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How to experience Post-Burnout Growth
Can burnout lead to growth? The answer seems to be an emphatic ‘yes’. Here’s why — and how to make it happen.
At the time of her burnout, Alice was working in child protection in a small town. Her workplace was underfunded and drastically understaffed — and her caseload was always growing. “It was supposed to be a 8:30–4:30 job. I’d often work until 2 or 3 in the morning.”
She stayed in the job, seeing little other option. Until one day, she couldn’t go on. “I had a panic attack in my office. I was sitting at my desk with my head in my hands. It was like being trapped in an abusive relationship with an organization. I knew I had to leave.”
When she quit, Alice was in a deep burnout. Within a year, she had turned her life around. Alice quit her job and started a new one, working to support veterans. “My manager is understanding and supportive. I feel excited, I have a purpose, I have options. My kids are happier. I’m more confident. I go to the gym and have lost a few pounds. My relationships have improved.”
This turnaround — from burnt out and trapped to empowered and engaged — might seem startling. And yet the journey from workplace burnout to significant positive change is more common than you might think. So common, that in my research I have termed the phenomenon ‘Post-Burnout Growth’. So, what is Post-Burnout Growth — and how can you transform an experience as debilitating as burnout into a catalyst for personal evolution?
What is Post-Burnout Growth?
Although burnout was defined in 2019 by the World Health Organization as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress, discussion about what burnout really is, is ongoing. What is clear is that burnout can look vastly different from one person to the next, with symptoms varying significantly. And, recovery from burnout takes time, usually somewhere between a few months to several years.
For many, going through burnout prompts a reevaluation of how we are spending our ‘one wild and precious life’. Sometimes this reevaluation is confronting and deeply uncomfortable. And yet, people who endure psychological struggle after burnout can often see positive growth as a…
