Burnout and Social Isolation

I found this article at usnews.com about job burnout called 4 Ways to Burn Out, Effort-Free.  I really think it applies to life in general, not just workplace burnout.  I find that I quit caring about things when there's no one around, and that demotivates me from wanting to do anything at all.  From the article:

The more time you can spend in mind-numbing isolation, poking at your keyboard and reading through your spam folder, the better to reach a state of burnout. 

 Later in the article, it explains why isolation leads to burnout:

A sense of being isolated comes when solitary workers are not getting necessary support from supervisors and peers, says Jay Mulki . . . "That leads to stress in the sense that a person feels that he's not visible, nobody cares about him, his achievements are not known, nobody cares about whether he has done his work or not," Mulki says.

 Here's another good article on burnout and isolation: Watch Out For Burnout - If You Are a Solo Practitioner, It Can Begin With a Sense of Isolation.

It's kind of frustrating to read about this because I always end up some sort of difficulty in social situations one way or another. 

Food for Low Thyroid Function

According to this Physiology of Hormones article at oxygenmiracles.com:

Dietary recommendations to support thyroid function include getting adequate protein ie organic beef, poultry, eggs, fish, cultured milk products such as kefir and yogurt. Thyroid healing foods include these high in the B vitamins such as wheat germ, whole grains, nuts, seeds, dark greens, legumes and Brewer's yeast. Other foods include seaweeds, wheat germ oil or natural Vitamin E,

 The advice to eat more protein for the thyroid is almost universal.  Vitamin E shows up a lot as something that's useful.  I also read today that Vitamin E helps some types of anemia.  I have anemia, so I have to make a note of that.  Seaweed is often suggested for it's iodine and it's minerals.

Recovering from Lifelong Burnout - Making a Life out of Nothing

When you’re burned out, problems seem insurmountable, everything looks bleak, and it’s difficult to muster up the energy to care—let alone do something about your situation. Source: Preventing Burnout (Helpguide.org)

 Thanks, helpguide.org for nicely summing up my entire life in one sentence!  According to helpguide.org, you're on the road to burnout if:

• Caring about your work or home life seems like a total waste of energy.
• The majority of your day is spent on tasks you find either mind-numbingly dull or overwhelming.
• You feel like nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated.

 Holy shit.  I've spent almost my entire life, minus a few days, on that road.

Helpguide on job burnout:

In many cases, burnout stems from your job. But anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout – from the hardworking office worker who hasn’t had a vacation or a raise in two years to the frazzled stay-at-home mom struggling with the heavy responsibility of taking care of three kids, the housework, and her aging father.

So, here's the thing.  I got diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and the guy who diagnosed made a note of my conscientiousness.  CFS is apparently associated with high levels of conscientiousness.  I know I'm like that, and that makes it so that everything wears me out.  I'm detail-oriented and that makes it so that it can take me two or three times as long to do something as it does someone else.  My brain doesn't just glide over things smoothly.

On another note, I'm looking for a job right now.  I've tried a few things on a trial basis, but I notice that all the companies I work for pretty much run on employee under-appreciation.  I think the reason everyone survives is because they have each other to talk to about it and they're able to keep standing tall against it and hold their own sense of value.

Help.org also lists the work, lifestyle, and personality-related causes of burnout.  I thought personality was a huge one for me, but looking at that list, it seems like work and lifestyle are way bigger ones.

Work-related causes of burnout

• Feeling like you have little or no control over your work
• Lack of recognition or rewards for good work
• Unclear or overly demanding job expectations
• Doing work that’s monotonous or unchallenging
• Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment

Lifestyle causes of burnout

• Working too much, without enough time for relaxing and socializing
• Being expected to be too many things to too many people
• Taking on too many responsibilities, without enough help from others
• Not getting enough sleep
• Lack of close, supportive relationships

 Fuck.  I'm feeling screwed.  (I'm always feeling screwed, though.)  I feel screwed because I know some of the biggest things that wear me out in my life (taking the bus, dragging food around, spending too much time alone), and I'm not sure I have much of the resources to cope with those.  I might be able to fix the being alone part.  I can at least try to be optimistic about that.

Helpguide says that adjusting my attitude or watching my health isn't going to help if I'm already at the end stage of burnout.  They say I just need to slow down and take a break.  Oh fuck, then who's going to cook for me, wash my dishes, get my food, fill out my job applications, and find me some friends?  Ha, notice that most of my activities revolve around food?  It's the one thing I have to do to keep myself.  What am I keeping myself alive for?  Who knows, because every random stranger says I should stay alive.

I have been trying to take a break for the past few years, in reality, but it seems I always find something to stress out about even when I do.

Oh god, do I know this:

When you’re burned out, the natural tendency is to protect what little energy you have left by isolating yourself. But your friends and family are more important than ever during difficult times.

Fuck this, nothing is important to me:

Burnout is an undeniable sign that something important in your life is not working. Take time to think about your hopes, goals, and dreams. Are you neglecting something that is truly important to you?

Burnout brings with it many losses, which can often go unrecognized. Unrecognized losses trap a lot of your energy. It takes a tremendous amount of emotional control to keep yourself from feeling the pain of these losses. When you recognize these losses and allow yourself to grieve them, you release that trapped energy and open yourself to healing.

• Loss of the idealism or dream with which you entered your career
• Loss of the role or identity that originally came with your job
• Loss of physical and emotional energy
• Loss of friends, fun, and sense of community
• Loss of esteem, self-worth, and sense of control and mastery
• Loss of joy, meaning and purpose that make work – and life – worthwhile

Source: Keeping the Fire by Ruth Luban