Self-Care Strategies for Stress and Burnout
You are trying your best and still feeling a level of stress that leaves you feeling tired before the day has even ended. You feel that your cup has been full for one too many days and at this point it’s overflowing.
Did you know that feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or emotionally drained is common in today’s fast-paced world?
Stress and burnout can impact your physical and mental health. At Santos Counseling in Greensboro, NC, we help clients develop evidence based and practical self-care strategies to manage stress, increase resilience, and prevent burnout before it becomes overwhelming.
What is Stress and Burnout?
When you are in a situation that feels challenging or is perceived as a challenge, a physiological and psychological response takes place. This is called stress. A person can experiences stress as a natural response to the challenges that are taking place.
Stress is your body’s response to challenges, whether from your job, social relationships, or life transitions.
Common Causes of Stress:
- Experiencing a major life change (e.g. divorce, moving, the passing of a loved one).
- Loneliness and a lack of support system.
- Lack of sleep.
- News events.
- Injuries.
What is Burnout?
When stress is ongoing it begins to form into exhaustion. It can build into a chronic condition if left untreated. burnout.
Common Causes of Burnout:
- Experiencing ongoing extended hours at work.
- Given a high workload of tasks and responsibilities for an extended period of time.
- Feeling that you are not in control of the setting you are in.
- Being in a space where you are given unrealistic expectations.
- Not having a support system.
- Poor work-life balance.
What The Research Says About Stress and Burnout
A survey from the APA brings attention to how stress is a public health crisis. They share that 44% of Americans are impacted by a moderate to high level of stress. With stress focused on financial challenges and employment.
Stress has a way of impacting people in various areas of life. The NHS highlight symptoms of stress in three core areas: physical, mental, and changes in behavior. At Santos Counseling, we often work with people who are experiencing irritability, changes in sleep where they bring up sleeping too much or too little, and disruption in their mood. Through counseling, we work together to understand how the symptoms are changes in behaviors that stem from stress and burnout.
Harvard Business Review encourage us to watch out for the signs of burnout. This can be seen as:
- An ongoing shift from work and life balance to prioritizing work over your personal needs. This can include prioritizing work over your daily routine of going to the gym. Or prioritizing work over your sleep by having late night coffee to stay up and work.
4 Practical Self-Care Strategies
1. Prioritize Physical Health
Prioritizing your physical health can start with treating your mind and body with kindness and respect. Practices can range from engaging in daily movement to eating foods that are whole. An example of this includes, partaking in a yoga class three days a week, sleeping 7 to 9 hours each night, going to bed and waking up around the same time, and maintaining a balanced diet.
2. Set Boundaries
Start by learning about boundaries. A helpful book on boundaries can be found by click here. Learn to say “no” when commitments become overwhelming, to limit activities that when in excess can become unhealthy, and protect your personal self-care time. Helpful practices include protecting your time for relaxation and limiting social media time during the day.
3. Practice Mindfulness & Relaxation Techniques
Mindfulness is a researched practice that helps to reduce stress. Yale University has a helpful page on Mindfulness with varying tools. Click Here to read it. Mindfulness practices include, meditation, deep breathing exercises, yoga, and journaling to process thoughts and feelings.
4. Connect with Supportive People
Reach out to Santos Counseling to get connected with a counselor. This can be a wonderful space to invest in your mental health. Through counseling, you’ll learn how to navigate stress and burnout. Click Here to check out the counselors at Santos Counseling.
When to Seek Professional Support
You might consider counseling if:
- Stress interferes with your work, relationships, or other core areas of life.
- You experience anxiety, depression, irritability, or challenges with managing the stress.
- Burnout affects your mood, sleep, appetite, or daily functioning
At Santos Counseling, we offer counseling and stress management strategies tailored to your needs. We are available in-person or virtual to anyone in North Carolina.
