The concept of “burnout” has become more popularised recently. People now mostly use it to refer to professional burnout, after a difficult period at work. But it can happen to anyone, from any cause of stress, including the pressures of raising children or negotiating difficult relationships. And it can lead to chronic pain.
One popular solution offered for burnout is rest and relaxation. This is absolutely valid, and in some cases can work wonders. But in others it is not a good remedy, as a person either cannot take a break (for example from caring responsibilities), or as soon as they return to normal, the symptoms of burnout begin again.
I recently came across a book by two American sisters, Amelia and Emily Nagoski, who have an interesting take on burnout. They argue that the way to deal with it is to tackle your stress, not your stressors, by which they mean the factors that cause stress, such as work, caring responsibilities, or a difficult relationship.
To do this, they say, you need to complete the cycle of the stress response, rather than leaving your body in fight, flight or freeze mode. For example this could be by doing jumping jacks when home from a stressful commute, to communicate to the body that it is now safe.
The sisters describe emotions as “tunnels” – you need to feel them, however difficult and scary that might be, in order to process them and combat the stress they are causing. The concept has a lot of resonance with one of the phases of the Resolving Chronic Pain approach.
In the Resolving Chronic Pain process there comes a time when the pain has reduced somewhat and the pent-up energy produced by stress makes itself known. That is the point when each individual decides how they want to vent that energy. Options include boxing a punch bag, yelling at the wind or the sea, singing loudly (and possibly out of tune!) to your car radio or favourite playlist, dancing with abandon, or running. The list goes on… thank you to everyone who has added to it over time. Are there any ideas I’ve missed? If so, add them in the comments below.