Local mental health services help residents tackle burnout

Jan. 11—Burnout levels have been high for many since the COVID-19 pandemic, and mental health professionals are emphasizing the importance of coming up with a plan to manage stress.

Kristina Hannon, co-CEO of Family Guidance Center, said that the majority of the time, people aren't aware that they are actually suffering from being burned out.

"We see people who are coming in expressing a burnout, they don't often label it as that," Hannon said. "What we see with people is they may say, 'I feel really tired. I feel depressed. I feel sad. I don't want to get up. I don't want to go to work. I don't want to go hang out with my friends.' And then we sit and talk with people about things that are leading to burnout. They're related to stress. They're related to difficult things that are occurring in our nation and in our global community. And seeing all of those things is difficult. So we are seeing people coming in who are talking about being burned out."

Hannon said that at the Family Guidance Center, they take time to try to focus in on what's causing the burnout.

"We sit down and really do a deep dive with that person to try to figure out where the sources of stress are coming from and then to help them target a self-care plan that they come up with that really they think will benefit their overall mental health picture," Hannon said.

Hannon says it's import at to look for signs of burnout. Some signs include a lack of interest in normal habits, or an increase in alcohol consumption.

"You will see a lot of people in the health care industry and in behavioral health care suffering from burnout, because caring for people every minute that you're at work is really stressful," Hannon said. "You have those conversations, you know, 'Is this employment related? Do we need to look at a different opportunity?' And then you go on to other things like, 'Do you exercise?' Because we know that exercise and keeping active, it's very good for mental health. What does your diet look like? How much are you drinking? Because one of the things that we see associated with burnout is people who have turned, you know, a glass of wine with dinner into a bottle of wine every night. And so we know that that has an impact on people's behavioral health."

Hannon wants people to know they're not alone in this time and they should reach out to a professional if they need help.

Sara Rooney can be reached at sara.rooney@newspressnow.com.

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