Episode Summary: In this episode, Dr Caroline Howe is in conversation again with Alicia Gibbs, who takes us through the effects burnout can have on your ability to return to work, plus how to avoid burnout in the first place.

Guests: Dr Caroline Howe, Alicia Gibbs & MSSN Members

Host: Abe

One of the most asked questions the My Social Support team gets  is “what if I go back to work and the same thing happens to me? How can I prevent getting hurt again?”. This thought becomes so dominant for people that it has a crippling impact for people to even want to try. That fear of falling back to a state of injury is often too much for people to cope with.

So this week we kick of a new series in the MSSN podcasts in our quest to Reimagine Rehab. We are going to start to explore the fears that prevent people with injuries being able to easily move forward.
The Wounded to Warrior series will cover a range of topics and our hope is that over time we are able to give people who have become isolated through injury, illness or disability the tools to be warriors in their lives.

The first topic that came up for our injured workers was, how do I prevent getting burnout when I go back to work? To understand that it’s important to know what Burnout is and what it isn’t.

What is Burnout?

Burn-out is included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon. It is not classified as a medical condition.

Burn-out is defined in ICD-11 as follows:
“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

1. feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
2. increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job;
3. and reduced professional efficacy.

Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”

In fact one of the ways to know if you are burnout out is when you leave work, do you feel better?

The fear for injured workers though is, what happens when I go back!

How to Prevent Burnout in a New Workplace for Injured Workers after Experiencing it Before

Once you’ve experienced burnout in a previous job, then of course you want to prevent it from happening again in a new workplace and the fear of “what might happen” is crippling. 

Taking proactive steps to protect well-being is essential for maintaining energy, productivity and general mental wellness. 

Have a listen to this weeks podcast episode you never know when you might need this info for yourself or a loved one.