Burnout and practical advice

LegacyUser

Hey thanks for reading, i’ll keep this brief.

In a nutshell I think I am approaching burnout due to mostly personal life stressors and some work related stress. The personal stuff lasted months and it has subsided now, but during it I was under constant toxic stress and witnessed some things people would describe as traumatic. The work end of things is a constant large workload and on occasion dealing with vulnerable members of society.

Now that things have cooled down a bit I am finding myself a lot more anxious, tired, constantly on edge, irritable/angry, insomnia and having regular nightmares. It is interfering in my general day to day life.

I have attended therapy twice before in the last decade for general anxiety as I grew up in a quite chaotic household. I originally went to therapy as I burnt out and had really bad anxiety.

I am not at that stage but I am unsure of what practical steps to take now? I know if I go to my GP it is limited what they can do aside from prescribing some short term sleeping tablets/ anti anxiety meds. I have attended counseling in the past and whilst it helped some what, I don’t know if I really want to start again and besides it is expensive.

I am maintaining my social life and hobbies as much as possible in the meantime. Maybe I can just ride it out or is this something I should talk to a doctor about at this stage?

orthsquel

You've been dealing with a lot OP, perhaps it is wise that you try and take a step back from it all and give yourself some space to look after yourself. Give yourself some self-care if you are not in the position financially for counselling. Have you any holiday hours coming to you, or days off due? Are there friends, even colleagues that you can speak to? Burnout is not a nice place to be - you want to avoid hitting that. If you're not there yet, you need to take the time to do all you can to get yourself back to a more comfortable place, but it does mean you have to look after yourself. Insomnia is destroying, it would be the first to address as it is a massive impact, the lack of rest and lack of sleep is something that has massive repercussions in other areas and is going to lead towards other aspects getting worse. I'd suggest you speak to your GP and ask about options, and also if there are any low cost counselling options.

LegacyUser

Cheers Orth, your reply is appreciated. I have talked to my immediate superior and without getting into details they know i'm under some additional pressure and have said I can take time if I wish. I know myself it is not the best time in a business sense as we are a few people short already at this time of year.

I also find it harder when i'm not working. Work is a distraction. When I am off I feel more irritable/angry.

I have noticed my body is all out of whack and can't seem to shutdown relax so I will go see my GP.