Specializing in Treating Burnout, Perfectionism, Procrastination, and Imposter Phenomenon
Burnout
What is burnout?
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“Burnout” describes the feeling people have when they lack motivation or incentive. People who are burnt out often say that they have nothing left. They have no energy or no desire to go to work or engage in other activities—even those things they used to love doing.
Where these individuals once felt a sense of curiosity and excitement, they now have feelings of dread. And these feelings do not go away, even after taking a weekend off or going on vacation.
What causes burnout?
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Burnout is the result of chronic, uncontrolled, and unaddressed stress. Chronic stress can have both internal and external sources. An example of external stress is an unmanageable workload. When tasks and responsibilities feel like they are too much, even the most optimistic folks can feel hopeless. Feeling overwhelmed can quickly lead to burnout.
Unreasonable standards or expectations about the task at hand are internal sources that can cause stress. Chronic disappointment from not meeting your own expectation can lead to burnout.
What can you do about burnout?
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Many people experiencing burnout often wonder if the only way they can get rid of their burnout is to leave their jobs, drop out of school, or otherwise walk away from the sources of their stress. Many are surprised to learn just how much they themselves contribute to their own burnout.
A burnt out person can begin to address their problem by first understanding the sources of their stress and then realizing the ways they may be adding to the problem. Talking to a mental health professional is a great way to start to pushing past burnout and regaining your passion and enthusiasm for work, for school, and for life.
Are you experiencing burnout? Let’s talk.
Perfectionism
Are you a perfectionist?
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A lot of perfectionists have no idea they are perfectionists. They associate perfectionism with overworking, overthinking, or being hyper-focused on a goal, a task, or an idea.
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Although overworking, overthinking, and hyper-focusing are signs of perfectionism, so is avoidance, giving up quickly, and purposefully putting in a low effort on things that matter to you. Procrastination is another indicator.
Perfectionism is not a mental illness. However, being a perfectionist can leave you vulnerable to a host of mental health illnesses including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and even suicidality.
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What are the signs of perfectionism?
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Many perfectionists work in fits and spurts and rarely have a good work rhythm or life balance. In fact, perfectionists can swing from one extreme to another. They may overwork one thing on one day or one week and then avoid another item for another day or another week.
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These behaviors stem from the fact that perfectionism begins with vulnerability to anxiety. This vulnerability can come through genetics or by growing up in stressful or competitive environment that causes us to identify our performance as a source of danger. We may learn how to manage that danger by focusing on rules around our performance to protect against feeling vulnerable in the world.
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How to treat perfectionism
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Perfectionism can be addressed through individual or group therapy. Mindfulness and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) are evidence-based treatments used to treat perfectionism. These treatments emphasize awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors so that one can understand the ways in which they maybe inadvertently be reinforcing their perfectionism.
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Also, people can be helped to identify problematic thoughts and behaviors and replace them with more helpful ones. Through this process, many people find that they become more efficient and productive and that they have more energy, vitality, and excitement for their life journey.
Are you a perfectionist? Let’s talk.
Click here to schedule an appointment.
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*This summary was adapted from an MIT podcast on perfectionism. Click here to listen to the entire podcast.
Procrastination
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is a conscious decision to delay or not complete a task you were planning to do. Instead, a procrastinator will do something of lesser importance despite the presence of negative consequences of not following through on the original task or goal.
What causes procrastination?
We can procrastinate for a variety of reasons. When we procrastinate on endeavors that matter to us, we will want to pay attention to the decisional point. We usually choose to procrastinate because of anxiety caused by the nature of the task (maybe its ambiguous or unrealistic) or our expectation of ourselves (to be in the right mood, or decisive….) or the interaction between the two (ex. Doing flawless work, writing the perfect essay…).
How do you know if you’re a chronic procrastinator?
There are a few common trends and behaviors among procrastinators. For example, some are more likely to put off a task when their identity is tied into how well they perform on that task. Procrastination is a way reconciling the dilemma of having one’s intelligence or competence tested—and it can serve as an excuse for poor performance.
Other procrastinators tend to put off tasks until the discomfort from the deadline is higher than the discomfort of doing the task. Here, procrastination is used as a tool to manage the paralyzing anxiety and discomfort of the task.
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In addition, some individuals procrastinate on tasks that they would otherwise get stuck in. For them, procrastination is used as a behavior strategy to actually be more efficient
Are you a procrastinator? Let’s talk.
Click here to schedule an appointment.
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*This summary was adapted from an MIT podcast on procrastination. Click here to listen to the entire podcast.
Imposter Phenomenon
What is imposter phenomenon?
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Imposter phenomenon is really about what happens when a person has impossible standards of intelligence or competence such that they rarely or ever meet their own standards. As a result, they attribute their success to luck, to timing, or to making an extraordinary effort to fool others into believing that they are more intelligent than they believe themselves to be.
Imposter phenomenon can express itself as discomfort in sharing thoughts or ideas. Sometimes people go to great lengths to avoid detection, which means never share their ideas, and they avoid—even sabotage—opportunities that come their way.
Who is most susceptible to this imposter phenomenon?
Everybody is susceptible to imposter experience. However, being a member of an underrepresented or disadvantaged group increases one’s susceptibility to fraudulent feelings because they may already feel like an “outsider” in an “insider’s” club.
What does imposter phenomenon feel like?
Individuals with imposter phenomenon may feel like a fraud when they are doing tasks that are the most meaningful to them, the ones that involve creativity, originality, or risk-taking. This can include taking tests, giving presentations, publishing articles or books, etc.
For those experiencing imposter phenomenon, the idea of getting help in the wake of a failure is terrifying. Having someone know that they are struggling brings fear and panic, and they try to avoid these situations at all costs.
How can we address imposter phenomenon?
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Individuals who feel like frauds must first recognize these feelings for what they are and then share those feelings with friends, colleagues, mentors, and others. Reaching out can help them stop treating their feelings like a dark secret that separates them from others.
Do you experience imposter phenomenon? Let’s talk.
Click here to schedule an appointment.
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*This summary was adapted from an MIT podcast on imposter phenomenon. Click here to listen to the entire podcast.