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Therapist Are you burning out? Here are the signs to watch out for...

Linda Breathnach outlines what ways Burnout can present in our busy, ever-productive and switched on lives.

“THEY HAVE NO interest in me and how I am”…

Many years ago, I sat one day and listened as a teacher, who was attending my private counselling psychotherapy practice, ranted about his secondary school students.

His frustration and irritation was palpable. As a parent of four children myself, I was thinking to myself that they shouldn’t have to worry about him in his role. Yes, they should be courteous and respectful, of course, but they shouldn’t be thinking about him or his needs in any great detail. They are the children and he is the adult. He should be in the role of teacher and they should be in the role of student. It’s his job to be concerned about them but not the other way round.

I knew straight away that he was suffering from, or on the verge of “Burnout”.

Burnout is defined by the American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology as: “Physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes toward oneself and others. It results from performing at a high level until stress and tension, especially from extreme and prolonged physical or mental exertion or an overburdening workload, take their toll”.

Burnout is something I am increasingly coming across as part of my work in both the Therapeutic and Corporate Spaces. According to the World Health Organization, three indicators of burnout are:

  • A sense of physical and mental fatigue or exhaustion;
  • Growing detachment from work, accompanied by negative or cynical attitudes towards it; and
  • A decline in job performance and effectiveness.

The second sign, which involves developing a negative or cynical attitude towards work that once excited and inspired you, is something I encounter frequently.

Work as the cause

Often people talk about how much they used to love their work, that it gave them meaning and purpose and that it felt like they were “making a difference”. This meaning and purpose ignited their commitment and enthusiasm to go “above and beyond” in what they gave to their work. Sometimes this might have been exploited by colleagues or managers, and other times it was escalated by the pressure and expectation that people put on themselves.

There is a lot that employers can do to improve the working culture of an organisation that will protect the mental health and wellbeing of employees and help prevent burnout.

It is important for employers to foster a positive workplace environment where work life balance is not only encouraged but also modelled as good practice from the top down. Providing support and resources along with ongoing Professional Development is also something that employers can offer. Employers have a responsibility to create a healthy workplace atmosphere with reasonable workloads and where good habits of exercise, nutrition and rest are valued as much as work.

Employees can also help themselves when it comes to burnout prevention. Often in therapy, when I would scratch beneath the surface with clients, we would realise that the expectation and pressure can be coming from within. A person’s perfectionism or commitment to a project might cause them to take on too much or expect too much of themselves and this sometimes isn’t coming from an employer at all. This can be difficult to face up to but also hugely empowering.

Self-care

This is when I would support somebody to work on their own levels of self-care and self-compassion and what might be hindering them from this (e.g. Imposter syndrome, fear of failure or people-pleasing).

Kristin Neff defines self-compassion as “the process of turning compassion inward”. Often through this work, we will realise that we are much better at making allowances for other people and being kind to others than we are to ourselves. Self-care is sometimes confused with selfishness, but while selfishness is often about putting ourselves before others, Self-care is about bringing how we treat ourselves up to the same level as how we treat others.

So if you are starting to notice your own signs of Burnout, if you are experiencing more fatigue than usual, your productivity and efficiency in work are deteriorating and above all, you are now irritated and cynical about what used to light your spark, maybe it’s time to take some self-care steps.

This can include a longer holiday than usual in order to allow yourself to fully switch off, being as kind to yourself as you might be to a friend, noticing how much you have on your plate and making allowances for that and lastly learning to say the words “no”, “not now” or “maybe later”!

Talking to an IACP accredited therapist is a great place to start if you need support with your own work-life balance and burnout prevention and you can find a therapist near you on the IACP register www.iacp.ie

Linda Breathnach is an MIACP psychotherapist, lecturer, trainer and supervisor. For more, see TherapyAndTraining.ie

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    Mute billy wiggle
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    Sep 11th 2015, 2:53 PM

    the what can i be offended by today mob will be livid

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:08 PM

    This comment is highly offensive. I’m going to start a twitter campaign #BillyWiggleHatesPuppies

    135
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    Mute little jim
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:12 PM

    You should be ashamed of yourself Billy!! #BillyWiggleHatesPuppies

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    Mute Robyn Morton
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    Sep 11th 2015, 4:08 PM

    I got here late, but I saw #billywigglehatespuppies and I am so offended by it I don’t know what I am going to do, but I have to do something!

    63
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    Mute Shane Kinsella
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    Sep 11th 2015, 2:56 PM

    Stupid headline and non story. Anybody who has automatic updates enabled will get this update because THEY HAVE AUTO UPDATE enabled. Idiots!

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    Mute Sledro
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    Sep 11th 2015, 4:56 PM

    Exactly. It seems the journal don’t like windows 10? If people took the time to alter their settings this would not happen. Windows 10 is a huge improvement and everyone should upgrade for FREE. If your concerned about privacy simply edit your settings once installed.

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    Mute Bob Mac
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    Sep 11th 2015, 6:16 PM

    For anyone who appreciates good software, windows 10 is excellent, I have been using it for the past few weeks and I really think its great. If people are worried about intrusiveness on Microsofts part, there are a tonne of guides on the internet that will allow you to alter settings to protect yourself. this isn;t complicated and could be done by anyone who can operate a PC

    I think the animosity towards Windows 10 is because most people simply won;t alter their settings even though it is very simple to do. Most people don;t alter settings in any software they use, This is a simple fact. This is why many are suspicious of Windows 10 I think, , as they perceive this as sneakyness of an unsuspecting public on Microsofts part, maybe their right, its too early to tell but I for one am happy with my decision to upgrade

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    Mute Castalla Villas
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:05 PM

    it’s free and it works fine what’s wrong with that

    58
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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:09 PM

    It sends all kinds of personal data back to microsoft so they can make money out of invading your privacy like Google does.

