work – Positive Behavior Support

Burnout: Tip of the Week #3

Kaarin Anderson Ryan, PhD 11.5.22

This week’s tip is to help with signs of burnout in the early to middle stages, which are listed in my September burnout article. Some signs in the level of burnout include denial, withdrawal, and behavioral changes such as irritability or even aggression. If you have noticed that your work-life balance is getting out of hand and you are starting to feel and act differently, it is time to seek support from co-workers, supervisors, and other trusted individuals. It may also be helpful at this point to seek outside support or counseling to help you develop a plan to improve your stress management and re-align your expectations for yourself. This could be helpful for improvement with how you are feeling now, and will also help prevent advancing to further stages of burnout or future situations that could lead to burnout. Remember that creating balance every day – between work and home, with your eating and self-care, and with sleep – will help maintain the boundaries needed to prevent and manage burnout.

Next up: Rewards! How to motivate positive behaviors from kindergarten through high school.

Burnout: Tip of the Week #2

Kaarin Anderson Ryan, PhD 10.26.22

This week’s tip is on coping with signs of burnout in the early stages. The signs are listed in my burnout article, and they include things like pushing yourself to work harder, neglecting your own needs, blaming your stress on others, and placing more value on work than on other relationships. If you have been noticing yourself fitting into these stages, it is important to put the brakes on and consider working on improving your work/life balance. To do this, try making a list of activities and relationships outside of work that are meaningful, important and fulfilling to you. Now challenge yourself to take a bit of time every day to nurture these relationships or engage in fulfilling activities that you enjoy. As you become more intentional about creating time and space for people and things outside of work, you will be able to shift the balance and (hopefully) guide yourself back on course and away from possible burnout.

Burnout: Tip of the Week #1

Kaarin Anderson Ryan, PhD 10.12.22

This week’s tip is to help focus on preventing burnout. If you are aware of warning signs, some of which I posted in the burnout article, take some time to re-evaluate how you are spending your time and how you are managing stress. If you have started to feel more stressed about work, look for ways to improve the balance between work and life outside work. Make sure you are taking some time every day to completely remove yourself from work-related tasks AND work-related thoughts. Be intentional about using your time away from work to actually be away from work.

Burnout!

Kaarin Anderson Ryan

Have you ever described yourself as feeling burned out? Have you heard others describe themselves that way? Chances are, you or someone you know has experienced a sense of being burned out at some point. This feeling can arise from stress related to parenting, work, studying, or any number of things that place demands on you over a long period of time.

While the term burnout is casually used, the concept of actual burnout is well studied. In 1974, Herbert Freudenberger coined the term after conducting research on a set of symptoms shown by people in high-stress work environments. Since that time a great deal has been done to better understand the concept. By definition, burnout is basically a reaction to chronic job-related stress.

What causes burnout? Actual burnout is generally thought to be caused by 5 factors. These are (1) Unreasonable time pressure; (2) Lack of communication and support from a manager; (3) Lack of clarity for your role; (4) An unmanageable work load; and (5) Unfair treatment.

What are the other risk factors? There are a lot of things that can set someone up to become burned out. Some of the biggest risk factors seem to be:

Lack of work-life balance
High workload/overtime
Working in helping professions
Trying to be everything to everyone
Having little control over your work
Monotonous work
Having Type A personalities
Perfectionism/pessimism
Parents can experience burnout

So, while anyone can experience burnout, there are certain conditions or characteristics that can increase the chances of becoming burned out. Often, people who are described as workaholics tend to fit a lot of the characteristics that put them at higher risk for burnout.

What are the signs of burnout? The signs and symptoms of burnout are similar to other signs of stress, but more closely related to work. Some of these signs include:

Feeling alienated from work-related activities – finding job increasingly stressful, feeling cynical about work and co-workers, emotionally distancing from work.
Physical symptoms– having chronic headaches, stomach problems.
Emotional exhaustion – feeling drained, having poor coping ability, feeling reduced energy.
Reduced performance – having negativity about work tasks, having difficulty concentrating, showing diminished creativity.
Escape fantasies – having thoughts about leaving for a different, more perfect job.

