Is Your Brain Burned Out?
Burnout is something that you likely have experienced or will at some point. It is common to feel burnt out. Helpguide.org describes it like this, “Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.” It feels just like it sounds. You feel exhausted and tired. You aren’t interested in doing the things you normally enjoy and start to withdrawal from the world.
There are physical, emotional, and behavioral signs and symptoms caused by burnout.
Physical Signs
Helpguide.org says that some physical signs to look out for are, “Feeling tired and drained all the time, frequent illnesses, headaches, or muscle pain, and change in appetite, sleep, or habits.”
Maybe you are normally a person who rarely gets sick but recently, you are always feeling bad or ill. When you are burnt out, your body is worn down. You don’t just feel tired, your body is tired.
This can make it hard for your body to fight off illnesses and keep you healthy. Changes in habits or appetite can be a good indicator of burnout. Keep an eye out for a change that might indicate an underlying problem.
Emotional Symptoms
Some of the emotional symptoms are, “Sense of failure, feeling helpless, detachment, loss of motivations, increasingly cynical, and decreased sense of accomplishment.” Even though you are feeling your emotions constantly, it can be hard to recognize when changes are taking place.
You might not notice as you slip into a more negative state of mind or as you start to detach from the world. The best way to notice these changes is to involve the people around you. Make sure that you are talking with your close friends and family.
They will likely notice emotional changes in you before you notice them in yourself. If you start to feel or notice the change, check-in with them and see if they have noticed it as well. They will likely feel relieved that you noticed and will want to discuss it with you.
Behavioral Signs Are Also Indicative Of Burnout
A few of those are, “Withdrawing from responsibilities, isolating yourself, procrastinating, using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope, taking out your frustrations on others, or skipping work.”
Behavioral symptoms should be the easiest to notice. You start doing things that aren’t like you. Maybe you take extra-long lunch breaks or you begin to leave work early when before, you were always on time.
You could start a new habit of drinking multiple beers every night. Maybe you stop hanging out with your friends or you never start on your projects until they need to be finished. While your friends and family might be a little hesitant to tell you about emotional changes they see in you, they are more likely to talk about the behavioral ones.
This might be them constantly asking when you are going to come over or picking on you for being late on something. They may not notice that there is an underlying problem, but they will most likely notice the change.
Final Thoughts
Overall, a lot of these symptoms could mean other things or point to other illnesses and problems. Make sure to always stay in tune with your body so that you can help determine what the symptoms are pointing towards.
Be sure to listen to the people around you when they notice things. They aren’t dealing with burnout but they will notice the changes in you as you deal with it. It can be hard to notice these changes in yourself but the sooner that you do, the sooner you can do something about being burnt out and get back to your normal self.