21 Jul Are you Burning Out? How to Identify and Respond to Burnout
Posted
in Industry Knowledge
Burnout is a debilitating form of exhaustion that can affect your physical and mental health. It is tied to many occupations, and it is no surprise that it is a condition that affects sex workers and adult models as well. Read on to discover what exactly burnout is, how it is treated, and how it can be prevented, with information tailored specifically for workers in the adult industry.
WHAT IS BURNOUT?
The term “burnout” was coined by an American psychologist in the 1970s after he noticed the effects of severe stress and high ideals in caregiving professions. He saw that caregivers, such as doctors and nurses, would become overwhelmed, fatigued, and detached after being overworked and self-sacrificing for their job. The symptoms he observed were different from other mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, in that they appeared to be caused by extreme lifestyle pressures and were only present in connection with those pressures.
Burnout is fundamentally exhaustion that results when you experience extended periods of too much emotional, physical, and mental fatigue. Burnout is included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon; however, it is not classified as a medical condition. In the ICD-11, burnout is defined by three dimensions:
1- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion,
2- increased mental distance from one’s job, or negative or cynical feelings related to one’s job,
3- reduced performance and effectiveness in one’s job.
There are four different types of burnout, related to the context of work stressors:
1 – Overload burnout: This is when you work harder and harder to achieve success, to the detriment of your health and personal life
2 – Underchallenged burnout: This is when feelings of being bored and underappreciated become overwhelming.
3 – Neglect burnout: This is when you feel helpless, and that setbacks are due to you perceiving yourself as incompetent or irresponsible, doubting your skills and abilities.
4 – Habitual burnout: This is when the feelings of physical and mental fatigue become chronic, affecting your behaviour. This type of burnout can cross over into a depressive episode.
With these definitions in mind, we can now consider what burnout would look like for sex workers, particularly those who work independently online. Online sex work requires a high level of commitment and consistency, and to be successful, this is something that needs to be maintained over a long period of time. There can be pressure to be available whenever customers and fans want to have contact with you, as this can translate into increased income (particularly if customers promise payment in exchange for your availability). The intensity of the work can mean long hours, sacrificing your own physical and mental health to be present and responsive to your audience. Because the work relies on consistency and focusing on specific niches and types of content, this can lead to boredom and feeling underappreciated when you are not seeing the results you are expecting. Similarly, when you are not making as much money as you would like, or you are not getting the response from your fanbase that you expect, it is easy to explain this away as being about you personally, whether that is about your looks or your content, or your personality. All these things, if allowed to fester and develop, have the potential to result in burnout.
HOW DO YOU TREAT BURNOUT?
Burnout is treatable, and by pinpointing the source and type of burnout, strategies can be quickly identified and put into place to help ease your distress. If you are experiencing burnout, there is more than likely at least a couple of things that come directly to mind that can be changed immediately to provide some relief. If being involved in promo groups is sapping your energy, then perhaps this is something that can be outsourced to a trusted friend for a short period of time, or to someone more professional as a permanent measure to protect your health. In other circumstances, you could approach your supervisor to help you pinpoint what parts of your work you can drop or change, but as an independent model, you will need to do this on your own. Better yet, you can talk with someone in your support system to help you identify what things you can change today.
Self-care practices, although annoyingly cliché, can assist with treating burnout. Taking a break from work, engaging in mindfulness practices, and looking after your physical health by making sure you are eating, drinking, and sleeping enough, can give you much needed perspective to be able to see the areas in your work that require some reshaping.
With regards to treatment, an important final note…
Although depression and anxiety are distinct from burnout, burnout can present like these conditions. This is why it is important to get professional mental health support if you feel you may be suffering from burnout, so that you can be assessed and treated accurately.
HOW CAN YOU PREVENT BURNOUT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
In a previous blog piece, I talked about the 10 Golden Rules for Models, which included “rules” aimed at preventing burnout. Creating and sticking to a schedule, including breaks when you get to switch off from work, and setting boundaries between your work and private life are just two ways to prevent burnout. It is imperative to pay attention to and prioritise your needs, as this is where the slippery slope towards burnout begins. There are some things you may need to sacrifice for your work, but these things should not outweigh your private life.
Setting realistic goals and managing expectations when it comes to your work is also crucial to making sure resentment does not start to build and that you maintain your energy. As I wrote about in a piece about the myth of enormous incomes, it is easy to get lost in unrealistic expectations and have them influence the way you feel about yourself. Finding someone you can talk about all of this with is also a great preventer to burnout. Pineapple Support is an excellent resource if you do not have people currently in your life who understand the work you do and the unique stressors it presents. This organisation was born out of concerns for the mental health and wellbeing of people in the adult industry, and one of the resources they offer is 24/7 volunteer “listener” support. Just being able to talk these issues out and explore options should not be underestimated for its protective value.
Rem Sequence is an Australian adult content creator, blogger, and internationally published alt model. She has a background in psychology, philosophy and political science and worked in health and sex education, youth work and trauma counselling for almost two decades. Now, she works full time in the adult industry, as well as indulging her passion for arts, writing and music in numerous side projects.
