TORONTO — Burnout occurs when work stress becomes so severe that a person becomes physically, psychologically, and emotionally fatigued.
Edwardine Maris Mondina-Baladad, a healthcare worker, finds solace in plants to help her deal with work burnout. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she started growing plants and flowers.
She said that her profession has been made more difficult by working on a paper to digital, she said. Edwardine added she has to bring her work home, despite her love of difficulties.
She said her plants provide her joy, citing fiddle leaf fig trees, monsteras, orchids, peace lilies, and alocasia Polly as examples.
Baladad works at the Hannam Fertility Centre in Toronto, Ontario, as a full-time clinical administrator. She “When I feel like I don’t eat even though I’m going to eat. When I feel like I’m bringing home my work and not doing anything just thinking about work. I can’t continue to do what I love or can’t focus on anything else, just work,” she said.
Loraine Angelu Mondina, Edwardine sister said, I think it’s a good way to use gardening or for her to distress because it gives her time not to think about the stressors and it is surrounded by plants give her fresh air.
According to a study published on October 7, 2021, more healthcare practitioners in Canada are suffering from acute burnout. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table’s
More than 60% of healthcare professionals reported severe burnout in this year’s survey, up from 30% to 40% the year before.
Burnout can be caused by a variety of circumstances, according to Stacey Levine, a behaviour therapist in Toronto.
“Burnout can happen at any time when we overextend ourselves so you know for instance if there’s too much time and hours being put on schoolwork or jobs, or, you know, other things that take away from the balance that we need in our lives to function and cope at our best, if there are only so many hours in the day so oftentimes if people that say are staying up later and their sleep quality is being compromised, then obviously our functioning ability during the day will be greatly impacted, and that can cause burnout,” Levine said.
Levine added that there is a treatment for burnout, which consists of resetting a certain pattern or routine, which takes 21 to 28 days. This, however, requires dedication.
“It doesn’t have to be extreme but I think if someone enjoys, you know a company or they benefit from that is to offer that otherwise even sending some positive little text messages during the day, there are so many quotes on Pinterest and some of those places, it can be really, you know, uplifting and could make someone’s day just getting this really cool message coming in.”
Stacey mentioned that organizations such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) provide help and a wealth of services to people who are burned out.