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A State of Stress: Self-Care Strategies for Combating the Effects of Burnout

Burnout is a combination of both internal factors— effects of burnout, however, come in the emotional
such as personal needs and values—and external fac- and psychological symptoms. These include anxiety/
tors—such as work overload, insufficient reward, and depression, potentially developing sleep disorders, lack
conflicting values. As Peter Steenblik mentions in his of job satisfaction, and inability to enjoy downtime.
article in this issue, burnout is a process. We can also In the podcast “Ten Percent Happier with Dan
view burnout as in between stress (strain or pressure) and Harris,” Harris interviews Drs. Emily and Amelia Na-
demoralization (corruption of morals and discourage- goski. Emily Nagoski discusses the idea of an “emo-
ment). Stress can occur in two ways: eustress and dis- tion cycle,” where just like any other normal human
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tress. Eustress can activate and motivate us, but distress function, your body has a process it must filter through
slows us down. Demoralization occurs when there is a when experiencing an emotion. Burnout happens
conflict of values to the point where we are not able to when we get stuck in the middle of the cycle—experi-
do the right thing. Dr. Christina Maslach suggests three encing the emotion, the stressor that caused said emo-
dimensions to burnout: 1) emotional exhaustion, 2) de- tion, that “fight or flight” feeling—and are unable to
personalization/cynicism, and 3) reduced personal ac- properly process or separate ourselves and return to a
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complishment. A study by Jessica Nápoles, et. al., found state of balance. As educators, our triggers are often
that impostor phenomenon and burnout are intrinsically things we have to experience: student/parent behavior,
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linked. Additionally, burnout is nuanced, and the factors school safety, toxic work environment, unsupportive
should be studied individually rather than collectively. 4 administration, etc. When we are not able to success-
Burnout has increased post-pandemic. Research from fully alleviate the issue causing our trigger because it is
Devlin Peck explains that teaching is the most burnt-out “just part of the job,” then we are in a constant state of
profession. There are 500,000 fewer educators post-pan- fight or flight.
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demic, with 300,000 resigning mid-year in 2022. Nearly If we are constantly worrying about how to improve
half of teachers report feeling consistent burnout, and our work environment, or working so much overtime
67% of teachers view burnout as a major issue. Seventy- that there is no true downtime, or using our free time to
five percent of teachers have stress-related health issues, doom-scroll through social media for hours and hours,
and the majority of teachers view the teaching profes- then we are not able to properly complete the emotion
sion as unsustainable. cycle and run ourselves ragged. We then only notice
Burnout is a process that has always existed but has the burnout feeling when the effects appear: the de-
certainly been amplified post-pandemic. A 2021 State pression, sleepiness, and impacted psychological state.
of the U.S. Teacher Survey by RAND found that one of We often ignore the signs of burnout until it seems
the main stressors for teachers is health. Burnout truly too late to turn back. By addressing what these signs
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affects our health by affecting us emotionally, mentally, look and feel like, as well as what stressors potentially
and physically. The strategies to combat burnout must cause them, we are able to address the issues at large
not come from teachers alone, but rather a collective and work to improve them. There will be stressors that
that also includes administrators, school boards, families, cannot be fixed immediately (or in the field of educa-
communities, and beyond. tion it seems ever), but we do have coping mechanisms
we can use to better manage our body’s reactions to
these stressors. By knowing what to look for, address-
Burnout Effects ing the cause, and finding ways to work through our
Once we know what burnout is, the next step is iden- bodies’ emotional cycles, we can better manage these
tifying its effects. Whether it be inside or outside of the symptoms and ideally alleviate them all together.
classroom, burnout affects the person experiencing it
and those around them. Some of the physical effects of
burnout include weight gain or loss and irregular hair
loss, attributed to change of appetite and fatigue. Most

18 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2024 Volume 65 Number 3