The Silent Toll of Healthcare Work 

In the fast-paced, high-demand world of healthcare, it’s no secret that burnout is a growing concern. Long hours, emotional strain, and the weight of patient care can take a significant toll on your mental and physical well-being. As you dedicate yourself to helping others, often in emotionally intense or high-stakes situations, it’s equally important to prioritize your own health. Burnout doesn’t just impact the individual, it affects the entire team and, ultimately, the quality of care patients receive. In this edition, we’ll explore how to recognize burnout in healthcare teams, understand its signs and symptoms, and offer solutions for preventing and managing it. 

What is Burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress and high demands. In healthcare, it may result from intense workloads, emotional exposure to patient suffering, or ethical and systemic challenges. Symptoms may include fatigue, detachment, loss of motivation, and even questioning one’s ability to continue in the field. Recognizing burnout early is essential to preventing long-term consequences for both individuals and the healthcare systems they work in.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

While burnout shows up differently for everyone, some common signs include:

• Emotional Exhaustion: Feeling drained, overwhelmed, or emotionally numb; increased irritability or difficulty coping with daily stressors.
• Reduced Performance: Difficulty concentrating, increased mistakes, or a lack of motivation for tasks that were once routine or meaningful.
• Disengagement and Isolation: Withdrawing from colleagues or avoiding interactions; a growing sense of detachment or feeling disconnected from purpose.
• Cynicism and Negativity: Increased frustration or criticism toward patients, coworkers, or the system; a sense that nothing you do makes a difference.
• Physical Symptoms: Persistent fatigue, changes in sleep or appetite, frequent illness, headaches, or other stress-related physical issues.

How Burnout Affects the Whole Team

When one team member is struggling, the whole team feels it. Burnout can lead to:

• Lower Team Morale: Emotional fatigue can ripple across a team, impacting energy, collaboration, and patient care.
• Communication Challenges: Stress can strain communication and contribute to errors or misunderstandings.
• Increased Turnover: If burnout isn’t addressed, healthcare professionals may leave the field, adding more strain to already overburdened systems.

Practical Strategies to Combat Burnout

• Prioritize Micro-Breaks: Short pauses during the day can help regulate stress. Step outside, stretch, or take a few deep breaths to reset your nervous system.
• Set Boundaries: It’s easy for work to seep into your personal time. Setting clear boundaries helps protect recovery time and is essential for staying grounded and present.
• Lean on Your Team: Healthcare professionals often carry heavy emotional loads alone. Normalizing check-ins, debriefing difficult cases, and supporting peer conversations around mental health can reduce isolation.
• Recognize Compassion Fatigue: The deep emotional toll of caregiving can lead to depletion. Practicing self-compassion and seeking help when needed are essential for sustaining empathy and effectiveness.
• Engage in Restorative Activities: Whether it’s movement, creativity, rest, or connection, activities outside of work help refill your emotional and physical reserves. You deserve time to replenish.
• Seek Professional Support When Needed: Accessing therapy, peer support, or mental health services isn’t a last resort, it’s a proactive way to care for yourself. The best caregivers know when to receive care, too.

Your Well-Being Matters

The work you do is meaningful and impactful, but your worth is not defined solely by your role in healthcare. Prioritizing your mental and emotional well-being is not only good for you, it ensures you can continue showing up with compassion, clarity, and care. You matter not just because of what you do, but because of who you are!

Let’s keep supporting one another and remembering that taking care of ourselves is part of taking care of others.

This post Combating Workplace Burnout: Recognizing Signs and Prioritizing Well-Being in Healthcare first appeared on Dr. Yelena Oren | Licensed Psychologist and is written by Dr. Yelena Oren

Have you ever felt your heart race, muscles tense, or mind go blank in a moment of stress? That’s your body’s built-in alarm system of the fight-flight-freeze response kicking in. This automatic survival mechanism has helped humans respond to danger for thousands of years, but in modern life, it often activates in situations where physical threats are not present. While it’s a normal and necessary function, there are many misconceptions about what it is, how it works, and what we can do to manage it effectively. 

What Is the Fight-Flight-Freeze Response?

The fight-flight-freeze response is the body’s way of preparing to handle perceived danger. It’s an automatic reaction triggered by the autonomic nervous system, specifically the sympathetic nervous system, which releases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. These changes help us react quickly whether by fighting, fleeing, or freezing. 

• Fight: Your body prepares to confront the threat head-on, increasing strength, focus, and aggression. 
• Flight: Your system urges you to escape, making you feel restless, jittery, or hyper-aware of your surroundings. 
• Freeze: Your body temporarily shuts down movement, making you feel paralyzed or numb as it assesses the situation. 

