Being a mother is a wonderful experience, it changes your life and having your child in your arms is the most beautiful thing there can be. That is not in dispute. But it is also exhausting. It means being 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without rest, pending the care of a little human being. Sleepless nights and strenuous days even though we may not have even left the house. Not to mention if Mom also works outside.
Also add older brothers, food, shopping, clothes, cleaning the house … Anyway, what am I going to tell you! Without help, it is practically impossible to cover so many fronts, in addition to the emotional stress and pressure we place on ourselves. You feel overwhelmed, tired, and you can’t handle everything. Do you feel identified? Do you suffer from burnout syndrome or extreme exhaustion? It is what mothers who cannot take it anymore feel .
What is burnout syndrome?
The syndrome of burnout or extreme exhaustion is more common than we think, and it occurs when the person has been subjected to a period of intense and prolonged stress, both from the physical and emotional point of view.
The father can also suffer it, but in general it is the mothers who are the most affected, since it is they, for the most part, who spend the most time with the baby and bear the burden of domestic responsibilities.
Originally, the Burnout syndrome also called “burnout syndrome”, arose as a form of work stress in professionals under high stress situations (neonatal intensive care doctors, probation police officers, etc.). But this term was also extended to mothers, since it represents what many of them experience every day. Mothers burned, tired and burdened .
Symptoms of burnout syndrome
The symptoms can be confused with those of any disease and are not usually given greater importance. They are manifestations of the organism subjected to a situation of chronic stress such as:
Psychosomatic symptoms
- Muscle pains
- Recurrent headaches
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Insomnia
- Tiredness
Emotional symptoms
- Isolation from the environment or relationship problems
- Feeling of loneliness
- Affective distancing
- Feeling of frustration
- Anxiety
- Reluctance
- Desire to cry
A pressure that does not let you breathe
Pressures come from everywhere, at all levels: social, work and family . Strenuous days are followed by nights in which sleeping soundly is a utopia. Sometimes you don’t even have time to take a shower and you dream of the baby falling asleep to rest. And in the end, you end up using that time to do other things.
And it is not only the concern for the care of the baby (that colic, that if he gets sick, that the breast on demand, etc …), there is also the work pressure for those who have a job outside the home and the Social pressure to be “a perfect mother” and feel judged by your surroundings, which further exacerbates the feeling of frustration.
Some tips if you suffer from burnout
- Do not isolate yourself : try to connect with other moms who are going through the same situation.
- Get organized and prioritize : you are not a superwoman and you don’t have to be. Prioritize urgent tasks and leave those that are not for another time.
- Ask for help : your partner, your mother, your sister. Sometimes others do not realize your suffering. Denying it is also a symptom of burnout and pretending that everything is going well. Do not hesitate. Open up, ask for help.
- Reserve a few hours for yourself : it is part of asking for help, since you will need someone to take care of the baby so you can go out. Do something you like: go for a walk alone, have coffee with a friend, go to the movies, whatever makes you disconnect from the baby and distract you from everyday routines.
In Babies and more | “Helping at home is not enough, you have to share the mental load”, the reflection of the psychologist Alberto Soler that we applaud, “Parental burnout” or extreme exhaustion of parents is real, a study confirms it
