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The psychology of stress and burnout

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Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#51

Post by oarsinsync »

Kenji wrote: post #19

I love how people are like "go for a walk" or "work out" or "sleep more" or "it's all in your head" (maybe you should tell someone who has pancreatic cancer "Oh it's all in your belly"). It seems to me like most people don't understand the incredible destructiveness and pain of an actual burnout. How trapped you are and how you do not see any way out anymore. I nearly got there and I have seen people who have been cr…

> How trapped you are and how you do not see any way out anymore.

I was there, and then one of my friends died, which triggered me to quit my job, which ultimately led to me being able to get enough mental acumen back and make good decisions to lead myself out of the hole I'd dug myself into.

Over 15 months before I was capable of getting myself back into the workforce properly. Fortunately I have very understanding family who let me live with them rent free, and had saved enough that I was able to do this. Not everyone is this fortunate.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#52

Post by SticksAndBreaks »

digitalsushi wrote: post #47
dilemma wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's extremely useful, and no different than other people in the thread who express how exercise or hobbies have helped them cope with work stress. They're implying compartmentalization too, because having a hobby shows that there's more to life than work life.

You're right! I just didn't have the ability to see that. Thanks for your insights.

You can replace work thoughts with work on your sideproject thoughts. That helps... a little bit

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#53

Post by throwanem »

Kenji wrote: post #19

I love how people are like "go for a walk" or "work out" or "sleep more" or "it's all in your head" (maybe you should tell someone who has pancreatic cancer "Oh it's all in your belly"). It seems to me like most people don't understand the incredible destructiveness and pain of an actual burnout. How trapped you are and how you do not see any way out anymore. I nearly got there and I have seen people who have been cr…

As with depression, one of the best things you can do for yourself in burnout is to recover your sense of agency - the confidence that you have the power to positively affect your life.

This is very hard, to be sure. But it is possible, and while I'm not sure I'd agree that it's absolutely necessary to recovery, it certainly does make that outcome vastly more probable.

Of course this is hardly a new concept. But, for reasons beyond my knowledge at this time, it seems almost never to be usefully expressed. We see it everywhere from "oh, just cheer up, it's all in your head!" to the Christian doctrine that the only truly unforgivable sin is that of despair - but only rarely anything that's likely to help those who need it most.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#54

Post by bbcbasic »

emilburzo wrote: post #35
gerbilly wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Extreme sports or intense physical exertion have been key, for me, in dealing with daily stress. But intense physical exertion _is_ stress, so this approach can backfire when your stress load is too high.

I don't know, for me, there's something different between the stress of carrying a 20kg (44 pounds) paraglider up 750m (2460ft) over a 5-35% grade mountain to the launch site in a hurry to catch the noon thermals versus the daily worries that you may, or may not, have any control over. Probably because one is achievable and you know more or less how much you've got to go and the other is pretty abstract. Maybe also t…

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#55

Post by throwanem »

maxxxxx wrote: post #34
dschiptsov wrote: post #16

Are they trying to say that exercises are good to us, until it is too much? What does not kill us makes us stronger.

Not always. Things that don't kill you immediately may kill you in the long run.

In the long run, we all die anyway. It's not necessarily unreasonable to evaluate one's options on a quality vs. quantity basis.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#56

Post by simosx »

aivosha wrote: post #22

Highly recommend Robert Sapolsky's work on this. You can find his lectures on youtube, very educational and entertaining on Human Behavioural Biology. And more to the point his book, https://www.amazon.ca/Why-Zebras-Dont-Ulcers-Stress-Related/...

Frankly, this!

You can read from the other comments that it is not common knowledge yet what stress actually does to you.

Stress as a facility is useful for humans and other animals. It helps the body to focus on the threat and increase the chance to escape and survive. Stress makes a tiny damage to the health but once you survive, the body returns to health.

However, there are cases where you have long-term continuous stress, without any release. It is common with social animals like humans, and an example is the burn-out. The tiny damage becomes major damage and can be irreversible.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#58

Post by saiya-jin »

Kenji wrote: post #19

I love how people are like "go for a walk" or "work out" or "sleep more" or "it's all in your head" (maybe you should tell someone who has pancreatic cancer "Oh it's all in your belly"). It seems to me like most people don't understand the incredible destructiveness and pain of an actual burnout. How trapped you are and how you do not see any way out anymore. I nearly got there and I have seen people who have been cr…

those are really helpful advices that can help you on track (apart from that head thingie). what else do you expect from people around you? we are all responsible for our own lives, people in burnout cause it by their life choices, in similar way as alcoholics.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#59

Post by wonder_er »

alexgotoi wrote: post #40
emilburzo wrote: post #7

It's all in your head, for better or worse. Extreme sports or intense physical exertion have been key, for me, in dealing with daily stress. And no, I'm not some superstar adrenaline pumped athlete, just an amateur that loves skydiving/paragliding/fast motorcycles/hiking/etc over the weekend. I didn't realize how much these activities help me, until I had to take a break from them for whatever reason (e.g.: winter wh…

What if you are afraid of extreme sports? What alternatives would you recommend?

If you live near an indoor rock climbing facility, I'd recommend checking it out! Rock climbing can be done in an "extreme" way, but also can be done in a very beginner-friendly, incremental way.

I climb, have lots of friends who climb who do software. The two seem to go together well.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#60

Post by framebit »

madaxe_again wrote: post #23

A large part of why I left my business after eleven years six months ago was because I mismanaged stress to the degree that it had severe consequences upon my health. At the time, like a frog in warming water, I constantly normalised it - working 20 hours a day for a year isn't stressful, it's heroic! I enjoy this! I thrive on stress. The booze? Oh, that's just to help keep me awake. About four years ago I stopped ea…

I'm so sorry about the cyclical vomiting syndrome. I've watched a friend wrestle with it for years, it's no joke. Her's is also triggered by positive stress, like excitement to see a favorite band in concert. I'm so glad for you that things are turning around in your life. It sounds like you've had to do some hard work to get here. Thank you for sharing.

> There's an almost dangerously cultish obsession with industriousness in our society.

Yes!

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