Burnout: Why it’s Absolutely Worth Treating

Burnout is a real problem in our society. More and more research is being dedicated to studying how burnout is affecting us and what we can do about it. Burnout often involves feeling completely exhausted, irritable and negative or cynical about your situation. This usually happens in response to constant, long term stress either at work or in other areas of your life. The load of responsibilities on you becomes too heavy and there is not enough time to rest and restore some sense of balance.  

When you’re in a state of burnout, you find it hard to do your job well and you struggle to give your all to your family and friends. Over time this can lead to low productivity, feelings of failure and increased conflicts with others. It’s important to know that physical health can be impacted as well. Burnout has been associated with headaches, chronic fatigue, bowel and stomach problems, high blood pressure and heart disease, catching colds more often, addictions and cravings, mental health conditions like anxiety or depression and poor sleep.

Those who are especially affected are people who work long hours, put themselves last and go the extra mile to support others. Many studies focus on health care providers being prime candidates for burnout. But let’s face it - it’s not just health care providers who are vulnerable to burnout. Parents, those with ill family members, entrepreneurs and anyone with a stressful or demanding job is susceptible.  

You may be thinking “yes it totally sounds like I’m experiencing burnout but it’s weird to see a health care provider for burnout. Doesn’t everyone suffer with this? Isn’t this just life? Am I going to see a doctor just because life is too crazy? What can they even do anyways? I’m overwhelmed with work, kids, chores, social events, personal and home projects. A doctor can’t take that away so what’s the point in treating it?”

It's true that I can’t take away many of the responsibilities that come with life. But it’s not about taking the responsibilities away, it’s about helping you have the stamina, resources and strength to cope with them better. I focus on the things that you can control like: nutrition, implementing key habits to soothe an exhausted body, herbs and supplements to give your system a helping hand and sometimes acupuncture which has been shown to reduce stress levels.

In fact, burnout has always been something that naturopathic doctors are quite good at treating. And if you are saying to yourself that you won’t have the time or willpower to follow through with recommendations, don’t worry – we can take baby steps and focus on what you are willing and able to change.

Decades of research have gone into studying burnout. If it’s that important to study then it’s that important to treat. It is possible to turn burnout on its head and get to the complete opposite state of burnout. That means feeling energetic, productive, positive, enthusiastic and healthy. No matter how overwhelmed you feel right now, there is always something that can be done to move you to a better state of wellbeing.

Are Low Motivation and Low Mood Holding You Back from Health?

Imagine living just one day in a perfectly healthy way. You wake up refreshed and ready to go. No need for caffeine. You make a healthy breakfast for you and your family. Everyone is out the door on time feeling put-together and enthusiastic. You get through the day on healthy snacks and a healthy lunch – no cravings for afternoon sweets. You get home still humming with energy to not only make a healthy dinner but to work out as well. By bedtime all your evening chores are done and you’ve wound down enough to fall asleep within 15 minutes of hitting the pillow.

Contrast that with the reality that most people deal with. Waking up feeling unrefreshed. Definitely not “enthusiastic” about the day ahead. Tormented with cravings for sweets, carbs and coffee to get through the day. Just enough energy to make dinner after work but certainly not enough to work out. Lying in bed feeling tired but still not able to sleep.

Most people have a huge gap between their current health habits and the ones they wish they had. How do you even begin to move in the direction of the healthy lifestyle you dream of? Many try to muscle through on raw will power. You declare that, starting this week you WILL work out three times. Starting this week, you WILL NOT give in to cravings for junk food. But then as each day rolls around, you’re hit with the reality that you’re not motivated to do these things. You just don’t want to.

It’s hard to follow all the steps for a healthy lifestyle when you feel down and have zero motivation. You can try to impose all kinds of rules on yourself but if your mind is not in the right place, it won't happen. This is why it’s so important to be gentle with yourself and start with the right foundation. You need to nurture yourself back to better health rather than trying to force it.

Whenever I have a patient who is stuck in an unhealthy lifestyle, they’re relieved when they find out that I won’t be throwing them on a super strict diet, exercise and supplement plan. Because both of us know they’re not ready for that. We start at the foundation. We work on gentle ways to restore good quality sleep, balance stress hormones and support mood. We replenish nutrients that are lacking. We SLOWLY take out toxic foods, habits and chemicals that drain energy and cloud thinking.

With this approach, mood steadily begins to rise as patients start to feel less drained and more clear-headed. Motivation returns. Soon enough doing a couple minutes of exercises here and there doesn’t seem so far fetched. Resisting cravings is not as hard as it was before. Healthy recipes are more appealing. You get the picture. An upward spiral has begun. Habit by habit a new, healthy lifestyle is being created. All because we started with nourishing the things that are important for mood and motivation.

That healthy lifestyle can seem impossible from where you’re standing right now. But with the right approach, I have no doubt that you can get there.

Common Causes of Fatigue

Fatigue is one of the most common complaints I hear about. When I ask patients to rank their energy on a scale of 1 to 10 most people hover around 5 and would like to see their number go up. Fatigue could be a symptom of a huge range of causes from mild to serious. Today I’ll talk about some of the common causes that I see.

The Basics

Some causes of fatigue are simple to spot on a blood test. Examples are:

- low iron

- hyperthyroidism

- hypothyroidism

- low B12

Another basic cause of fatigue is poor sleep quality. This includes issues falling or staying asleep. This is an area that I like to work on with any fatigued patient.

Hormonal Health

Hormone fluctuations or imbalances can lead to fatigue. Some common examples are thyroid dysfunction, menopause and premenstrual syndrome. Other cases are more subtle. You may have completely irregular cycles or painful cramps but no specific diagnosis. Sometimes getting hormones back in balance can help with fatigue in these cases.

Adrenal Health

Naturopathic doctors talk a lot about a type of fatigue called adrenal fatigue. I like to call it burnout. The adrenal glands produce the "stress hormone" cortisol. The theory is that being stressed and busy all the time can push the adrenals to work too hard. Eventually they get overtired and you feel that as an energy crash. With adrenal fatigue, you feel tired but wide awake at bedtime. You feel irritable, frazzled or depressed. Your gut may be acting up and you may be experiencing cravings and weight gain. You also may find that you get sick all the time – or every time you’re on vacation.  There’s more to the theory but I’ll dig into it in a future article.

Gut Health

Poor gut health can contribute to fatigue. This includes diarrhea, constipation, bloating, heartburn or anything else that involves the gut.  A healthy gut means better nutrient absorption. It also means better elimination of toxins and waste products and improved vitality. Food sensitivities and poor diet have also been linked to fatigue.

Immune Health

Most autoimmune conditions are associated with fatigue. Some common examples are rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's disease and Graves' disease. Hyperactive immune systems (think allergies and asthma) can also be associated with fatigue. Balancing the immune system is an important part of my treatment plan in these cases.

Mental Health

A less commonly discussed cause of fatigue is mental health conditions. Depression and even anxiety can significantly zap someone of their energy. It's important to address these causes of fatigue when needed. Treating these can improve fatigue more than any quick-fix energy boosting supplement could. 

Fatigue is frustrating and getting a handle on it can improve your quality of life in so many ways. If you need help with your fatigue book an appointment or free 15-minute consult today.