Nope. We've all been there right? In this fast paced world, adulting is waking up tired. Adulting is being the best version of yourself. Adulting, is just making it through the day.
But what if we didn't have to just make it through? What would we be thinking about? Would we have time to think about the environment, regenerative practices and sustainable habits? Would we be building better communities? Would we be thinking about the best version of the planet instead? I like to think so.
So I'm asking you to help me turn NOPE into HOPE.
My name is Jane and my story starts a few years back when the endocrinologist who was treating me told me to go to a yoga class. I had no idea why I was there, but in that class something happened. I began to cry, I sobbed and I sobbed and in that moment I realized that I was burnt out. And not only was I burnt out, this was the second time in my adult life. So what happened?
Like so many others I had a stressful job. I was also a carer. And I had a side hustle - because that's we do these days. So who gets burnout? People in non profits, health workers, parents, carers, educators, creative, corporate, government, lawyers, trades, farmers, hospo, students. Basically anyone who cares. Anyone who gives a damn. Few of us are invulnerable.
What happens is the structure of the brain is changed by stress trauma. We get locked in Fight or Flight. Akin to PTSD the affected limbic system has knock on effect to endocrine function and thus the nervous system, the gastrointestinal system and the immune system. And it is indicated that this could be at the heart of major chronic diseases.
It took a multidisciplinary approach to get me back to full health.
But I'm not going back there again, so I am asking you to help me to develop Burnout Toolkit and save others.
I'm currently working under the auspices of the charity Rewire to develop it. Our plan is:
Research at Melbourne University to understand the effects of burnout on the body. We already have a memorandum of understanding and will be testing a couple of cohorts through the lens of neuroscience, neuro psychology, endocrinology and immunology
Establishing NMHRC clinical guidelines for the identification of and multidisciplinary clinical treatment of burnout that also includes diversionary therapy
Create online content for practitioners and patients including peer support
Running a pilot. A fully funded clinic treating burnout
Then I will pitch it to The UN and World Health Organization because in 2019 they listed burnout in their Classification of Diseases (ICD).
The cost of burnout to the global economy is one trillion dollars. The cost to the USA health system annually is estimated as up to two hundred billion dollars. And it is speculated that seventy five per cent of us will experience some form of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, including children.
So please, please, get onboard and help me create a brighter future for us all.
I need people, I need funding, I need facilities, so that together we can turn nope into hope.
Are you ready to turn nope into hope? Please contact us to discuss how you can be a part of this, or you can donate using the link below.
Thank you.
Jane Wong
Founder@burnouttoolkit.com
For Rewire - Katharina Dimtscheff, Director – Chairman
This project is under the auspices of Rewire Ltd - Australia Charities and Not-for-profits Commission registered. ABN 28 602 590 492.
Donations of $2 or more to Rewire are tax deductible in Australia.
Postscript: In 2018 I saw the above illustration by the talented Gemma Correll and it inspired me to start down this path. I love her work, so much resonates with me. And I would love to commission her for this project.
Prompted by that picture, I wrote a piece about breaking up with noble sacrifice and setting boundaries. It was about pushing back on attitudes we've been programmed to believe that prevent us from putting our health first. The response from readers confirmed to me that burnout is not just vocational, not just a psychological syndrome, and that there were a great many people asking for help. Their bodies were showing the signs but clinicians were telling them that they were ideopathic and not in keeping with the usual diagnostic criteria.
I began writing more articles, but they weren't going to change the world. The Toolkit will because it will be the result of the efforts of many to gather the data and lead the way to change. It will be a funded program because when you're faced with that feeling of nope, money should not be a wall you have to scale to get better.