“The symptoms of a manic modern world are real, but the diagnosis is wrong. We are not all working more, sleeping less and feeling more rushed,” lead researcher Jenevieve Treadwell wrote. “The core problem is our higher tempo of life.”
We know this. And yet the burnout epidemic is getting worse. We live at this “higher tempo,” because we are shamed if we fall behind, and praised for keeping up, even when it harms us. That’s how we came to believe our experience of stress is a necessary and noble sacrifice that humans make in service of the great and mighty economy, which matters more than the lives of us mere mortals. But burnout isn’t honourable, or inevitable. It is a wound. The sooner we recognise this, the sooner we can take steps to counter the damage…
Instead, we smile and we’re polite, because lashing out wouldn’t allow us to keep our jobs or stay safe. But that same stress response still happens in our bodies; instead of being spent, it just gets stuck. Modern-day stressors can include everything from body shame to white supremacy; we never get a chance to return to our baseline.
This adds up to constant increased strain on, for instance, our cardiovascular system, with no opportunity to heal the damage. Those injured places can develop plaques, which break loose and cause heart attacks. We are living in an upside-down world where stress itself is now more likely to kill us than the things that cause our stress. And we accept that this is normal and true.
— Amelia Nagoski, In a world that glamorises stress, ‘burnout’ is a badge of honour. But there is a cure. (The Guardian · April 6, 2023). Amelia Nagoski is the author of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Live & Learn 
Hero Husband produced burnouts twice. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. The worst bit was that he didn’t realise that he played with his health and life.
Since our return to Switzerland he’s taking life a bit healthier and I live in hope to die before him….
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Great for him!!!!
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great for me too! I was afraid that he would make me a ‘not so’ merry widow…
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Right!
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it is so easy to get caught up in this negative cycle and way of living. not all of us escape it, even knowing this
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Yep.
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Good vibration 🙂
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Yes!
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We have realized so much progress in our world…in so many ways…and yet I can’t help but feel we are backsliding more and more with every passing minute. 😔
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Yep, with you Lori.
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Agree for sure… And it’s heartbreaking. Everyone needs to get a dog, and then watch and learn! 🙂
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(Taking proper care of the dog is a non-negotiable requirement.)
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Exactly!
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On both a spiritual and practical level, working with one’s own state of mind is key to living in this world. [Maybe, just ask a dog…]
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So Agree!
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I think the pandemic showed us how much less burnout-heading stress we could have, and yes, how much more possible it was to get (and sustain) that crucial someday-dog!
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Yes!
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Hmmm…and your takeaway is????
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Laughing. Haven’t yet understood article or figured out “Jack”!
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I feel like too many people people, the majority, are not aware of their baseline!
They wouldn’t recognize it if they experienced it. They might actually feel uncomfortable.
When I stray too far from my baseline, my baseline drags me back by my ponytail. That being said, I function best at baseline.
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Oh, so much to say. So much safer to just let the sleeper sleep.
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It’s sad
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As I’ve said here and many times elsewhere….this is also a result of public policy in the U.S. especially…when people can be fired without warning any time with no reason and no severance, they run like hamsters in fear. When many people have no emergency savings, they have no time or energy to contemplate a slower, healthier life. I chose a slower life in a not-high-earning field (journalism) and made less money than I could have. Do I now wish I had earned $$$$$, won a high status job? I see the stress it causes and…no.
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Admirable. Very.
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Well, you sure pay the price of that choice later!
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Yep!
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