Anyone with a pulse will be unsurprised that stress levels are rising across Boston and, well, most everywhere else. After all, the global Covid-19 pandemic continues to surge in seemingly inverse proportion to the flagging national response. This means that no one knows whether children will return to school this fall or whether remote workers will head back to their desks any time soon. For some, this is a relief, but for many others transforming the home into a school, office, and bunker has been too much to bear. Burnout is on the rise, and experts are worried that depression and anxiety are only a half-step behind.
Burnout: Early Warning Signs
Coined by the psychologist Herbert Freudenberger in the 1970s, “burnout” refers to a stress condition that leads to severe physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Because of its gradual onset, the condition can be difficult to distinguish from ordinary fatigue. Nonetheless, it’s important to recognize that the one is orders of magnitude worse than the other. Fatigue can be cured by a week at the beach; burnout can trigger life-long consequences if not addressed.
If the below symptoms sound familiar, you may be struggling with burnout:
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- Exhaustion. Beyond feeling physically and emotionally depleted, symptoms include headaches, stomach-aches, and appetite or sleeping changes.
- Isolation. Because burnout provokes feelings of being overwhelmed, sufferers may stop socializing and confiding in friends, family members, and co-workers.
- Escape fantasies. Driven my never-ending demands, people with burnout may fantasize about outlandish travel plans or, worse, turn to substance abuse.
- Irritability. Burnout can make simple setbacks feel like insurmountable challenges, causing people to lose composure in surprising ways.
- Frequent illness. Long-term stress weakens the immune system making you more susceptible to colds, the flu, and insomnia. In untreated cases, severe mental health conditions like depression and anxiety can set in.
Too Little, Too Late
Because mental health struggles continue to carry negative social stigma, many folks do not recognize burnout as a legitimate medical issue until symptoms become so severe that intervention is needed. Often, this point is reached when depression or anxiety manifest to a point where normal, day-to-day function is interrupted. At present, “normal,” itself has been interrupted the world over, making burnout all that much more difficult to identify.
If you worry you may be suffering in ways that extend beyond normal tribulation, consider reaching out to a healthcare professional who can direct you toward appropriate mental healthcare resources. Often, these include talk therapy, anti-depression or anti-anxiety medications.
In instances where conventional methods have failed, sufferers may consider the revolutionary success of ketamine infusion therapy. Originally developed to assist with the delivery of surgical anaesthetic, researchers have since discovered ketamine’s incredible potential to treat otherwise treatment-resistant mental health conditions.
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Contact Ketamine Greater Boston
Ketamine Greater Boston offers ketamine infusions for the treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD and other psychiatric conditions. If you are suffering from treatment-resistant depression and haven’t found a solution, ketamine could be what you’re looking for. Contact us for a free consultation today to learn more about ketamine infusions and find out of you’re a candidate.
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