HOUSTON – Burnout can happen to any employee, regardless of their job, age, or amount of experience.
The World Health Organization has officially recognized it as a mental health concern.
“It was just a fun job. I loved being around the kids,” Yvonne Peña said.
She had a passion for teaching and served 11 years in the classroom.
“Things just started shifting and changing. I didn’t find the joy in teaching anymore,” Peña said.
The stress became too much to handle.
Peña said they were getting fewer resources, but more students and more responsibilities without room to grow.
“I just quickly began getting tired and emotionally drained more than anything to where I couldn’t do my job at a high level because it just wasn’t worth it for me anymore,” she said.
Peña was burned out, and it was affecting her family life as well.
The World Health Organization defines it as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
According to Zippia.com, nearly 90% of workers have experienced burnout within the past year, and 40% of workers have left their jobs due to burnout.
“First, give yourself some grace. It’s going to happen. We are a culture of busy and do it, and we pride ourselves on how busy we are and how little free time we have sometimes,” said Mariam Wahby, Manager of Education for Behavioral Health Services at Memorial Hermann.
She encouraged people to figure out what is contributing to their stress, try to manage it and ask for help when necessary.
“I want you to talk to somebody about it. You don’t have to go through every detail of your day if reliving it is stressful for you, but some people really need that,” Wahby said.
It is important to take the time to focus on yourself.
“Can it be five minutes of deep breathing at my desk? It totally can. Is it that I prioritize sleep, and I’m for sure rested for the day? Yeah, and can I organize my space in a way that makes my workflow better and contextualized?” she said. “If I love a scent, do I make sure that I have that scent at work? If I have a pillow or blanket that I put on my desk chair that really just comforts me.”
Wahby said self-care is something we can all do daily.
“One part of that is a cultural shift that’s got to happen for us to really give ourselves the permission and space to be human and need rest, and knowing that rest can be productive sometimes. You’ve got to take care of you to do anything else,” she said.
Peña feels the same way.
Once she realized she was burned out, Peña took her future into her own hands.
“It took me a while. I thought about it a lot. It was very hard for me to leave because it was something I enjoyed and vested into,” Peña said.
After 11 years in teaching, she left and pursued a career in real estate, where she’s now thriving.
“It is so real. Make sure you’re taking care of your health, your mental health. Because at the end of the day, when you leave that job, nobody’s going to care, the job posting is going to get posted and you’re going to be gone,” Peña said. “Make sure you’re always taking care of yourself first, and it’s never too late to start something new and enjoy what you love.”
According to LLC.org, Houston ranked number one as the most stressful city for workers in the country. It said employees in Houston clock in an average of 39.5 hours per week at work with an above-average daily commute of 52.8 minutes roundtrip.
