To mark Mental Health Awareness Week (12th – 18th May), we explore burnout – how to spot the signs and how to prevent it.
Sadly, burnout is common among members of the dental profession. A recent survey by Dental Protection, the indemnity provider, revealed that nearly two thirds of its more than 1,600 respondents were feeling burnt out.
How to spot the signs of burnout
According to Psychological Safety Specialist and Mental Health First Aid Expert, Andy Elwood, one of the first things people experiencing burnout might notice in themselves or others is exhaustion. “It’s more than just being tired, not having slept well the night before, or for a few days,” he explains. “It’s feeling completely drained of energy. People experiencing burnout have no energy for anything. It can also be accompanied by a lack of enjoyment or motivation.”
Andy suggests there may also be changes in attitude and performance. “That individual who may have always been a can-do person in the team is now putting up blockers. Suddenly, they may not be performing as well as they used to and it’s very likely they won’t be as engaged as they once were.
“Irritability and a loss of sense of humour can also be signs of burnout,” he continues. “So again, if they used to be a can-do person they may be falling out with people more than in the past.”
Burnout can also present in a similar way to depression. Usually reliable team members may start taking time off as they feel unable to get out of bed and have no enthusiasm for work. Conversely, the person experiencing burnout may realise their work is suffering because they’re missing deadlines, making mistakes and not pulling their weight and feel guilty about letting down their colleagues. To combat this, they may be spending more time at work. They become the ones who are first in every morning and last ones out each evening. Rather than helping relieve the symptoms of burnout, this can exacerbate them as they’re not giving themselves time to unplug and recharge.
As well as performance and attitude, there may also be physical signs of burnout. Often when people are rundown their skin may suffer, either through dryness, spots or cold sores depending on the individual. Their nails may also start breaking. Also, they may not be looking after themselves as well as they should as their energy levels are so depleted.
Along with these, one of the most common symptoms is sleep disturbance. People reporting that they’re experiencing insomnia or broken sleep can often be a way of talking about burnout. There may be an innocent reason why they’re not sleeping well such as a new baby in the house, their partner has been unwell or there was a lot of noise on their street. However, it could be that there is more to it, so, as a caring manager or colleague it’s worth trying to find out more.
How to avoid burnout
Burnout occurs when a person’s resources are depleted. So, how do we make sure we don’t fall prey to this? “The number one, the biggie, is take your leave,” Andy states. “Often when I’m delivering a session, and I ask people’ who takes all of their leave?’ Not everyone puts their hand up.
“It’s essential to take leave,” he stresses. “We need time off to ensure we have positive mental health, and especially for resilience. The best definition to help people understand the importance of this message is: Resilience is not about enduring; it’s about recharging. We need to recharge ourselves. Top up our fuel tanks or batteries. So, taking time off is extremely important.”
However, that’s not all. It’s more beneficial to have something planned during our time off as Andy outlines. “When people are showing the signs and symptoms of either poor mental health or being burned out, the most difficult days for them are the ones when they’re at home, alone with nothing to do. When they’re at work and around people, they have a routine and sense of purpose, rather than sitting at home with no energy.”
To combat this, Andy suggests arranging things to do on days off. “Rather than just having time off, when I worked in the emergency services, what we found helpful was to encourage colleagues showing signs of burnout to plan something for that day off. These could be simple things such as meeting a friend for a coffee or a dog walk. Doing some other form of exercise such as a bike ride or a run with an exercise buddy. If there’s someone else involved, we’re less likely to let them down and not go through with it. Even if we’re feeling tired, having something planned, something to look forward to is a simple thing to do that gets you out and motivated. It makes you get up and have a shower and look after yourself.”
The importance of sleep
We’ve already mentioned that lack of sleep can play a big part in burnout. Getting a good night’s sleep can make a huge difference to how we feel. For someone struggling with poor sleep then having good sleep hygiene can help. Andy recommends having a look at the website of Dr Sophie Bostock, known as The Sleep Scientist. She has spent years researching sleep and there are many resources on there to help people sleep better including a quiz to help gauge how well you’re sleeping and how you can improve the quality of your sleep.
Finish on time and draw a line under the day
In a busy practice it can be difficult to finish on time. Patients arriving late can throw out an appointment schedule, especially in a mixed or NHS practice. However, it’s important that we switch off at the end of the day so we can rest and recharge.
“Even if you’re finishing late, and it’s somebody else’s fault, draw a line under your day in a positive way,” Andy suggests. “An end of day checklist can be really helpful. If something negative happened that day. Let it go. Do we need to check in on a colleague? Do you need to offload to someone else before you go home? The checklist helps remind you to do these things and leave work behind.
“Changing clothes at the end of the work day can be a big help to a lot of people. Getting out of the uniform, putting on your own clothes and while on your way home you can look forward to being at home and what you have planned for that evening. Listening to your choice of music or podcast on the journey home, they all help to draw a line under the day so you can go and recharge.”
You can read more about resilience in Andy’s blog.
