Is it possible to recover from Burnout?

LegacyUser

I have been off sick with burnout for 6 months. Even very minor things still seem to stress me out, whereas they would not have done so before. This week, I tried to do a week's course in arts and crafts - something that I love to do - but only made it to day 3 before I got completely exhausted. Have had all the blood tests etc, but nothing wrong there. My G.P. says it's complete burnout - but I want to get better and go back to being the very energetic, multitasking person that I was. Has anyone else suffered burnout, and did you recover - getting really concerned about how long it's taking.

Taltos

Mod Note
No medical advice please or we'll have to close this thread.

Rubberchikken

talk tom your gp about the best ways to tackle this. also plenty of fresh air and exercise, even just walking is a great help. i'm sorry you couldn;t finish the week long course but you managed to get to day three which couldn't have been easy when you're so tired.
see how things go in the next few weeks and maybe as you see energy levels return you'll be ready to try again.

good luck

Loveinapril

Have you taken steps to manage your stress? I suffered with burnout a few years back, and used different techniques to try cope better with my stress and anxiety (mindfulness, meditation, aromatherapy). I tried yoga and liked it too.

Wanderer78

Just take your time, relax with loved ones. Best of luck

Big Bag of Chips

I'd also suggest you go back and talk to your GP? Are you on any medication? Food supplements? Vitamins? What's your diet like? Are you stuck in a cycle, of feeling under pressure to get better and then stressing yourself because it's not happening as quick as you'd hoped?

Have you done any relaxation classes? Meditation? Yoga? Mindfulness? You need to concentrate on healing yourself rather than getting better, if you know what I mean. If you're focusing on the end goal you can easily become frustrated and stressed that it's not happening, whereas concentrating on the actual getting there might slow you down a bit and take the pressure off... I hope that makes sense

Redrose2 wrote: »

I want to get better and go back to being the very energetic, multitasking person that I was.

Maybe this isn't such a good goal. The energietc, multitasking person you were ended up suffering with burnout. So maybe you need to readjust your goal. Realise that you were doing too much, and dial everything back a bit. Learn to take the pressure off yourself and not expect so much from yourself. Whilst you've been laid up the world has still been turning and others have gotten on with their daily business. You don't need to do everything.

LynnGrace

I agree with Big Bag - try to think of your goal as getting back to health, rather than getting back to where you were.
In addition to the suggestions given already, you might find psychotherapy useful.

Take good care of yourself and I hope that you will be back on your feet soon.

Irish_Elect_Eng

To answer your question, most definitely YES.

In fact, post burn-out, people can be much more effective in their lives as they have usually worked out what really matters.

Be kind to yourself, it takes a little time, best accelerated by talking to others rather than trying to struggle through on your own.

Best of Luck.