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ysabetwordsmithYou Might Not Recover from Burnout. Ever.
Hea has been unemployed for a little over two years, and she can’t see that ending anytime soon. Her burnout has been catastrophic — and so far, bottomless.
“I went on short-term disability at first, for my mental health, but after that ran out I used up all of my sick days. Then I applied for a longer medical leave, which shockingly, I got for a little while,” she explains. “I was luckier than most people, who don’t get any paid time off. But then they mysteriously eliminated my position. I’ve been floundering ever since.”
Acute burnout is like other acute things. It happens because of intense pressure over a medium period, usually weeks to months. If the pressure then eases up, most people can recover after rest.
Chronic burnout is like other chronic things. It happens because of overwork for months or years, usually coupled with a critical shortage of resources and lack of support that make it impossible to compensate for the stress. This often causes crippling injury, part or all of which is permanent.
With regards to the length of recovery, think of burnout like debt. If you use tomorrow's energy today, you'll be flattened for the next several days, but you can recover. The more you borrow, though, the longer the recovery -- it's usually 2-4 times what you spent. Borrow a day, you're fine within a week. Trudge through finals, you should be recovered by the end of summer. But if you spend years overexerting yourself, then your recovery will likely take more years. There are ways to boost the process a little if you have people to take care of you and a pleasant place to soak up energy, but most people don't have that.
Local-America is bad at handling this kind of thing. People think a lot of things are temporary that, if you don't heed the warnings, become permanent. Take kidney injury. If you say out of the heat, drink water, and make regular bathroom stops then you should be safe. If your car breaks down and you injure your kidneys by overheating while walking back to town, that's probably fixable. But if your construction boss makes you work in the heat with not enough water or bathroom breaks, that can kill you -- and if it doesn't kill you, is still likely to cripple or kill your kidneys. That's happening more and more often with climate change.
America has been wringing more and more effort out of workers, for less compensation, with the unsurprising result that eventually people break under the pressure and wind up disabled. So when talking about burnout, check whether it is acute or chronic. Acute burnout should be treated as an emergency: stop exerting effort on other things and reroute all energy to recovery in hopes that it can still be healed. Chronic burnout is a disability, so you have to stop expecting things from them, because society has used up their capacity to do things. Try to treat yourself and others with compassion in these cases. Giving your all has a cost.
Hea has been unemployed for a little over two years, and she can’t see that ending anytime soon. Her burnout has been catastrophic — and so far, bottomless.
“I went on short-term disability at first, for my mental health, but after that ran out I used up all of my sick days. Then I applied for a longer medical leave, which shockingly, I got for a little while,” she explains. “I was luckier than most people, who don’t get any paid time off. But then they mysteriously eliminated my position. I’ve been floundering ever since.”
Acute burnout is like other acute things. It happens because of intense pressure over a medium period, usually weeks to months. If the pressure then eases up, most people can recover after rest.
Chronic burnout is like other chronic things. It happens because of overwork for months or years, usually coupled with a critical shortage of resources and lack of support that make it impossible to compensate for the stress. This often causes crippling injury, part or all of which is permanent.
With regards to the length of recovery, think of burnout like debt. If you use tomorrow's energy today, you'll be flattened for the next several days, but you can recover. The more you borrow, though, the longer the recovery -- it's usually 2-4 times what you spent. Borrow a day, you're fine within a week. Trudge through finals, you should be recovered by the end of summer. But if you spend years overexerting yourself, then your recovery will likely take more years. There are ways to boost the process a little if you have people to take care of you and a pleasant place to soak up energy, but most people don't have that.
Local-America is bad at handling this kind of thing. People think a lot of things are temporary that, if you don't heed the warnings, become permanent. Take kidney injury. If you say out of the heat, drink water, and make regular bathroom stops then you should be safe. If your car breaks down and you injure your kidneys by overheating while walking back to town, that's probably fixable. But if your construction boss makes you work in the heat with not enough water or bathroom breaks, that can kill you -- and if it doesn't kill you, is still likely to cripple or kill your kidneys. That's happening more and more often with climate change.
America has been wringing more and more effort out of workers, for less compensation, with the unsurprising result that eventually people break under the pressure and wind up disabled. So when talking about burnout, check whether it is acute or chronic. Acute burnout should be treated as an emergency: stop exerting effort on other things and reroute all energy to recovery in hopes that it can still be healed. Chronic burnout is a disability, so you have to stop expecting things from them, because society has used up their capacity to do things. Try to treat yourself and others with compassion in these cases. Giving your all has a cost.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-06-25 12:02 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2025-06-25 01:18 am (UTC)Mostly it's just ... be kind to yourself and others as much as you can.
Notice
Date: 2025-06-25 01:29 am (UTC)Which makes me wonder: (c) is workman's comp applicable to chronic burnout, or would the elimination of the job ALSO eliminate unemployment benefits?
Be aware that changes in unemployment benefits mean that low-wage workers who cycle through more than one job in a fiscal quarter may not be eligible for ANY benefits for ANY of the jobs, despite being employed for most if not every day of the quarter. So that, too, is going to cut holes in any kind of safety net.
Cuts in SNAP, along with higher income limits, already leave more and more working poor making too much money to get any help there, either. Food insecurity is a pernicious stressor all on its own.
Whatever economic model I believe MIGHT work, I'm pretty sure that late stage capitalism is the Three Mile Island version of "economic stability".
Re: Notice
Date: 2025-06-25 03:11 am (UTC)I consider it unethical, but it is the norm in American business. Some like Amazon are particularly notorious for abusing employees.
>> and (b) the corporate solution to the problem of severe burnout for an employee was to eliminate the job so that they didn't have to continue to pay the worker? <<
I would bet it's so they didn't have to pay the insurance, which probably cost more.
>> Which makes me wonder: (c) is workman's comp applicable to chronic burnout,<<
In theory, yes; in practice, usually not. Most companies try to weasel out of everything, challenging every claim. Unless you have a union representative or can afford a better lawyer than the company's, you're unlikely to get anything.
>> or would the elimination of the job ALSO eliminate unemployment benefits? <<
They're supposed to pay based on work done, but as above, most employers will challenge every claim.
>>Be aware that changes in unemployment benefits mean that low-wage workers who cycle through more than one job in a fiscal quarter may not be eligible for ANY benefits for ANY of the jobs, despite being employed for most if not every day of the quarter. So that, too, is going to cut holes in any kind of safety net.<<
They don't really care if people are doing work, only care about the rules, which are written to exclude as many people as possible.
>>Cuts in SNAP, along with higher income limits, already leave more and more working poor making too much money to get any help there, either. Food insecurity is a pernicious stressor all on its own.<<
True, which leaves us back with the problems such programs were designed to solve. People have decided they prefer the problems to the solutions.
However, there are alternatives. I like the Food Is Free program especially. Anyone with a patch of public-facing lawn and the ability to grow something edible can participate. And what if everyone did that? It would largely solve food insecurity.
>>Whatever economic model I believe MIGHT work, I'm pretty sure that late stage capitalism is the Three Mile Island version of "economic stability".<<
There are plenty of other things to try.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-06-25 10:45 am (UTC)Thanks. That may explain some things. Doesn't help much, though.