How does burnout start? According to Freudenberger, there are 12 stages of burnout, starting with mild burnout. Many people experience some of the milder stages of burnout throughout their careers. But, fortunately, it is more rare to experience debilitating burnout. The 12 stages typically are:

The Compulsion to Prove Oneself– early in career or new job.
Pushing yourself to work harder – ambition.
Neglecting your own needs – sacrificing self-care.
Displacement of conflict – blaming your stress on others or on the job.
Revision of Values – friends and family are no longer as important as work.
Denial – impatience with others, seeing them as incompetent.
Withdrawal – avoiding or dreading social interaction, using alcohol or drugs.
Behavioral changes – changes in behavior such as impatience, aggression, snapping at friends and family.
Depersonalization – feeling detached – seeing neither yourself nor others as valuable.
Inner emptiness – feeling empty inside and to overcome this, looking for activity such as overeating, sex, alcohol, or drugs.
Depression – feeling lost and unsure, exhausted, future feels bleak.
Burnout Syndrome – can include total mental and physical collapse; time for full medical attention.

You can see that progressing through the stages of burnout is different from normal daily stress. The primary focus here is the emphasis on work, with a drive that becomes less about job satisfaction and success, and more about moving away from any work-life balance in favor of continuous focus on work and associated stresses.

Because burnout has risk factors, warning signs, and somewhat distinct phases, the good news is that it is preventable. Some of the more obvious preventions include self-care, self-awareness, and seeking balance between work and life outside of work. Stay tuned in the next month for some tips on how to prevent burnout, and how to cope with burnout when it does occur.

References:

Freudenberger, H.J. (1974), Staff Burn-Out. Journal of Social Issues, 30: 159-165.

Freudenberger, H.J. & North, G. Women’s Burnout: How to Spot it, How to Reverse It, and How to Prevent It. (1985). New York: Doubleday.

Supporting Inclusion: Continuing to pave the path for inclusive communities

Kaarin Anderson Ryan, PhD 10.14.21

Community inclusion has long been a goal for people with different needs and those who support them. An overview of disabilities by the CDC shows that 26% of the adult population in the United States has some form of disability. That is 61 million people in all. Of these, 13.7% have a mobility impairment, 10.8% have cognitive impairments, 5.9% have hearing impairments and 4.6% have vision impairments. 6.8% have difficulty with independent living and 3.7% have difficulty with basic self-care skills.

Over the past several decades, there has been a great deal of progress within our systems to promote inclusion, such as less reliance on segregated classrooms in the school, better workplace opportunities for people who don’t fit into a certain employment box, and better accessibility features in public spaces. All of the work that has been done by people with different needs along with those who support them has been fantastic, and our world today is a much better place for inclusion than it was 30 years ago.

In addition to increased opportunities, we have seen significant changes in community awareness and acceptance for individuals with different needs. Across the country we have organizations whose focus is to promote awareness and inclusion, such as Autism Speaks, The National Down Syndrome Society, and The Arc. There are movies and television series that showcase life with different needs, including Love on the Spectrum, Born This Way, Raising Tourette’s, and Atypical. Placing these shows in the mainstream helps to create awareness and acceptance in our communities.

Despite these improvements and increased awareness, people with diverse abilities often continue to struggle to fit into the world comfortably. What are some things that we, as members of our communities, can be doing to help improve opportunities for inclusion?

Start by looking at the gifts you have in your own life – gifts of time, gifts of talent, gifts of financial resources. How do you use these gifts? For the most part, people use these gifts regularly to help themselves and their families, prioritizing the people closest to themselves. For example, if you have a gift of some free time, you will likely use that time to do something you enjoy, with family, friends, or time to yourself. Enjoying and appreciating what you have in the way of time, talent, and money is vital to your well-being and to help you stay connected to those who are important to you in your life. While I strongly encourage everyone to do more to use their gifts to improve their own lives and the lives of those close to them, I would also challenge people to look at some ways they can give back for the sake of others in the community.

With so many people in need and so many causes, each of us has a multitude of ways to give back to our communities. I could easily go through the attributes of a number of causes, but today our focus is inclusion for people with different needs, specifically, those with intellectual disability or neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. These individuals are often left out socially, and have a much higher rate of unemployment than the general population. In addition, social isolation is a chronic problem. 24% of adults who have intellectual and neurodevelopmental differences state that they do not feel that they have people they can confide in comfortably.

So, what can you do?

Start with your gifts of time and talent. If you were to carve out even one hour a week to either spend time with someone who has different needs, or to volunteer at a local organization who supports people with different needs, you could make a big difference. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer at larger events also, including fundraisers, social events and other activities. Some examples include Night to Shine, a red-carpet event that takes place once a year in towns and cities around the world for people with different needs, and Els for Autism events that take place throughout the year. Consider also how some of your own skills and talents may be used to help – are you good at organization? If so, helping with fundraisers may the the thing for you. Are you confident with your social skills and could you help someone with issues related to friendship? Maybe spending time with people who are socially isolated is where you can best use your talent to help with inclusion.

