I'm Dee,
The Burnout Coach,
And I'm so happy that you are here to learn about the 12 stages of burnout.
We often think of burnout as a state of exhaustion and overwhelm.
While this is partly true,
Burnout is more complex.
Burnout is a form of exhaustion,
Uncaused by constantly feeling swamped.
It happens when we experience too much emotional,
Physical or mental fatigue for too long.
Stress builds up in the body when we do not complete the stress cycle because we get stuck in fight or flight response,
Often over a long period.
In many cases,
Burnout is related to our professional or daily occupation.
But burnout can also happen in other areas of your life.
Burnout will always affect your health and your happiness.
Thankfully,
We are really growing in our understanding of burnout as a system's error,
Rather than just something that an individual experiences because of carrying too much stress.
This is a really important deepening of our understanding.
We also know now that burnout is experienced differently and at a higher rate among women.
Somehow we are socialised.
We are historically conditioned,
Politically structured.
To give more,
To be self-effacing,
Are now in our 21st century living,
To be able to do it all.
This,
Of course,
We know is a fallacy and sets us up for burnout.
So we don't wake up one day and have burnout like we might catch a cold.
It's usually after we burn out that we can look back and understand.
I want to provide information now to help you to recognise the earlier symptoms so that you can take action.
So I'm going to briefly explain the 12 stages of burnout.
Developed by the psychologist Herbert Friedenberger and his colleagues and widely used now among wellbeing practitioners to support people,
To understand where they are on the burnout continuum,
Which stage resonates with them.
And this helps us to take the action we need lovingly,
Non-judgmentally,
With great self-compassion.
To move towards the wellbeing end of that blossom to burnout continuum.
Listening to this track.
Learning about the 12 stages of burnout.
Is not going to cure burnout.
My intention in sharing this.
Is to invite you to take the very first step.
In halting the progress towards depletion or burnout.
That first step is simply awareness.
Allowing yourself to notice.
What might be the particular signs of burnout as they show up in your life?
That,
My friend,
Is powerful information.
Leaning in.
Noticing and allowing whatever are the signs of burnout showing up for you.
Is a powerful foundation.
For moving towards blossoming.
So I encourage you to listen to the 12 stages.
Come back,
Listen again.
Let the words seep in.
Let you find your own inner knowing as you become familiar.
With this.
Complex,
Yet simple understanding of how burnout shows up for us 21st century human beings.
So if you happen to have wandered into this track and you're feeling very depleted and burned out.
Maybe.
You need something else right now.
Go to my profile.
You'll find I have two courses.
A BAM for burnout.
And a burnout to blossom retreat.
These are safe,
Supportive spaces.
Providing you with.
Some.
Ease.
Some relief.
Some resources to rest and restore.
So if your need.
Is for healing and holding right now,
I direct you to those two courses or to my very many free or premium tracks in support of those experiencing overwhelmed exhaustion or burnout.
If,
On the other hand,
You're in a place for leaning in and noticing and allowing.
How burnout shows up in particular for you.
At what stage of burnout you might be in.
Then listening to these 12 stages,
Not once,
But maybe several times.
Will be really helpful for you.
The first stage is the compulsion to prove oneself.
Demonstrating worth obsessively tends to hit the best employees,
Those with enthusiasm who accept responsibility readily.
Or those who are the rock in the family or who volunteer in community.
So burnout begins in a seemingly harmless way with enthusiasm towards your work.
This can morph into a compulsion to prove your worth to both yourself and others.
You don't feel good enough.
So you take on additional responsibilities and always feel like you need to be doing more faster.
Stage number two.
Working harder and inability to switch off.
As you say,
Yes,
To more assignments and tasks,
You realize that you can't actually fit everything into a normal working day.
As a result.
Your work,
Your family commitments begins to bleed into your personal time.
Maybe you answer emails on the weekend,
Maybe you answer emails on the weekend or put in a 10 to 12 hour workday to stay on top of your to do list.
You still find your job fulfilling.
And you actually get a jolt of satisfaction when you're praised for your dedication.
Stage number three.
Neglecting needs.
Erratic sleeping.
Disrupted eating.
Lack of social interaction.
In this stage,
You might default to prioritizing other needs ahead of your own routinely.
But this goes a step further as you move through stage three of burnout.
You might sleep erratically,
Skip meals.
Stop looking after yourself through working out or time in nature,
For example.
You might forget to spend time with family and friends.
The effect.
Your health takes a hit in the form of weight gain,
Insomnia,
Decreased focus and more.
Stage four.
Displacement of conflicts.
Problems are dismissed.
We may feel threatened,
Panicky and jittery.
Your excessive focus on work leads you to dismiss obvious conflicts and issues happening around you.
Deep down,
You know that something isn't right,
But finding a solution or making a change seems too overwhelming.
Instead,
You avoid thinking about your concerns and you refocus your attention on your professional or familial obligations.
But suppressing your feelings results in feeling even more jittery and panicky.
You find yourself then overreacting to small setbacks and slights.
Stage number five.
Revision of values.
