BURNOUT magnified by biology
Across the lifespan females have critical windows of biological change - puberty, pregnancy/postpartum and perimenopause.
Are females more vulnerable in these windows for dreaded burnout and how do we ameliorate this with exercise practices.
Burnout this time line of you coming in to an environment with skills, hopes and dreams and exit deflated and lost and on a trajectory of poor health. People are exiting their jobs at alarming rates. Academic burnout in teens and young adults has been on the research radar for some time.
In teens hormones are introduced to our systems for the first time, creating a is a complex and pervasive process that entails changes in the physical, psychological, and cognitive spheres - a wild amount of change going on. Skip forward to another critical window of these systems recalibrating and we land in peri menopause transition.
Converso D et al 2019 researched the plausibility of peri menopause symptoms exacerbating work ability or … well work with “several menopausal symptoms, such as a decrease in physical strength, difficulty sleeping, and fatigue [may lead] to workers having less psychophysical energy available for the job.”
Personally, I, as my own boss, facilitated my burnout in the other venerable, critical time of “trimester 4”& returning to high demands of work, while my body was still recovering from birth & accomodating the new demands of life. Passionate and determined but so so biologically compromised, I could have lost it all. Burn out … It seems an unintentional and easy enough place to find yourself.
How could a shift in balance through exercise help??? ….
Why is this a gender specific issue?
Lets build more context here on why gender specificity in approach might be in the distant future.
In May 2019, the World Health Organisation added burnout to its International Classification of Diseases.
“Burnout is a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” says WHO.
Three key factors characterise this condition:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
increased mental distance from one's job, or feelings of negativity or cynicism related to one's job; and
reduced professional efficacy.
Deloitte (9 May 2022) surveyed 5,000 women in 10 countries and reported 45% of women describe their work/life balance as poor or very poor and 35% say they have trouble switching off from work.
45% say their mental health is extremely poor or poor and 32% have taken time off work due to mental health challenges.
Vinter K et al 2021 indicated that academic burn out is more common in girls generally. “It has been proposed that girls experience more pressure to achieve academically and therefore tend to be more concerned about poor performance and academic failure.” Pascoe M et al 2019 notes the long term impact of this excessive stress is seen as mental health challenges, sleep disturbances and substance use.
All of this on those newly modelling brains and bodies.
7 things to try if you are in it and loosing grip?
Avoid overtraining - exercise benefits our energy and mindset … until it DOESN’T - excessive exercise tips the balance & magnifies symptoms - Feinberg J et al 2022 found occupations that had physical activity created more inflammation than if activity was done as a leisure pursuit.
use your exercise as a head space break outside of office ours OR be sure to get “out of your head” while you are doing your short walk after lunch.
if your energy isn’t giving you vitality and energy back - you need to ask for help with that.
young people should only participate in external sport/exercise for the amount of hours to match their age.
all ages should get a balance of exercise type - high energy balanced with lower energy and restorative.
Rest and switch gears properly -check out of work with a hot shower, yin yoga or meditation session a few hours before bed
this helps to change our brainwaves and move our body temp towards good sleep onset.
your mind is a helpful friend - it will remind you about things that you were thinking about & stop you calm. Try thanking your mind and writing a note to review the next day. And fall to sleep listening to white noise.
be sure to be eating routinely through out the day and within half an hour of finishing a bout of exercise
not eating enough to meet our exercise and our base organ needs, kicks of a cascade of alarm bells within the nervous system which can lead to “false anxiety” and “hangry”, which is easily fixed by eating 3 meals a day with at least 30 grams of protein.
take movement breaks from your desk and after the sun goes down be away from your screen
yes I know I know you’re under high demand, but a 5 - 10 min break from your computer every 20-90 mins improves your bodies ability to manage serotonin and helps your body move out of the “alert” part of your nervous system.
exercise mimicking protocols - we can get benefits of exercise for our nervous system and immune system without the “time burden” of exercising at the gym.
cold immersion in the morning (15 sec building to 2 mins) helps with anxiety and creates drive through dopamine pathways.
heat exposure (ideally sauna - see the sauna blog, or at least a tolerably hot bath 20-30mins) helps with endurance and maintaining muscle mass, as well as beneficial to mental health status.
advocate for workplace understanding
Victorian Women’s Trust - Menstrual and Menopause Policy Template
Communicate and seek support in your safe space
what are you symptoms & how are they making work life harder? explain them to your partner, work bestie, life bestie.
Grab the book by Alison Daddo - Queen Menopause
Welcome to your period by Yumi Stynes and Melissa Kang
Finally, in general. Hold yourself compassionately. There is a lot of change happening that is not in your control, but needs your healthy response.