Part II - Burnout Rejuvenation and Prevention

By Mark Gorkin, LICSW
"The Stress Doc"™

Key Steps and Strategies

Part I of this three-part series examined "The Four Stages of Burnout":

1. Physical, Mental, and Emotional Exhaustion
2. Shame and Doubt
3. Cynicism and Callousness
4. Failure, Helplessness, and Crisis

And while the erosive spiral can undermine energy, confidence, and even physical health, a burnout crisis can provide both danger and opportunity. And the Stress Doc knows from personal experience.

Back in the 80s, I was a very unrealistic doctoral student trying to turn a mystical-like experience in psychoanalysis into a doctoral dissertation. Several factors fired my questionable motivation: a) a desire to discover a doctoral topic that wouldn't feel like an academic exercise, b) being driven to pursue a unique dissertation to compensate for long-standing feelings of intellectual self-doubt and unworthiness: I was going to "show them," i.e., those past and present skeptics, critics, and so-called authorities, and c) a still inchoate inner artist having a subliminal tug of war with my practical doctoral student persona. For the sake of brevity, let's just say I was definitely off the academic wall. As I would later write: "Academic flashdancing definitely whirled to a burnout tango." And for several months, I was laid low by exhaustion, existential emptiness, and stress-induced and frightening dizzy spells.

Fortunately, a silver lining emerged from the academic ashes. I became an expert on stress and burnout eventually evolving a process of self-care that, I believe, can be instrumental for both burnout recovery and, even, prevention. Consider these strategic steps for "R & R" - Rehabilitation and Rejuvenation:

1. Good Grief
   While the burnout experience ultimately helped clarify my career path, it took several months to get out of the "Big Muddy" and "Big Moody." I needed time to tend to my wounds. Also, a major loss can undermine your sense of identity. I needed to know that significant others still loved and respected me despite my feelings of academic failure and personal humiliation. You may need a mentor or a counselor who can reconfirm your pre-crisis identity, who can see strengths when you are fixated on your weaknesses. And you don't have to wait till you are in fourth stage burnout to start grieving. In fact, recognizing the need to grapple with a changing reality or to question irrational or idealistically rigid expectations is a sign of ego strength. And the earlier that one can grieve and "let go" the easier for emotional catharsis to become a burnout prevention tool as well as a base for rebuilding healthy purpose and passion.
2. The Four R's of Burnout Recovery

   Running, Reading, Retreating, and Writing

   1. Running
      After regaining my energy and balance, I started a regimen of daily jogging. First, thirty-forty minutes of nonstop large muscle movement (jogging, brisk walking, cycling, swimming, etc.) will get those disposition-enhancing endorphins pumping. The chemical influx helps slow a racing mind and helps lift a sluggish mood. Also, running or jogging is great for grounding you when you're feeling vulnerable or when life feels uncertain and up in the air. There's a beginning and end point culminating in a tangible sense of control and accomplishment. This routine can readily evolve into a success ritual, a robust tool for both burnout prevention and recovery.
   2. Reading
      In some of my darkest hours I turn to humorous novels or cartoon books (like Calvin and Hobbes) to add some absurdity, if not levity, to my perspective. Hearty laughter also releases endorphins, giving vital organs a brief but vigorous internal massage. As the erosive effects of burnout had spiraled, my playful and humorous mindset had withered. How wonderful it was to laugh again and to chuckle at the irrationality of my outrageous egoal quest. (What is an egoal? Basically it is goal-seeking behavior that is driven by obsessive thinking and rigid, wounded, false, or self-righteous pride.) Self-accepting laughter is a great antidote to embarrassment or shame. And if reading still feels like a strain, turn on those Seinfeld reruns.
   3. Retreating
      After my academic meltdown, I needed time to reflect on this ego-and identity-shattering process: how and why had I generated this situational drama and psycho-physiological trauma? Retreating also allows time for engaging some existential biggies: What are my skills, gifts, and talents? What are my emotional, knowledge, and learning gaps? What direction(s) and what enterprises really feel like me? The blank canvas is scary. There's no absolute way or pre-existing structure. The blank canvas is exciting. There's no absolute truth or pre-existing limits. To paraphrase Walt Whitman: Follow the open road and discover or recover your soul.
   4. Writing
      Journaling through angst and loss is a time-honored tradition. And contemporary research indicates that taking the time to express and analyze your emotions through writing provides a stress-relieving anchor in a stormy, troubled sea. Reflective writing can also be a source of self-discovery - a tool for your healing, understanding, and action, as well as a medium for keeping the faith.

