Mental Wellness: recognising signs of burnout

Last week we asked you to think about how you are – did that bring anything up for you?  Did you recognise any of the signs of burnout?  What can you do if you are feeling that way?

Connect! Take time out to catch up with friends and family, offload and decompress.

Seek professional help if you need it – these helplines are available 24hrs a day: Samaritans 116 123; MindInfoLine 0300 123 3393; talk to your GP; find a counsellor: BACP British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (bacp.co.uk); Mental Health Foundation has a wealth of resources on their website: Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation

Your PA can help – coffee mornings, Welfare Officer, student mentors.  We can help signpost you to the support you need.  We will be offering members opportunities to chat in a confidential supportive environment, with their peers, about challenges they have come across, to help problem solve or just provide a safe space to be heard, through our ‘Supervision Drop-Ins’ – we’ll keep you posted through social media and the usual channels with future dates

Manage your diary well – plan regular holidays & short breaks, don’t allow patients to dictate working hours!

Digital help – don’t get drawn in to replying to messages at all hours – use autoreply and out of office facilities

Look after your own physical health – it only takes 20mins of moderate exercise to trigger those happy hormones and turn your mood around

Make sure you do at least one thing every day just for YOU!  Listen to music, a podcast, take a walk, exercise, take a bath – all these things bring the focus back to YOU!