Burnout manifests differently in everyone and is as of now officially not a DSM-5 diagnosis. (DSM stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and could be described as the bible for psychotherapists which they use to diagnose mental illnesses in patients.) However that doesn’t mean that burnout isn’t real. It felt very real for me and my symptoms included panic attacks, anxiety, intense feelings of constant stress, insomnia, exhaustion and depression. On top of that I also had physical symptoms like regular headaches and dizziness. In my opinion we also don’t always need a diagnosis, you will feel it when you have it. Looking back, there were some confronting truths about burnout which I have come to realize that even though they were painful at the time, were so true. Even though…
- Category: Burnout -
(Please note that this article is based on a private mental health clinic in Germany, public ones may be different and they may differ across countries. Also, I am talking about an open unit hospital.) Last year I was at the lowest point of my life. I was stuck in burnout, had just split up with my partner, we were in a pandemic, I felt so lonely, and depressed and I had no idea what to do with my life after the life I knew had fallen apart. I was in therapy but felt like the weekly meetings with my therapist were never going to be able to get me out of that deep, black hole full of hopelessness. Luckily I eventually (after lots of back and forth) decided to get treatment in a…