Burnout Syndrome: Burnout Moms – I’m A Mom
This state in which we find ourselves has a name: “Burnout Syndrome”. Do you know this syndrome? In this article, we’ll give you some tips to analyze if you suffer from it.
Many mothers who suffer from Burnout Syndrome demand a lot from themselves. Our bodies, in turn, respond to this prolonged period of stress and respond.
What is Burnout Syndrome?
Burnout syndrome is our body’s response to a time of intense stress. Certainly, we all try to be the “perfect mothers”. But this is impossible.
Combining work and family burdens us with many tasks: fulfilling duties at work, going with the kids to school, taking them to extracurricular activities, school birthdays, the park, ironing clothes, etc.
We have this desire for perfection that drains us both physically and mentally. Of course, this syndrome is also applicable to all parents.
Parents also take on their household chores, want to fulfill their work, take the children to school, pick them up, do fun things and, at the same time, educational with them on the weekends…
Thus, among all these tasks, we create this desire to “be everything at the same time”, which causes great wear and tear.
Symptoms of Burnout Syndrome
Although you don’t have to have all the symptoms at the same time to suffer from Burnout syndrome, here we show you the main ones:
- feeling of exhaustion
- failure and impotence
- Low self esteem
- Little personal achievement
- permanent state of nervousness
- difficulty concentrating
- Headache
- Tachycardia.
Stages of Burnout Syndrome
Like all syndromes, Burnout syndrome does not appear overnight. But it goes through stages or phases that finally lead to the onset of the syndrome. The steps are as follows:
- Enthusiasm step. At this stage, we feel full of energy. We have very high aspirations as everything is very stimulating. Conflicts are interpreted as something fleeting, with a clear solution.
- Stagnation stage. This phase begins when our expectations are dashed. We become aware that even though we try hard, we can’t do everything.
- Frustration step. This phase is characterized by being a period of disillusionment. This is the time when emotional and physical problems arise.
- Apathy stage. It is the phase of resignation facing the possibility of changing things.
- Burnout stage. At this stage, the physical and psychic impossibility of moving forward arises. Therefore, at this moment, the symptoms appear with force: emotional exhaustion and low personal fulfillment.
How to treat Burnout syndrome?
Social contact is the best antidote to stress. The face and heart are connected to each other through the brain. Talking face-to-face with a good friend can help calm our nervous system and relieve stress.
Often, we just need a person who will simply listen to us, although we are aware that he will not give us a solution either.
Establishing friendships with people you share concerns can help you feel better. If you feel like you have no one to turn to, it’s never too late to build new friendships.
Furthermore, having coffee with the mothers of the children’s colleagues or with friends who are also mothers is a brilliant idea to do “group therapy” and realize that, to a greater or lesser extent, they are all in a similar situation.
Finding balance in your life is critical to feeling good about yourself. So focus on the parts of your life that bring you joy. Take some time off. Use your free time to recharge your batteries.
What to do to avoid this syndrome?
It’s important to know ourselves and know what we need in each moment. If our body asks for a rest, we need to rest.
We are not alone in the task of being parents. We have people who help us: parents or friends, and even, at some point, we can leave our children with a nanny so we can have time to be alone and thus strengthen our relationship as a couple.
If we feel too stressed, we can choose to do relaxing activities like yoga or meditation. Often, just taking a walk and breathing in fresh air is enough to fill us with energy.
And don’t forget to follow healthy habits: a correct diet, exercise, rest…
And our last piece of advice…
In the face of any symptoms that we notice or if we realize that the situation is going to get out of control, it is important to go to a doctor to help us and give us the treatment that he considers convenient.
And never forget that “the perfect mother” doesn’t exist. Our children want a mother who is able to laugh, cry, sing and play with them. Because, for them, the perfect mother is you.
