Burnout

As we go into the 2021 fire season, I think it is important to touch on mental health wellness among our wildland firefighters. Last year was rough, and there were plenty of changes we needed to adjust to, which may or may not have impacted us mentally. As the impacts drag on, and uncertainty looms, stress levels may rise and become overwhelming. One of the big things that the NWCG’s Mental Health Subcommittee is focusing on is Burnout. So, what is burnout? It is a response to stress and frustration, that specifically has an occupational context. “Burnout is different from stress; burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It can take place over a long period of time. Burnout might occur if your work seems meaningless or if there is no end in sight under difficult work conditions. Burnout may happen due to a disconnect between work and life outside of work. Long fire seasons away from family, shortage of resources, gaps in key leadership positions, and communities threatened or lost can all contribute to burnout of wildland fire personnel” (January 2021 Newsletter, NWCG Mental Health Subcommittee).

“There are three symptoms of burnout at work: 1. Emotional exhaustion – feeling chronically tired, even if you’re not doing much; having trouble sleeping at night; struggling to concentrate or not being able to focus on tasks. 2. Depersonalization or cynicism – blaming everyone around you for the way you feel; being emotionally unavailable for others, feeling isolated and struggling to maintain relationships. 3. Reduced sense of personal accomplishments of efficiency – prolonged feelings of depression and/or anxiety; loss of enjoyment in those parts of your work that you used to like; persistent thoughts of your work being meaningless” (Mia Baker, Big Self School). Luckily, there are some ways to help manage burnout, as the NWCG Mental Health Subcommittee suggests: delegating work to develop newer or less experienced members can help them grow into leadership roles; exercise regularly, even if it’s just 5 minutes out of the day to get some stretching in; you can practice meditation, yoga, mindfulness or whatever technique works best for you; if you are unable to manage the stress yourself, seek higher levels of care or some form of professional support.

Dr. Steven Nichols, a mental health professional with an extensive background counseling first responders, has taken the time to describe some concepts and tools to assist fire personnel in monitoring and managing stress and mental health. He uses the comparison of pressure cookers and tea kettles when talking about how we handle situations in our professional lives (Nichols). Nichols takes the time to talk about when he and his brothers were younger, that they would mess with the thermostat on the pressure cooker – essentially preventing it from releasing any pressure and eventually it would explode. He says that we shouldn’t keep everything inside with no release, like a pressure cooker. That we should be more like a tea kettle – sure things will get hot and start to bubble, but the pressure has a way to be released (Nichols).

He has provided two forms, that he suggests keeping in your bag to evaluate yourself and see where you are at mentally. It will also help you to find any trigger points, or to see if you are starting to burn out (Nichols). I’ll be honest, listening to the NWCG video I have linked below and reading over the documents (also linked below), brought some light to how I have been feeling (fire related or not). You can find the “Are You Burning Out?” form by clicking here. You can find the “Professional Balance Wellness Worksheet” form by clicking here. You can watch the short video from NWCG by clicking here.