Now, think about your gifts of financial and material resources. With this, the most obvious thing is to find a good organization or foundation who supports community inclusion and opportunities for people with unique needs. There are hundreds of these organizations in our country to choose from – some with a national focus and others that have more impact on local experiences. Other ways to use financial and material gifts to help with inclusion may include investing resources into providing more opportunities for people. For example, if you own or manage a business, perhaps you could consider committing to hiring one or more people with different needs to help out in your business. Not only do you help by providing a chance for gainful employment, but you also provide opportunities for social engagement and interaction that can be severely lacking for many people with different needs.

So if you are looking to make a difference in our ever-changing and complex world, take some time to consider making a difference for some people who still need our help and support to be meaningfully included in our communities. You may find yourself amazed at the impact you can have for the benefit of others.

Focus!

Kaarin Anderson Ryan, PhD, BCBA, LBA 4.12.21

Has anyone else been feeling more and more distracted by the world? Having a hard time focusing on things? It seems that the distractions in the world are ever-growing, between nonstop news, social media, and the entire world at your fingertips everywhere you go when you carry your smartphone with you. This phenomenon has been growing for years, and does not seem to be getting any better.

Recent studies have looked at increasing trends for ADHD in children and adolescents. In 1997-98, 6.1% of children between the ages of 4-17 were diagnosed with ADHD. That number rose to 10.4% in 2015-2016. There may be many reasons for this disturbing trend, but most experts agree that access to devices most likely plays a role. Parents and teachers can and should work on structures, guidelines and limits for using electronics to help with this situation.

What about adults? Several studies have shown a marked increase in adult ADHD diagnosis, with reports of between 2 and 3 times as many cases of adult ADHD in recent years. Some of this seems to be due to greater understanding of symptoms and recognizing the need for assessment. However, is not out of the question that an increase in symptoms of ADHD for adults is also due to constant access to distraction from our devices.

Over the past year, many people have had to adjust to working from home and finding a balance that is healthy between productivity and leisure in the home environment. Some have surely been successful with this. Others may have great struggles staying focused when working at home. There are all kinds of distractions, including household tasks (“I’ll just go put in one load of laundry now”), food (“I’m a little hungry and bored and the kitchen is right here”), neighborhood activity (“it’s too loud to work when someone is mowing the lawn so I will just have to take a break”), and kids (“I can’t get anything done when the kids need my help”). How is one supposed to manage?

On top of that, whether you’re working from home or not, for people who have access to devices during the day it can be difficult to stay focused on work when your phone alerts you to something. You may also be distracted by the impulse to look up answers to every question that pops into your head throughout the day, pulling you away from your work. Or you may be feeling a little lazy and unmotivated so a quick game of Candy Crush seems like it might be ok. All these little distractions add up.

So, what can we do?

That is mainly up to us, as individuals. Whether a lack of focus is affecting your studies, your professional work, or your responsibilities at home, you can do things to improve your focus and motivation.

For starters, set daily goals for yourself. Make a list of reasonable priorities for the day, and when you have gotten those things done, reward yourself with one of your distractions.
Work on changing how you are thinking about your time and your tasks. For example, if you have the thought to check your phone for something unrelated to your current task or goal, talk yourself out of it. Remind yourself of your current goal and remember that whatever you wanted to do on your phone will still be there in a little while. Try to avoid impulsive distractions.
If you are distracted by thinking about other things you have to do or want to look up, jot them down for later.
If you are able, put your phone away or put it on airplane mode, or do not disturb mode, when you are trying to finish other things.
Practice mindfulness. Focus on the moment, and if you find yourself having a hard time with focus, pause for a couple slow breaths to help you bring yourself back to your focus.
Take intentional breaks when possible. Use your breaks to re-set. If this is a scheduled lunch break or a coffee break, enjoy the time and allow your mind a break from your work.
Avoid multi-tasking. This applies to work, but it also applies to leisure time. Are you on your phone or your laptop while you watch your favorite series on Netflix? Try to allow yourself to enjoy one thing at a time. This will help improve your focus habits, both for leisure and for work.
Self-care. Even though this comes up all the time, sometimes we forget. Having a healthy diet, good sleep habits, and taking some time for exercise every day are all positive tools for maintaining focus and a good balance in your day-to-day life.