Maintaining balance in your life after treatment is extremely important to preserving sobriety. There are times in life where you feel burned out or disorganized, causing your life to seem unbalanced and in disarray. Sometimes, there is consistent stress after treatment that makes you feel exhausted. Recovery burnout is real and can be detrimental if you allow it to persist. However, there is hope: there are ways to cope with recovery burnouts. NorthStar Transitions is here to help you regain your momentum in recovery and rebuild your hope.
Before finding out how to cope with burnout, you must understand what it is and how it works. When you are burnt out, your emotional and physical well-being have experienced prolonged stress. It can make you feel overwhelmed and drained when demands are requested. You may be burned out due to boredom with your aftercare plan or because things aren't getting easier. It can feel like you're just going through the motions without seeing benefits.
Burnout tends to lead to productivity lapses, and it zaps your energy. It can progress until you feel like you have nothing left and can't keep going with the things that are helping you stay sober. Your mind and body work hard to make you succeed in life, and when that work eventually drains you, you may be more prone to getting sick or relapsing. When you feel that you may be getting close to burnout, it is essential to handle it immediately before the consequences arise.
There are many signs that indicate you are becoming burned out before it actually happens. For example, if you feel that you're not making progress or you’re wasting energy, you may be on the path to burnout. Similarly, if you feel like you're only performing the activities that help keep you on track in recovery to check off a box, you may be getting burned out. Getting into burnout is a gradual process that needs to be stopped as soon as you notice it. It will only get worse if it’s not addressed.
Other signs of burnout can include feeling tired or drained, getting sick more often, experiencing frequent headaches, having sleeping habits or appetite changes, losing your sense of motivation, feeling detached or hopeless, feeling like you’ve failed, or feeling like you have a decreased satisfaction with life. Additionally, if you find yourself neglecting day-to-day responsibilities, using other methods to cope with the challenges, procrastinating to get things done, skipping work, or isolating yourself from others, you may be experiencing burnout. All of these factors contribute to burnout and result in negative consequences that will put your sobriety at risk.
Moreover, burnout can lead to unrelenting stress, leading to relapse risk. When you feel that you have things under control, you are more inclined to motivate yourself physically mentally. When you feel burned out, you may feel like nothing you do helps, and so neglect practices that keep your sobriety in check. It can lead to dissatisfaction and slipping back into old patterns. Burnout characterizes itself through disengagement and produces hopelessness, stress, and unhelpful patterns.
When you notice signs of burnout, take steps to prevent it from progressing. Letting burnout prevail can contribute to mental health risks and other adverse outcomes. Some of the causes of burnout may be unclear or challenging at first, but if you continue to allow it to consume you and keep you from your goals, you can contribute to burnout that will lead you in a downward spiral.
Having a pessimistic view of yourself is never a good thing. On the contrary, you need to be optimistic, especially after treatment. You have come so far in the recovery process and recognizing the warning signs of burnout and handling it before it progresses is essential to preventing exhaustion and relapse. It’s at these moments that you should take the time to reflect and renew your plans to better suit a healthy, healing lifestyle.
You can take different approaches to address burnout or prevent burnout from happening by recognizing the signs, seeking support, and managing your stress, and building up your tolerance to stress by taking care of yourself with the help of others around you. In addition, taking breaks and nurturing your creative side is a fantastic way to ensure recovery burnout doesn’t happen. NorthStar Transitions is here for you if you have been through treatment and need help preventing or dealing with recovery burnout.
At NorthStar Transitions, we believe that you can improve your relationships and motivation when you increase your overall health and happiness. Preventive measures against recovery burnout help manage stress and keep you on the path of a healthy lifestyle. Recovery burnout can happen to anyone and can seriously hinder your progress with sobriety. If you feel like your aftercare plan has stalled and you're getting burned out, NorthStar can help. We implement different coping mechanisms to handle stress and provide antidotes for recovery burnout so you can continue with your journey. In addition, we want to help motivate you to maintain the steps of your sober commitment by focusing on your energy levels and post-treatment plans. Maximize your lifestyle and continue to focus on your recovery by identifying stressful situations or utilizing the resources given. Treatment can help prevent recovery burnout now and in the future. For more information, contact NorthStar Transitions at (303) 558-6400.