      And one of my favorite ways to prepare for serious writing is by reading. Reading for enlightenment followed the abovementioned lighthearted variety. I started devouring books about burnout, and then began to write about it. Actually, I wasn't quite ready to write directly about my dissertation meltdown. However, in my therapy practice I was working with a couple of lawyers who were struggling with exhaustion and other serious smoke signals. Analyzing their erosive spiral was cathartic. And these writings even led to speaking at several legal conferences. This academic lemon would make lemonade by becoming an expert - therapist, writer, and lecturer - on stress and burnout...and spread the word far and wide. (Obviously, once an ego-driven narcissist...)

3. Transition and Diversification
   The grieving path - from shock and sadness to fear and rage - and the retreating process have three basic goals: (a) to mourn and let go of a painful or problematic past or path, (b) to help you reenergize and refocus in the present and (c) to enable you to envision, design, and achieve a vital future. As Nobel Prize-winning author Albert Camus observed: "Once we have accepted the fact of loss we understand that the loved one [or loved position] obstructed a whole corner of the possible, pure now as a sky washed by rain."

And it's not just chronic overload or elusive goals that can be pathogenic, leaving us bereft. Experienced professionals are often susceptible to what I call the Bjorn Bored Syndrome, named for Bjorn Borg, the late '70s-early '80-s Swedish tennis great. After winning the French and Wimbledon championships five years back-to-back, Borg suddenly burned out and dropped out of the circuit. Despite his many triumphs and the glamour of this stellar world, the novelty and thrill were gone. The hours and hours of repetitive practice was taking a toll. The Bjorn Bored Syndrome: "When Mastery times Monotony provides an index of Misery!" The Stress Doc's recommendation: Fireproof your life with variety.

Recovering from burnout or rebuilding the fire means engaging in soul searching, shaking up the personal-professional puzzle, exploring anew, or even returning to one's passionate roots. This might include such job or career path changes as:

1. Restructuring current roles and responsibilities; working in another department or division.
2. Taking a sabbatical; perhaps doing some extended travel.
3. Consulting independently or working for a foundation, an association, or an institute.
4. Going back to school to pursue a heartfelt interest, or even returning to the classroom as an educator.
5. Going into business for yourself or, if self-employed and running on empty, joining a company.
6. Recovering a previous creative pursuit and turning it into a career path or, perhaps, balancing a job with a passionate hobby, e.g., being a musician or a web programmer on the side.
7. Pursuing a different professional setting or field, a new geographical location and, in some cases, even making a major "out of the career box" transition. While one should carefully consult with family, friends, and advisors this period of reflection is also the time to listen not just to your head but also to your heart.

Final Reflection

Burnout evokes an experience of loss: from loss of control or abandoning a cherished goal to a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. However, wrestling with loss often yields new possibilities. As I once penned: Whether the loss is a key person, a desired position or a powerful illusion, each deserves the respect of a mourning. The pit in the stomach, the clenched fists and quivering jaw, the anguished sobs prove catalytic in time. In mystical fashion, like spring upon winter, the seeds of dissolution bear fruitful renewal.

Engaging with these three strategic steps will provide preventive fireproofing while enabling you, if necessary, to recover and rejuvenate from a burnout experience. These ideas and actions will stimulate you to define and design your transitional future. And finally, these are words to help us all... Practice Safe Stress!

• Part III - Two Burnout Prevention Strategies

Back to Legal Job Articles for Employers

Mark Gorkin, LICSW, "The Stress Doc,"™ is the Internet's and America Online's "Online Psychohumorist"™. An experienced psychotherapist, "The Doc" is a nationally recognized speaker, and training and OD consultant specializing in Stress, Anger Management, Reorganizational Change, Team Building and HUMOR! An expert advisor for www.AdviceZone.com and iVillage/allHealth, his writings are syndicated by iSyndicate.com and appear in a wide variety of online and offline forums and publications, including AOL/Online Psych and Business Know How, Mental Health Net, 4Therapy.com, HRHub.com, SelfhelpMagazine.com, Financial Services Journal Online, OpportunityWorld and Counseling Today.

Recently, he has been quoted and/or featured in such publications as Cosmopolitan Magazine, Bloomberg Report/News, Forbes Magazine, FoxNews.com, Dallas Morning News and The Washington Flyer. The Doc also leads his national "Shrink Rap and Group Chat" for AOL/Digital City and WebMD.com. Check out his USA Today Online "Hotsite" Website at www.stressdoc.com. For info on his workshops or for his free newsletter, email stressdocaol.com or call 202-232-8662.