Burnout: The Insidious Epidemic of Exhaustion of Our Times

Throughout the ages ever since homo sapiens sapiens walked the earth, we humans have been blessed with the ability to cope with adversity, to rise above obstacles. We have been blessed with plenty of overflowing life force energy that, in the past, allowed us to adapt to even the most challenging of circumstances – and in these, not only survive but finally triumph with extra energy to spare. The spirit of humans has always been indomitable – in the good and in the bad. And to complete the paraphrasing: with their insuppressible energy many humans many times did indeed display the behavior of the downright ugly. They were often real villains, and much less often, real saints. At least though, they were indomitable, even if they belonged to the majority of the neither-good-nor-bad.

But now, it appears, all strength is seeping out of us, almost all of us. An epidemic of exhaustion is enveloping humanity like a blanket, especially in the houses of the rich and near rich: in the suburbs, in the skyscrapers and residential colonies of the more well-to-do areas of the city – whatever city, in the US and many parts of the so-called developed world, which includes any metropolis anywhere on the globe. Things happen which were unheard of, before. People throw their jobs: because of burnout. Successful sports coaches resign in mid-season: because of burnout. Tons of articles appear in weekly and monthly magazines about burnout. Everybody lacks energy; many feel depleted.

People are too fatigued to enjoy, too weary to fully participate in their own life, but not drained enough yet to just keel over… They go to work every day, but are not really with the program. To keep up, they drink too much coffee and listlessly go through their routines. They eat their meals, but they don’t savor what they eat. Anyway, it’s fast food out of the microwave and tastes like Styrofoam. So, what flavors could be there to sample? They read the paper, but forget what they just read. Guilt feelings drown them in self-pity: there’s never enough time to do everything that requires their attention; not enough time for the kids, not enough time to make the spouse happy, not enough time to really relax, not enough time to finish the one thing that one would have always wanted to do…. No sex life either: too burned out for even trying. And if we have to shop, let’s do it over the net because we are certainly too drained to go out and have fun browsing.

Naturally, at some point this chronic fatigue makes you go and see the doctor. But these visits usually remain inconclusive, as Frank Lipman M.D. describes in his book Revive,

“After a few months… of unexplainable physical aches, and a few colds in quick succession [you] decide to see your doctor. After running some blood and other diagnostic tests he tells you that there is nothing wrong. He says that you are just getting older and hands you a prescription for the latest anti-inflammatory pill. So you go to another physician, who tells you that you have a ‘chemical imbalance’ and perhaps a new kind of sleeping pill or a different antidepressant drug might help. When you tell him that you have tried all these pills in the last few months and that you are actually feeling worse, he says you need a vacation. But you know something is not right although both doctors give you a clean bill of health…”

Your average doctor is destined to remain helpless. He or she just does not have the right kind of knowledge to help you. He or she isn’t trained to deal with a state of affairs, somewhere between sickness and good health, the grey zone off the radar of allopathic medicine. And that’s when you might come to see me at Healthy Healing because your feeling permanently spent gives you more than one clue that your system is in dire need of a complete check-up and overhaul. You want your life back and for that to happen, you need to get into the driver’s seat. You need to participate in re-creating the natural healthy state that is your birthright. You need help, but you also need to this help to help yourself. Here is when you should contemplate seeking the expert advice, not of an ordinary doctor, but one who is also a health coach; a doctor who doesn’t only gives you pills, but works with you and explains to you what you yourself can do.

And when should you consider this step of seeking a health coach? A good guideline is the following list of questions:

When waking up in the morning, do you feel not refreshed, as if you hadn’t slept enough and could continue sleeping forever?
Do you feel inexplicably drained most of the time?
In the course of the day do you need several hits of caffeine, soda pop, or sugar-loaded snacks to keep you going?
Although you feel physically worn out and want to sleep, is your mind spinning fast so that you in fact cannot fall asleep?
Do you feel as if you are aging too quickly?
Do you suffer from gas, bloating, constipation and/or indigestion?
Is it hard or almost impossible for you to lose weight, although you are dieting and exercising?
Do your muscles and joints ache? Do you feel tense, especially in the neck, shoulders and pelvis?
Are you losing your appetite for sex? Too exhausted to even try?
Do you feel mildly depressed throughout the day and have trouble concentrating, or remembering things. Does your mind feel foggy and sluggish?
Do you lack the drive to even accomplish small tasks? Do you feel mostly listless and disinterested in anything?
Do you find that you are beginning to fall sick with minor complaints more frequently and that it takes longer to recover?

These questions are an indicator of the level of toxicity in your body. Answer them truthfully. They are the first-line test, so to speak. If you have to answer more than three of these questions with ‘yes’, you need re-evaluate your lifestyle and probably detoxify. You need a health coach.