So there’s a whole chapter on burnout of human service workers for one of my exams. It’s ironic, because I am too burnt out today to study for exams.
I notice that I reach this just tired point every semester. Today I woke up ill, my meds didn’t digest well and then I felt normal and worked out, got lunch, then sat with the cats and watched metal covers of hit songs on my phone. I just booted up my desktop to make a study guide for the class about crisis intervention, which features burnout, and I realized that I am burnt out. It’s probably the last few days and this morning. They’ve been insane. Research submission, letters of rec, exams, last minute research verification (now certified in two organizations! NIH and CITI) and just no I’m tired today. Just showered and changed clothes and I’m tired.
We should do well to notice signs of burnout. For me, it’s getting physically sick or having insomnia. I had a serious sinus infection and finish my antibiotic today. It manifests in so many ways, too many to list.
What we should do is have a feel or sense of when we are too pressured. For us, we can have relapses and episodes! NOT OKAY! So I just wanted to share that it happens to everyone if they are too stressed- me, for example, a type A badass. I’ve noticed it in professors and even been told they felt burnt out by their very selves!
Be well and do your best, and be aware of signs of trying too hard. It’s appropriate to stop and chill sometimes so that we can recover and then do our best consistently instead of all at once once a month.
been having a hard time with it lately, luckily i had an appointment with learning inclusion today and it has helped a lot, i didnt think i could do this silly little piece on food hygiene and i had missed a presentation i was supposed to do earlier, the food hygiene thing was to be in for tomorrow and i couldnt have done it alone even though it should have been really easy, i also have to resit my first aid test because i totally fkd it up so i’m worried about that,
but everything is really shitty lately because of being denied my placement (on medical grounds) against my wishes and i dont know if i want to go in tomorrow for the start of my new classes on mental health and things,
how’d you deal with the horrible stories about schizos and i’m sitting there bc i’ve had it a few times, one of them was about one who gouged out his own eye and the other was about a sz who had sexual problems and ran around naked. its completely ■■■■. we definitely have a bad reputation.
Sounds about right. I’m showing signs of burnout. Have had to step back from at least three volunteer gigs to concentrate on the few that are important to me.
You ask a great question. Be the proof that the stories aren’t all true! Fight stigma by being a good person and being so many other things than just an illness. Be a healthy, happy, kind person. I am a nice guy in real life- I am polite and less abrasive than on here, believe it or not. I can be skeptical, but for the better, its my job as a researcher (and being on scholarship means its my job to be the best student I can…the city pays for me to boost their stats as an institution by covering my tuition), and I am generally just not the stereotype. I am more like a psychologist than a stereotypical “pyscho”. Seriously.
I even gave a speech in oral communications about misconceptions of schizophrenic people and my punchline was that I said that I had schizophrenia at the end, and no one guessed it. I started the speech with “picture a person with schizophrenia” and ended it with “I assume that I am not like that person you had imagined…”–the thing is, I was well-groomed and dressed, a very good speaker (practiced a lot) and was in super shape at the time, even better than today. It was a killer A and the class was truly impressed.
I was a human services worker until I got burnt out. I worked at a residential school for kids with severe behavioral and/or developmental disorders. If you have any questions on it, I consider myself an expert.
What was the main reason you burned out, in your opinion? I am thinking of working in a VA or mental hospital one day, one way or the other, I damn well intend to serve and maybe also study those populations.
Well, officially, it was because the school I worked for didn’t allow us to wear protective gear when working with high-risk students. At my old job I was given arm guards, blocking pads, and a hat to protect from hair pulls. At this job, I was told that stuff stigmatizes the students, so we weren’t allowed to use them. I was with teenagers, and a really big guy ran up, grabbed me by the hair, and slammed my head repeatedly into a brick wall. It took six people to pull him off me, and then they didn’t hold him properly and he got me again a couple times.
I got a severe concussion and had to go to rehab to relearn how to walk in a straight line, read more than one sentence at a time, and do basic addition. I couldn’t drive, because my ability to track moving objects was damaged. I tried going back to work like ten times, but I kept having panic attacks once I got inside the building. Ultimately, my doctor said I had PTSD and put me on permanent disability from that field.
My advice to you is stick with the private sector. When I was in a private school, it was still a challenge, but I was paid well and treated well, and I was given proper training and safety equipment. The public sector pays sh*t and the managers usually don’t know jack about treating employees well. I was also provided with almost no training, and if I hadn’t worked in the private school first, I would have had no idea what to do.
One thing that strikes me in the experiences you had is that you and I are pretty different. I’m trained in hand to hand combat and I’m technically very overweight with muscle and I buzz my head so there’s no hair to grab.
I feel like I wouldn’t really even look like a good person to try violence on. I wear all black and combat boots every day.
Yet I’m thankful for your story and experiences- it went well with my recent chapter I read about violence in institutions.
I’m sorry that stuff happened to you, you didn’t deserve it. I’m glad to see that you are still mentally acute- you write very clearly on here.
Thanks. I’m actually pretty well trained in nonviolent holding maneuvers from my stint in the private school. The problem is, most of those holds require four or more people so the child isn’t physically injured during the intervention. Sadly, the public school just goes with NCI, which is pretty much the cheap store-brand of physical interventions. So I could have fought back, but then I’d get arrested for child abuse. My only safe option was to stabilize my neck by grabbing his wrists and calling for help.
A knee to the groin would probably have gotten me free, but there’s a reason this is a hard job to do. You have to fight your basic instincts as you’re being physically beaten. Prior to that I’ve had a dislocated shoulder, broken finger, several black eyes, chunks of skin torn out from bites, and one actual rape attempt. But the only thing that ever rattled me was the concussion. I think because it was more e severe.
I still think that would be assault even though it was done by a child. That is just my opinion. I don’t know how it works legally.
I learned to never turn my back on a mentally unstable schizophrenic when one of them threw a chair at a tv. I would never go into either profession (watching unstable children or adults). I’ll stay in the office if that’s okay.?.
I view it less of burning out, but like runners have when you “hit the wall.” So i just keep running till i breakthrough the wall and reach the end. Its all about overcoming the wall
College is designed to put people under a lot of stress and weed out people are too disorganized or incapable of dealing with it.
Honestly, how much of the details of what you studied from a few months do you actually remember? Imagine how little you will remember in a year or two from now.
Just stay the course until you finish your degree. It will be worth it.
so i’m worried about that,