break than usual, and be patient with yourself.

 

[franciemarnie]

I know this may sound impossible, but get as much sleep as you can and only do what is essential.

I burned out once and it took a couple years to recover my health.

Sleep was vital so take naps if your night sleep is bad. Stay hydrated and eat right. Try to schedule a little fun every day. Laughter is healing.

 

[TimeToHeal]

Please excuse my naivety here, but what is burnout - when related to PTSD???

 

[duff]

I echo what has been said! Make sleep, water, and food your priorities. Do the bare minimum of everything, and gut it out until it is done. Take a full day off even if it feels extravagant.

When I get into this space - and I've been here so many times it's really kind of sad, lol - my motto becomes: "Just show up." I call showing up a success, whether it means to a class, turning in an assignment, studying for an exam, etc. It can be SO hard - I have so much deep sympathy. But, if you take it day by day, focus on sleep/water/food first, and then "just show up," next, you can totally make it!!

P.S. I like "just show up" MUCH better than "just don't quit," as a motto, because I find the positive action point really useful. It's easier to visualize a "do" than a "don't" for me.

But overall, good luck. I'm cheering and rooting for you!!

 

[Hashi]

I'm afraid I'm not clear what you mean by burnout. I only know this as adrenal exhaustion due to excessive stress. I was prescribed DHEA for that, which helped - although it might not be suitable if you have other conditions/medication. I'm confused why your doctor would advise you to power through anything if you're burnt out.

 

[Em C.]

Thanks for all the love guys I will do my best!

Unfortunately I have to keep an 80 avg for my programme and I have two jobs...

@duff that is what I'm doing right now but people are being less than tolerant about it :(

Wikipedia (gets the general idea) as more or less pushing yourself past your mental or physical abilities until you spiral into not functioning.

I'm not sure entirely why that's his suggestion-- his other suggesttion because I'm hyper sensitive to medication and can't take things for sleeping is to do stuff till I drop. So adding it up is rather unfortunate

 

[pamcoco]

Hi Em C.

I have autoimmune inner ear disease and extreme vertigo at times causing me to hit the ground in 'drop attacks'. Sharing the dizzy thing I think we know when we are most likely to seriously fall. I too constantly fear head injury and wear a medical alert pendant. But it has been 2.5 years and I have become good at forecasting the risk involved in a days activities. I should actually say a few hours activities, because my dizziness can worsen quickly.

So regarding managing the anxiety involved in the fear of falling I offer this advice:

Only venture as far from home as you absolutely must
Have a safe person, someone informed of your potential falling, in every location you must travel to
Try not to drive
Always have a backup plan, how to handle your responsibilities should you be too dizzy to engage

I have found planning and forethought are my best friends in managing constant potential risk, which is ironic because I am a spur of the moment kinda gal. But by just adding these factors to your daily routine you may help your overall burnout by lifting the realistic constant anxiety.

Be careful!

 

[Justmehere]

Has anyone else had this and how did you deal?

Sounds like your stress cup is full like here: https://www.myptsd.com/threads/the-ptsd-cup-explanation.13737/

Your doc sounds kind of obnoxious. :/ I'm sorry he was not more helpful.

Somatoform disorder is a diagnosis given when the patient truly believes they have a medical problem (i.e. the person is not faking for attention) but there is no medical problem behind the symptoms (and there are usually many symptoms and a long history of them - it's actually a required part of the diagnostic criteria for Somatoform disorder). So on one hand, it would make sense for doctor to say to push through... However, in the case of PTSD, there are many symptoms that can present just from sheer stress that are a real medical consequence. So your body having these physical symptoms could be a way of your body and mind telling you that your stress cup is full. Having a Somatoform disorder with PTSD would seem to suggest your capacity to cope with the understandably huge amount of stress you feel is maxed out. Anything that would help you reduce stress would likely help over time to reduce the symptoms - and sometimes, just simply pushing through. Two jobs and going to school and battling PTSD is a huge amount of stress!

I personally get really dizzy when stressed and I have tripped and fallen a number of times. Once I did some work with my therapist, it got better.

I agree with others that doing planning to reduce the risk of falling is a great idea.

Can you take a short vacation from one of the jobs while you get through this next month? That might help you recharge.

Things like lots of short grounding activities and mindfulness help me reduce the PTSD stress in my stress cup and help keep it all from overflowing.

 

[sarafina]

Hi EM C
I am new here and yours is the first post I am responding to as I can relate to it. I having similar symptoms. Getting enough sleep is essential. Today my family doc prescribed amitryptaline which I have taken before in lose dose to help with sleep. There are things like B-vitamins that can help - but some supplements should not be taken with amitryptaline (like St. John's Wort) as both increase seratonin. You don't want to over do it.

What happened with me is that I was having flashbacks because I was arrested at a political protest several months ago. There were a lot of riot police and cops on huge horses. As part of my preparation of part of a collective defense I had to relive and write in detail what I went through. I went back to the small space where a group of us were kettled during a peaceful environmental protest. We were held there for an hour surrounded by a wall of police with helmets and shields.
This will not lead to a criminal record - more like a very expensive traffic ticket with a lot of intimidation included.

Recently I have had dreams of riot police with tear gas guns the size of rocket launchers blocking entrance into subway and have been feeling a lot of hypervigilance at all hours. This was reducing my sleep which led to burnout which is adrenal exhaustion. There are lots of vitamins and minerals that help with the physical support but its also important to get as much rest as possible. The advice to push through it when your body and mind need rest is not helpful sounding. It is something that doctors are forced to do as part of their training but there is little evidence that it makes them better doctors to work 30 hours at a time. Sounds like you are being told what the doctor himself or herself would do. But it does not make burnout go away. Time and rest help and good nutrition, not too much caffeine help. Avoid triggers if possible.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I think I fail to see why you can't take a break and need to just power through? This seems to be the opposite of self care in the PTSD sense and to me would just seem to exacerbate burnout.

 

[Mina]

Don't know if this will help, as your post was a couple weeks ago. How have things gone since then?

I recently dealt with burnout myself, although my situation was a little different. Had a stressful, high-responsibility extroverted job (I'm an introvert at heart) with no back-up that I was working up to 60 hours a week, and still always being far behind. Started asking management last spring for help, being very clear about what was needed, as I had enough work for two people. They didn't listen, so I began planning my exit last September.

Personally, I found it very helpful to have a specific plan. I looked at the calendar to see when pay dates were, anticipated bonus payout, which months had 3 paychecks instead of 2, etc. Then I decided what my "drop dead" date on giving notice would be, and made up a one page calendar with each month between current and end (4 months). I kept this in my work bag, and every day before I went home, crossed off that day with a green highlighter. The visual representation of progressing towards my leave date was quite helpful. And it was highly satisfying to make that X and cross off another day!

In the meantime, I basically put everything I could on hold to just get through and make and save the most money I could without completely imploding. If I didn't have to do something...socializing, cooking, whatever...I didn't. Even quit therapy for the short term because it wasn't helping to spend the session bitching about work, and I didn't have the energy to work on myself or PTSD. Took my vitamins, tried to eat and sleep as best I could.

It sucked, ROYALLY sucked, and I was not a good person to be around then. But I got through it, even amidst my grandfather dying, me having heart problems (thanks to the work stress), almost losing my dog to a freak medical issue and her needing lots of care, and my husband getting a promotion which was essentially changing jobs. Now that I am out, I can reap the benefits of being able to not work for some time, and focus on myself and whatever I'd like to.

Wishing you well on whatever path you choose :)