Trauma and Burnout
What is trauma?
Nothing like the holocaust or an earthquake has happened to me! I can’t possibly have experienced trauma.
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What is Trauma?
It used to be that only horrific events, like the holocaust and natural disasters, were believed to result in trauma. However, modern trauma therapists are advocating that trauma is less about the content of the event and more about the neural impact on the recipient (Briere & Scott, 2014). Ogden (2019) defines it as something that happens “too soon, too fast, and too much” for a person to cope with and that the automatic disruptive symptoms that arise from such an experience come from the deep imprint of its effect on the person’s nervous system (5:16).
Trauma
is less about the content of an event and more about the capacity of a person’s nervous system
In other words, it is any situation that overwhelms a person’s ability to cope, and different people have different capacities. The current pandemic is a good example; it brings swift and unexpected disruptions to many areas of life and its sheer length is enough to challenge anyone’s coping capacity. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel but for other parts of the world they hard-pressed to find respite from this disease.
Drastic Adjustments
People had to make drastic adjustments to how they lived, worked, shopped, and played. Routines were upended, working at home became a “thing”, and job security, financial security and health faced imminent threats. Furthermore, our social lives were dramatically affected. We could not visit the majority of our friends because they were not in our “bubble”, dramatically reducing our social resources. For others, such as families and couples, they were forced into close proximity for extended periods in small spaces - a recipe for escalating conflict arising from sensitive, pre-existing issues.
Unresolved traumas
The saying “Catch up with your past before it catches up with you” (Robert Palmer) has some truth to it. Unresolved traumas do get stirred up by current traumatic events, often popping up in unexpected ways
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Unresolved past traumas
Traumatic events also have the tendencies to stirr up unresolved issues, not only relational ones as mentioned but traumatic memories and associations from the past, adding yet another layer to current difficulties. For example, I had a client who felt suffocated every time he put on a mask even though he believed in the principle of it. In therapy, he uncovered a surprising association between mask wearing and a time he experienced being suffocated by another person.
Trauma and Burnout
With everything that is happening, it is no wonder that burnout rates have skyrocketed in the past year. It is also important to note that if you identify as a highly sensitive person, you may be at higher risk of burnout because of the sensitivity of your brain and physiology to all the changes that are coming at you. Unresolved traumas from the past can also put individuals at greater risk of burning out when challenged with the changes and threat that come with something like the pandemic.
What is burnout?
Burnout is often described as an exhaustion that is a constant and does not seem to go away even with rest and sleep. It makes daily activities feel like a chore even though you would not have thought twice about those same activities before. Feelings of irritation, tearfulness, anxiety, and wanting to run-away from everything including people who you once enjoyed are other common symptoms. A persistent state of being overwhelmed shrouds everything you do. However, the hardest thing to bear, as reported by clients, is the bone-deep isolation and the hopelessness that accompanies it. It feels like nobody gets what you are going through and that things will never change.
I have good news for you. You do not have to bear this alone and no matter the source of the burnout, you can and will recover. With support, if I may be so bold as to say this - you will not only recover, you can grow from this experience.
You can recover from burnout
It is not impossible but in fact very possible
Photo by Lina Trochez on Unsplash
Where do I start?
Talk to someone about this. It is time to call in your circle of support. We are not meant to do life alone, especially when facing something as large a scale as the pandemic. Interpersonal Neurobiology tells us that humans flourish in interdependence, not independence.
Begin to write a list of all the activities and things you use to do that were rejuvenating. For some it may listening to music, for others taking a walk in nature. What are your resources? Make an intentional plan to engage in these activities
Process the current and past trauma with a professional. Trauma is held in the body as well as the mind. To help the nervous system resolve its effect, it is important to seek guidance from a trained therapist who includes the body in therapy. They can help you move through the effects of what you have experienced.
If you would like further conversations about trauma and burnout, please email me here. You can also read about my training and the therapeutic work I do in the About Page.
References
Ogden, P. (2019, September). Wisdom of the body [Webinar]. Sensorimotor Institute.
