LEARN ABOUT BURNOUT
What is Parental
Burnout Syndrome?
>>> Every good parent feels tired, frustrated and overwhelmed sometimes, but if you try too hard for too long to manage too many family demands without enough help to balance it all? Your healthy coping mechanisms become depleted, and a potentially serious stress exhaustion syndrome called Parental Burnout can set in.
Parental Burnout is a multi-layered and complex syndrome of causes, symptoms and outcomes that progressively intensify over time. While no two parents share the exact same journey with burnout, researchers have identified three common traits that make the diagnosis unique:
01. Emotional exhaustion related to parenthood
02. Emotional distancing from one's children
03. Lost sense of fulfillment and joy as a parent
01.
EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION
If you are burned out, you're not just tired - you are done. Drained of all energy, you wake up in the morning wishing to stay in bed for another hour or two or forever.
Getting up just to face another day of chasing kids & cleaning messes can feel suffocating, and this kind of extreme fatigue makes it difficult to cope with everyday life. Even small parenting tasks begin to feel impossibly difficult, and a simple unexpected change of plans can send you in a downward spiral.
If you're like most burned out parents, your nerves are on edge and "being irritable" with your family is an understatement. Anger and resentment are on constant simmer, ready to boil over in uncontrollable outbursts of crying or yelling for even minor upsets and offenses.
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The good news is...
You can overcome Burnout
and find your PEACE again.
02.
EMOTIONAL DISTANCING
With so little physical, mental and emotional energy available to cope with your exhaustion, is it any wonder you find yourself pulling back emotionally from your family? It's hard to give love and affection to others when you yourself are on the brink of meltdown so much of the time.
Do you cringe at the sound of "whiny voices" and "clingy arms" because you just want to be left alone? As burnout progresses, you may find yourself avoiding contact with your kids as much as possible, often telling them to be quiet, or shooing them away altogether.
You know in your head that you still love your kids - but it sure doesn't feel that way most of the time. Meeting their basic needs is often all you can manage, and sometimes not even that much.
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The good news is...
You can overcome Burnout
and find your POWER again.
03.
LOST SENSE OF FULFILLMENT
This is not the happy family home you always imagined you would have. You wanted to be such a great mom or dad, but parenting isn't what you thought it would be anymore and it often doesn't even seem worth the effort.
You never imagined that your life could somehow turn into this. Now you barely recognize yourself and you may spend time fantasizing about ways to escape from your own family.
You're not proud of the things you do to cope day by day, but you also feel trapped in the vicious cycle. Being with your kids brings little-to-no pleasure, joy or fulfillment and it can feel pointless to keep trying. You feel like a failure, not only as a parent but also as a person and sometimes believe that your family would be better off without you.
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The good news is...
You can overcome Burnout
and CREATE your life again.
If you haven't taken the free Parental Burnout Assessment yet, I invite you to pause and complete it now. Your results will be shown immediately, and a copy will be sent directly to your inbox.
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS
PARENTAL BURNOUT IS NOT...
Not to be confused with other types of Burnout or depressive disorders, Parental Burnout is the result of a chronic stress imbalance that is entirely specific to the parental role and represents a major contrast to how things once were (or how you once dreamed things would be).
POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION
Affects mothers within the first year of a new baby's life.
ANXIETY or DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
Tends to affect all areas of life.
WORKPLACE BURNOUT
Occurs as a result of a job-related stress imbalance.
It is possible to suffer from more than one condition at the same time. An accurate diagnosis is important because all of these conditions share many similar secondary symptoms such as: Mood swings, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, sleep issues, headaches, muscle tension, weight loss/gain, somatic complaints, heart problems, self-harm, etc.
Not sure if you are burned out, depressed, neither or both? Book a free call with me to discuss your diagnosis.
RESULTING IMPACT
PARENTAL BURNOUT TIMELINE
Consequences intensify and continue to affect the whole family.
Parental Burnout is a slippery slope that progressively intensifies - meaning that symptoms are mild in the beginning and become more severe and frequent with time. Without help, the whole family may ultimately suffer difficult and painful consequences.
YOURSELF
Irritability and Tension
Health Issues
Sleep Disorders
Anxiety and Depression
Decreased or Lost Libido
Substance Abuse and Addiction
Compulsive Eating
Self-harm
Escape Ideations
Suicidal Thoughts and Actions
YOUR PARTNER
Increased Conflict
Secondary Burnout
Troubled Sex Life
Adultery (either partner)
Divorce
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YOUR CHILDREN
Neglect
Violence
Abandonment
Anxiety
Somatic Complaints
School Issues
Sleep Problems
Nightmares
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Find out how The Burnout Remedy Program can help you to lay new groundwork, find your footing and find your rhythm again. Let's get your life back!
TOP TEN CAUSES OF PARENTAL BURNOUT SYNDROME
Any mother or father - regardless of risk factors - may experience Parental Burnout, but there are certain stressors that researchers have identified as top contributors to the syndrome.
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How many of these risk factors do you recognize in yourself?
Which of the "Top Ten Causes of Parental Burnout" are contributing most to your own experience? Find out now with this free online assessment.
