How to deal with fatigue and burnout in lockdown
• Emotional support can help restore a sense of control as Covid-19 stress and economic anxiety snowball
Soon after the national lockdown announcement, Johannesburg-based life coach Judy Klipin noticed a lull in the number of clients seeking help.
“I think all their emotional and physical energy was going into just holding themselves together, with no extra energy for anything other than getting through the days,” she says.
But then she began seeing more clients who were asking for support to deal with the lockdown itself, displaying symptoms similar to burnout, a feeling of being overwhelmed and exhausted emotionally and physically.
Klipin specialises in helping people recover from burnout and describes her own experience of the condition in her book Recover From Burnout, published in 2019.
She also noticed many clients appear to be suffering from compassion fatigue, “a feeling of being tired of looking after others”. Caregivers are known to suffer from this type of stress, which reduces their ability to empathise with others.
Looking at how the combination of these conditions is presenting in her sessions, Klipin named it “Covid fatigue”.
A Johannesburg-based clinical psychologist confirms he has seen a similar trend in his practice but says there is an added effect in SA: “What makes this period so difficult is that in addition to the obvious issues of lockdown itself, there is the uncertainty of the fallout on the fragile SA economy. This activates … survival issues. Hence a lot of people are in heightened and sustained sympathetic [fight or flight] autonomic arousal.”
In challenging times people often experience things more intensely and their resilience can be lowered. “The solution is to focus on self-care and staying connected to people even while social distancing,” says the psychologist.
“Engage in activities that promote parasympathetic [rest and digest] autonomic activity — breathing, yoga, meditation and hobbies such as gardening. Also focus on good nutrition, exercise and sleep.”
Klipin says the demand for “Covid fatigue” support is growing: “I am running sessions for groups and individuals to support people who are experiencing anxiety, stress … and exhaustion. Many of the symptoms of Covid fatigue are similar to those of burnout, and so the tools I have developed to support clients with burnout are useful right now.”
To help regain a sense of control in this time of great uncertainty, Klipin recommends these measures to her clients:
● Rest more. We need to get as much rest as we can right now.
● Say no wherever possible.
Many people who suffer from burnout have a tendency to try to help, rescue or please others, at a cost to themselves. They feel guilty when they stand up for themselves, but to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue this is essential.
● Ask for help. Resentment is rife at the moment because so many people feel that they are shouldering the larger burden with housework, home schooling the children, cooking, shopping, and so on. It is important to identify what help we want and need and then to ask for it specifically: “Could you unpack the dishwasher?” is more likely to be successful than “I could really do with some help around here!”
● Gentle exercise every day — preferably in the sunshine.
● Eat healthy food and try to avoid sugar, carbohydrates, caffeine and alcohol.
● Reconnect with yourself, with people and with activities that are important and meaningful for you. Catch up with old friends, take up old hobbies and remember what makes you happy.
Some innovative ways to hook up with friends and family include hosting a virtual gettogether. Netflix Party enables people to watch the same movie or series at the same time and chat with each other while watching it.
Or schedule family or social group meet-ups online. If your bridge, yoga or book club can’t meet in person, have a Zoom or Skype session together.
Or have a virtual dinner party; send everyone an invitation to connect online and you can all eat your dinner together. For people who are in isolation, it is important to schedule regular calls and times to connect with others.
● Take some quiet and alone time every day.
● Set up and stick to predictable routines: it is stressful and scary when our outer world feels so out of control and unpredictable. The best way for us to manage an out-of-control macro environment is to create the certainty we crave by managing and, where possible, controlling our micro environment.
In addition, she says: “Give yourself a break, literally and figuratively. Now is not the time to beat yourself up about not being productive enough or fit enough or happy enough or strong enough … Set yourself realistic goals and allow yourself to take a break in between completing tasks.”
While everyone wants to keep up with the latest news, some of what circulates on social media is not helpful. “It is vital to be discerning about where you get your news and information from, and limit your information gathering and social media time to a set period a couple of times a day. If you stay glued to your news stream all day you will put yourself in danger of information and bad news overload, and contribute to possible burnout and disease.”
Finally, Klipin says, help where you can.
“The best antidote to feeling helpless and hopeless is to do what we can to help: shop for a neighbour; phone people who are isolated and check in on them and help them to not feel invisible, lonely and scared; buy vouchers for treatments you are not able to have now but can have in the future (this gives you something to look forward to while supporting the kinds of businesses that are really going to suffer in these times); subscribe to online newspapers and journals; shop online for people who don’t have the means or ability to; send a meal to a friend or neighbour who is struggling; and donate to organisations that look after the most vulnerable.”
MANY PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM BURNOUT HAVE A TENDENCY TO TRY TO HELP, RESCUE OR PLEASE OTHERS, AT A COST TO THEMSELVES
NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BEAT YOURSELF UP ABOUT NOT BEING PRODUCTIVE ENOUGH OR FIT ENOUGH OR HAPPY ENOUGH OR STRONG ENOUGH