Resilience
It has been a pleasure to create this online workshop for you and I truly hope that you find it useful. The key now is to remember to implement the ideas and actions that you have created. If there are any issues or questions you would like to discuss please contact me. You can reach me at kate@kateatkin.com or 07779 646976.
On this webpage you will find some extra information on the topic and some links to other resources.
Remember only you can guage how well you are coping, thriving or how close to burning out you may be. Reaching out for help and support is a sign of strength, so do so if you need to.
Avoiding Burnout
Stress is “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it,” that is, the rate at which we live at any one moment. All living beings are constantly under stress and anything, pleasant or unpleasant, that speeds up the intensity of life, causes a temporary increase in stress, the wear and tear exerted upon the body. A painful blow and a passionate kiss can be equally stressful. (Selye 1976)
Stress has become synonymous with negative events, but that wasn’t always the case…
HSE definition of stress: ‘The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work’.
There are good types of stress and a certain amount keeps us motivated and ‘on the ball’. Each of us have different levels of negative stress that we can cope with. The key is recognising where you are before you get too close to not coping.
Defining burnout
Burnout is not a sudden one-off event, but more like a “gradual emotional depletion and a loss of motivation and commitment” (Freudenberger 1974). Three characteristics were identified by Maslach, Jackson & Leiter (1986): Emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced accomplishment.
How to recognise whether you are coping. (see Skills for Care questionnaires)
Resilience & Wellbeing
You’ll find a diagram of some areas of resilience via this link: Emotionally Resilient Living
This link will take you to Liggy Webb’s “Little Book of Resilience” in pdf form.
TED talk by Jane McGonigal – at 12min 20 secs she covers 4 key ways to build resilience
Also see the Action for Happiness website
And the National Economic Forum’s Five Ways for Wellbeing
Other Useful Links on Wellbeing and mental Health
MIND – advice on taking care of your staff: mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/taking-care-of-your-staff/useful-resources
Rethink mental health charity: www.rethink.org
What Works Wellbeing – Burnout and Wellbeing: whatworkswellbeing.org/blog/burnout-and-wellbeing
WHO evidence for burnout: who.int/mental_health/evidence/burn-out
Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28977041
and here are the slides from the workshop: Resilience Slides plus a link to my blog post entitled Is Optimism Always Best
Finally, do have a browse around the rest of my website if you would like to know more about me and what I do. If you would like to keep in touch, I’d be delighted to connect with you on Twitter and you can sign up to my occasional newsletter for insights from my ongoing PhD research on the Imposter Phenomenon.
Best wishes
Kate