Burnout is a debilitating form of exhaustion that can affect your physical and mental health. It is tied to many occupations, and it is no surprise that it is a condition that affects sex workers and adult models as well. Read on to discover what exactly burnout is, how it is treated, and how it can be prevented, with information tailored specifically for workers in the adult industry.
WHAT IS BURNOUT?
The term “burnout” was coined by an American psychologist in the 1970s after he noticed the effects of severe stress and high ideals in caregiving professions. He saw that caregivers, such as doctors and nurses, would become overwhelmed, fatigued, and detached after being overworked and self-sacrificing for their job. The symptoms he observed were different from other mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, in that they appeared to be caused by extreme lifestyle pressures and were only present in connection with those pressures.
Burnout is fundamentally exhaustion that results when you experience extended periods of too much emotional, physical, and mental fatigue. Burnout is included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon; however, it is not classified as a medical condition. In the ICD-11, burnout is defined by three dimensions:
1- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion,
2- increased mental distance from one’s job, or negative or cynical feelings related to one’s job,
3- reduced performance and effectiveness in one’s job.
There are four different types of burnout, related to the context of work stressors:
1 – Overload burnout: This is when you work harder and harder to achieve success, to the detriment of your health and personal life
2 – Underchallenged burnout: This is when feelings of being bored and underappreciated become overwhelming.
3 – Neglect burnout: This is when you feel helpless, and that setbacks are due to you perceiving yourself as incompetent or irresponsible, doubting your skills and abilities.
4 – Habitual burnout: This is when the feelings of physical and mental fatigue become chronic, affecting your behaviour. This type of burnout can cross over into a depressive episode.
With these definitions in mind, we can now consider what burnout would look like for sex workers, particularly those who work independently online. Online sex work requires a high level of commitment and consistency, and to be successful, this is something that needs to be maintained over a long period of time. There can be pressure to be available whenever customers and fans want to have contact with you, as this can translate into increased income (particularly if customers promise payment in exchange for your availability). The intensity of the work can mean long hours, sacrificing your own physical and mental health to be present and responsive to your audience. Because the work relies on consistency and focusing on specific niches and types of content, this can lead to boredom and feeling underappreciated when you are not seeing the results you are expecting. Similarly, when you are not making as much money as you would like, or you are not getting the response from your fanbase that you expect, it is easy to explain this away as being about you personally, whether that is about your looks or your content, or your personality. All these things, if allowed to fester and develop, have the potential to result in burnout.
HOW DO YOU TREAT BURNOUT?
Burnout is treatable, and by pinpointing the source and type of burnout, strategies can be quickly identified and put into place to help ease your distress. If you are experiencing burnout, there is more than likely at least a couple of things that come directly to mind that can be changed immediately to provide some relief. If being involved in promo groups is sapping your energy, then perhaps this is something that can be outsourced to a trusted friend for a short period of time, or to someone more professional as a permanent measure to protect your health. In other circumstances, you could approach your supervisor to help you pinpoint what parts of your work you can drop or change, but as an independent model, you will need to do this on your own. Better yet, you can talk with someone in your support system to help you identify what things you can change today.
Self-care practices, although annoyingly cliché, can assist with treating burnout. Taking a break from work, engaging in mindfulness practices, and looking after your physical health by making sure you are eating, drinking, and sleeping enough, can give you much needed perspective to be able to see the areas in your work that require some reshaping.
With regards to treatment, an important final note…
Although depression and anxiety are distinct from burnout, burnout can present like these conditions. This is why it is important to get professional mental health support if you feel you may be suffering from burnout, so that you can be assessed and treated accurately.
HOW CAN YOU PREVENT BURNOUT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
In a previous blog piece, I talked about the 10 Golden Rules for Models, which included “rules” aimed at preventing burnout. Creating and sticking to a schedule, including breaks when you get to switch off from work, and setting boundaries between your work and private life are just two ways to prevent burnout. It is imperative to pay attention to and prioritise your needs, as this is where the slippery slope towards burnout begins. There are some things you may need to sacrifice for your work, but these things should not outweigh your private life.
Setting realistic goals and managing expectations when it comes to your work is also crucial to making sure resentment does not start to build and that you maintain your energy. As I wrote about in a piece about the myth of enormous incomes, it is easy to get lost in unrealistic expectations and have them influence the way you feel about yourself. Finding someone you can talk about all of this with is also a great preventer to burnout. Pineapple Support is an excellent resource if you do not have people currently in your life who understand the work you do and the unique stressors it presents. This organisation was born out of concerns for the mental health and wellbeing of people in the adult industry, and one of the resources they offer is 24/7 volunteer “listener” support. Just being able to talk these issues out and explore options should not be underestimated for its protective value.
Rem Sequence is an Australian adult content creator, blogger, and internationally published alt model. She has a background in psychology, philosophy and political science and worked in health and sex education, youth work and trauma counselling for almost two decades. Now, she works full time in the adult industry, as well as indulging her passion for arts, writing and music in numerous side projects.