Values are skewed.
Friends and family are dismissed.
Hobbies are seen as irrelevant.
Work is the only focus.
You begin to realize that you've strayed from what is most important to you.
But instead of facing that reality head on,
You simply update your moral compass to be solely focused on work.
Friends,
Family and hobbies take a back seat.
Self-care is dismissed as trivial.
Your entire self-worth is now derived from your productivity and accomplishments.
Stage number six.
Denial of emerging problems.
Intolerance.
Perceiving collaborators as stupid,
Lazy,
Demanding or undisciplined.
Social contacts harder.
Cynicism.
Aggression.
Problems are viewed as caused by time pressure and work,
Not because of life changes.
Now that your values have changed,
You begin to butt heads with others.
You might perceive your colleagues as lazy or your clients as too demanding.
You become increasingly intolerant,
Unempathetic and cynical.
You blame time and work pressure for your stress instead of recognizing how you have changed.
Stage number seven.
Withdrawal.
Social life is small or non-existent.
The need to feel relief from stress perhaps through alcohol or drugs or food or some other way of self-soothing by stuffing stress down.
During this stage,
You pull back from relationships.
You probably can't remember the last time you had a conversation that wasn't about work.
Your social life feels small or non-existent.
You seclude yourself and maybe you escape through guilty pleasures.
Stage number eight.
Odd behavioral changes.
Changes in behavior become obvious.
Friends and family become concerned.
Your burnout is now concerning your family.
They notice how you've become impatient and irritable.
You may do things that impact others like forgetting to pick your child up from daycare or missing a meeting.
Stage nine.
Depersonalization.
Seeing neither self nor others as valuable and no longer perceive your own needs.
You feel like a shell of your former self.
Depersonalization involves feeling detached from your body.
As if you are now an outsider watching your own life.
Every day is an exercise in going through the motions.
Whereas you once felt enthusiastic about your work,
You're now negative or indifferent towards it.
Stage number 10.
Inner emptiness.
Feeling empty inside and to overcome this,
Look for activities such as overeating,
Sex,
Alcohol or drugs.
Activities are often exaggerated.
You no longer see yourself as valuable.
You start to feel worthless as if all your effort is for naught.
You've lost your drive and you daydream about quitting,
Moving or leaving your career.
You may routinely turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as overeating or alcohol to further numb yourself.
Stage number 11.
Depression.
Feeling lost and unsure.
Exhausted.
Future feels bleak and dark.
Everything becomes a blur.
Life was once technicolour but now it's grey and bleak.
You're emotionally and mentally exhausted.
You feel lost and unsure.
Work feels completely devoid of meaning or purpose.
Stage number 12.
Burnout syndrome.
This can include a total mental and physical collapse and at this stage it's time for full medical and support attention.
Full burnout syndrome occurs when you reach a breaking point.
Your body may collapse or you have a mental breakdown.
At this stage,
Medical attention is necessary.
Many professionals find that they need to take extended leave from their job in order to heal.
So there you have it.
The 12 main symptoms of burnout.
The 12 evidence-based stages of burnout.
Used industry-wide to support us often overstretched 21st century human beings.
To notice when we're carrying too much stress.
To respond to that noticing with exquisite self-care and sometimes external support.
And to build real resilience and well-being so that we can live with joy our lives of purpose and meaning.
So right now I invite you to take a moment to reflect.
What stage from 1 to 12 do you see yourself in?
It might be the case.
Very likely it will be the case that you want to re-listen to the track.
Lean in and see where,
If at all,
You notice yourself among these 12 stages.
This is important information.
And it's a call to action.
To act sooner rather than later.
It's important to remember that burnout is not a linear process.
You don't always go from one stage to the next.
And the time spent in each stage can vary.
So your only work now is to notice.
What stage,
If any,
Do you see yourself in?
And this,
My friend,
Is the foundation stone for you building real well-being and resilience in your life.
Your invitation is to respond to this noticing with exquisite self-compassion.
And some intentionality.
What one small step might you take right now to begin to move towards the blossoming end of that blossom-to-burnout continuum?
So it's likely if you're listening for the first time,
You might want to revisit.
Become familiar with how burnout shows up for you and with what particular stage of burnout you might be experiencing right now.
It can be really helpful as you listen to these 12 stages.
Become more familiar.
And allow yourself to lean in and notice where you are.
It can be really helpful as you do this to journal.
Simply write freely what is happening in you now.
As we do this with compassion.
With kindness to ourselves.
We're already moving away from burnout towards healing and well-being.
I encourage you not to listen to this track in isolation,
But to let it bring you to a resource in inside timer that might be most supportive for you at this time.
My BAM for burnout mini course.
My burnout to blossom retreat.
Or one of the many free or premium tracks focused on recovery from burnout.
Building real resilience.
And fierce self-care.
You might also like to drop into my lives here on inside timer.
Always focused on supporting overstretched over busy 21st century humans to return to calm and to build real well-being.
Thank you for listening.
Wishing you well.
Wishing you deep peace and ease now.