    49
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    Mute Anne Marie Devlin
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:09 PM

    I find the boot up much slower than 8.1 which is annoying.

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    Mute Stephen Cleary
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:14 PM

    I’ve actually found it quicker. boot to login about 5 seconds

    42
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    Mute Séamus Antóin Mac Donnchadha
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:53 PM

    Windows 10 is slow! Well on my laptop, so I went back to windows 8.1

    13
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    Mute David Kennedy
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:05 PM

    MS should notify users, but to put the data download into perspective, 6GB is roughly the same as watching 3 hours of HD on Netflix

    41
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    Mute Shane Kinsella
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:16 PM

    MS did notify their users. The win10 update icon has been on people’s desktops for months now, . The mouse roll over said update available.

    39
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    Mute jimmy collins
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    Sep 11th 2015, 7:55 PM

    Windows 7 is by far the best edition they ever released,

    15
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    Mute Daffy TheBear
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    Sep 11th 2015, 6:38 PM

    Ubuntu.

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    Mute Ian McKinney
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    Sep 11th 2015, 7:04 PM

    Yep.

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    Mute Gary O'neill
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    Sep 11th 2015, 2:55 PM

    Windows can release all the technology they want but they will never release anything close to the Apple iPhone

    11
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    Mute Shane Kinsella
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    Sep 11th 2015, 2:57 PM

    Windows is a operating system, not a mobile phone manufacturer.

    184
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    Mute Paul
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    Sep 11th 2015, 2:58 PM

    I have an iphone which is great and all but will never move to an apple mac and whatever system’s they use.

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    Mute Guy Incognito
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:09 PM

    My name is Gary and I don’t understand technology, which is why the iPhone is the perfect device for me.

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:10 PM

    I have an IBM compatible 286. You can have your poxy iphone.

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    Mute Fozz
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:17 PM

    I have a rake…way better than an iPhone at clearing up cut grass.

    80
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    Mute John Doyle
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:27 PM

    Gary you know Microsoft had the tablet long before the iPad? The new iPad with a keyboard in the cover. Seems MS had this years before the iPad.

    All apple seems to do is take existing technology slap an expensive metal cover of the inner parts, put a logo on it and call it innovative.

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    Mute Andy Cahalan
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:36 PM

    The Newton was the first, John…

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    Mute Watcher-on-the-Wall
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:58 PM

    GRiDPad was the first, Andy…

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 11th 2015, 6:02 PM

    And we had PDAs like Palm Pilots long before the first iphone.

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    Mute Eugene Walsh
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:43 PM

    There’s downloading which is irrelevant without installation. They did exactly as they said on the tin.

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    Mute Simon Haden
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    Sep 11th 2015, 5:35 PM

    do not download windows 10. messed up my laptop and took a week to sort out. start menu ceasex to function ans problems with existing 3rd party software. also would not let me uninstal. had windows 7 before which was great.

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    Mute Shane Kinsella
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    Sep 11th 2015, 6:11 PM

    Of course it won’t let you uninstall, it’s a operating system. what do you think will happen when you start your pc up with no a operating system installed ?

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    Mute Dave Manning
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    Sep 11th 2015, 7:09 PM

    erm… it will tell you no operating system installed… e.g. no boot device??

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    Mute Darach Malone
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    Sep 11th 2015, 10:06 PM

    A couple of points worth noting Simon. Just because it messed up your laptop doesn’t mean people shouldn’t download it. There is a pre installation report generated that will tell you what hardware / software problems you may encounter if you install. Also there is an option available for 30 days to go back to your previous OS and settings if you’re not happy with Windows 10.

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    Mute Simon Haden
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    Sep 12th 2015, 8:44 AM

    There is an option with windows 10 to uninstal it and go back to your previous version of windows. You have a month to do it. However after 1 week it wouldnt work.

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    Mute Simon Haden
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    Sep 12th 2015, 8:45 AM

    Not sure what you are on about???

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    Mute Simon Haden
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    Sep 12th 2015, 8:52 AM

    Yes Darach and after 1 week when I tried to go back to Windows 7, it wouldnt let me. Had alot of minor problems also with existing software on my laptop when I had to call support to sort out. Also the start menu ceased to work after a few days and I had to reinstal. I miss Windows 7.

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    Mute Ian McKinney
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    Sep 11th 2015, 7:04 PM

    Time to switch to Linux.

    8
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    Mute Pete Gibson
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    Sep 11th 2015, 5:20 PM

    Windows 10 is in a desperate rearguard military counterattack by Microsoft after the Windows 8 disaster.
    .
    Windows 10 is winning again and bashing the enemy Napoleon right now.
    But Napoleon (Linus Torvalds) is gathering his armies against Microsoft right now.

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    Mute David Kearns
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:16 PM

    Most idiotic post of the day goes to…

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    Mute Dave Thomas
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:32 PM

    You

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    Mute Mark Scott
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    Sep 11th 2015, 7:08 PM

    A little bit of research shows that the inquirer got it wrong.
    This isn’t a scandal for Windows, it’s an expose for sloppy I.T. admins.
    http://m.windowscentral.com/bad-it-admins-reveal-windows-10-downloads-your-pc

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    Mute Allison Smith
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    Sep 11th 2015, 6:52 PM

    i mistakenly downloaded this and it was terrible. no improvement to my laptop and nothing worked. I went back to 8.1 fairly fast.

    5
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    Mute Eugene Walsh
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    Sep 11th 2015, 3:40 PM

    There’s downloading which means nothing without installation. They did what they said on the tin

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