Each response serves a purpose, but in modern life, our brains sometimes misinterpret everyday stressors such as work deadlines, social conflicts, or public speaking as life-threatening, triggering this reaction unnecessarily.

Common Myths About the Fight-Flight-Freeze Response

Myth 1: You Can Control It Through Willpower

Reality: The response is automatic and happens before you consciously process the situation. While you can’t stop it from activating, you can learn strategies to regulate its effects. 

Myth 2: Freezing Means You’re Weak

Reality: Freezing is a survival response, just like fight or flight. It can be a highly adaptive reaction, giving your brain time to assess danger before deciding on action. 

Myth 3: The Response Is Always Bad

Reality: The fight-flight-freeze response is essential for survival. Problems arise when it’s overactive or triggered in non-threatening situations. Learning how to manage it can help you use its benefits without letting it control you.

Why Should You Care?

Chronic activation of the fight-flight-freeze response can contribute to long-term stress, anxiety, and physical health issues like high blood pressure and weakened immune function. When your body remains in a heightened state too often, it struggles to return to baseline, leading to exhaustion, mood swings, sleep problems, increased pain, and difficulty concentrating. Understanding this response can help you manage stress more effectively, improving both mental and physical well-being. 

What Can You Do About It?

• Engage the Parasympathetic Nervous System 
  This is the body’s rest and digest system, which counteracts the fight-flight-freeze response. Techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness can help shift your body out of high alert. 
• Reframe the Threat 
  When you feel your response activate, ask yourself: “Is this a real danger, or just a stressful situation?” Recognizing that your brain is reacting to a false alarm can help you feel more in control. 
• Move Your Body 
  Physical activity helps release built-up stress hormones and signals to your brain that the threat has passed. A short walk, stretching, or even shaking out your arms and legs can reset your system. 
• Build Emotional Awareness 
  Understanding your triggers and emotional responses can help you anticipate and manage reactions more effectively. Journaling, therapy, or self-reflection can be helpful tools. 
• Seek Professional Support When Needed 
  If your fight-flight-freeze response is interfering with daily life, therapy can help. Approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Mindfulness-Based Therapies can provide effective tools to manage and reframe your body’s stress response.

Final Thoughts

The fight-flight-freeze response is a powerful, automatic survival mechanism, but it doesn’t have to control your life. By understanding how it works and learning ways to regulate it, you can respond to stress in healthier, more adaptive ways. Small shifts in awareness and coping strategies can help you regain a sense of balance allowing you to navigate challenges with greater ease and resilience. 

By taking steps to support your nervous system, you’re not just managing stress, you’re building a stronger foundation for overall well-being. 

Understanding the fight-flight-freeze response allows you to take control of your reactions, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being. Dr. Oren emphasizes the importance of recognizing when this response is triggered and using strategies to regulate it, helping you build resilience and face challenges more effectively. Don’t let outdated myths or automatic reactions control your well-being, take proactive steps to support your nervous system, manage stress, and restore balance. Start today with mindfulness, deep breathing, or movement to calm your system. The more you practice, the better equipped you’ll be to handle stress with clarity and confidence. If you need additional support with stress, anxiety, or trauma, therapy can help. Call Dr. Oren at 775-525-8100 to begin your path to lasting relief. 

Your body is wired to protect you, but you have the power to guide its response. 

Learn More: Expert Advice and References

• American Psychological Association (APA) 
  Understanding the fight-flight-freeze response and its effects on mental and physical health. 
  https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/body 
• Bracha, H. S. (2004). Freeze, Flight, Fight, Fright, Faint: Adaptationist Perspectives on the Acute Stress Response Spectrum. CNS Spectrums, 9(9), 679–685. 
  An expanded view of the fight-or-flight response, including freeze and faint reactions. 
  https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852900001954 
• Harvard Health Publishing 
  How chronic stress impacts the body and what to do about it. 
  https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response 
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) 
  Information on how the brain and body respond to stress and strategies for coping. 
  https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress 
• Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (3rd ed.). Henry Holt and Company. 
  A comprehensive and engaging look at how chronic stress affects health, with practical insights on managing stress effectively. 
  https://www.amazon.com/Why-Zebras-Dont-Ulcers-Third/dp/0805073698 

This post Understanding the Fight Flight Freeze Response: Myths, Science, and How to Navigate It first appeared on Dr. Yelena Oren | Licensed Psychologist and is written by Dr. Yelena Oren