How to Face Uncertainty Burnout While Coming Back From Great Setbacks

By Catherine Patterson-Sterling, PhD, RCC

One of my earliest moments in life was fleeing from a fire that looked like a hellstorm of flames devouring the forest of trees like a giant penetrating wall of doom ready to consume our family resort business. I watched the terror in the eyes of the big people around me and this was my first life encounter with a situation that was completely out of control and was bigger than any of us pitiful human beings.

I felt even smaller as a child and this was trauma knocking at our front door.

By some miracle fate stopped the pathway of destruction because of the courageous team that did battle that day.

Even still, I did not know how to process this at all.

In one instance, your world is turned upside down and you have to start over knowing that this imaginary bubble of innocence that bad things happen elsewhere is burst.

Also, there is the impact of such stress on your nervous system which includes a motherload dump of cortisol that propels you into a fight/flight/freeze response so that you can manage the trauma at the time but creates a level of mental fog, disorientation, and hypervigilance afterwards.

With such a surge of stress, we often lose our big deal and little deal thinking because our nerves are shot. Anything challenging (even on a small scale) feels epic.

Essentially, we can feel ourselves slipping and trying to even process what just happened?

Rebuilding From Great Setbacks

This is the post acute stress response whereby if nothing else happens for a bit, we can bounce back to a new normal. But if life continues on throwing curve balls, then we can move into stress burnout.

Then there is the challenge of dealing with loss especially if the trauma has stolen from us and we have to begin the process of rebuilding back our lives.

What makes any of this healing challenging, is that we live in a world of really high levels of uncertainty.

You may be dealing with the intense stress of wildfires and evacuations as you try to get yourself out of crisis only to find that the world, itself is in crisis.

Uncertainty Burnout

When you look to the outside world for direction you see all kinds of terms splattering the headlines like…

Cost of Living Crisis-Healthcare Crisis- Opioid Crisis- Mental Health Crisis- Inflation Crisis-Homelessness Crisis- Climate Crisis- Natural Disaster Crisis- Geopolitical Crisis

And more…. because EVERYTHING IS AT A CRISIS LEVEL.

If you lose time doom scrolling on your cell phone, then magnify this all by 100%.

Now add a layer of volatile markets, job insecurities, competitive marketplaces, regulatory restrictions and more…

Well.. it can all feel like an unfolding of never-ending waves of crisis permeating our society.

When we are saturated in such crisis-driven environments, we bathe in layers of uncertainty.

Uncertainty does not support mental health because one of the best ways to solve problems is to gain back personal control, make a plan, action it out, and get on with it.

But what if that plan can’t get traction or momentum because of MORE UNCERTAINTY?

Well then you can start to burnout and feel like you are losing hope.

In fact, uncertainty burnout occurs when individuals experience chronic stress and mental exhaustion due to prolonged periods of ambiguity and unpredictable outcomes.

This is much like a feeling of trying to get your footing while the ground moves under you and all of your energy goes into not falling.

Over time, this strain can erode decision-making capacity, decrease productivity, and diminish overall well-being, leading to long-term impacts on both individuals and organizational performance.

Recognizing the signs of uncertainty burnout is crucial to addressing it before it escalates.

Here are key indicators:

• Anxiety and Worry: Persistent feelings of dread about future outcomes or decisions.

  
  

• Irritability or Frustration: Easily triggered by small inconveniences or challenges.

  
  

• Sense of Overwhelm: Feeling like the uncertainty is too much to handle, leading to emotional exhaustion.

  
  

• Loss of Motivation: Struggling to find energy or enthusiasm for tasks that once excited you.

  
  

• Decision Fatigue: Difficulty making decisions, even minor ones, due to mental overload.

  
  

• Overthinking: Constantly replaying scenarios or second-guessing your choices.

  
  

• Reduced Focus: Struggling to concentrate or prioritize effectively.

  
  

• Negativity Bias: Focusing more on potential risks than opportunities, leading to a pessimistic outlook.

  
  

• Withdrawal: Pulling back from colleagues, networking, or collaborative efforts.

  
  

• Fatigue: Persistent tiredness, even after adequate sleep or rest.

  
  

• Sleep Problems: Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up feeling unrefreshed.

  
  

• Somatic Symptoms: Headaches, muscle tension, stomach issues, or other stress-related physical complaints.

  
  

• Weakened Immunity: Getting sick more frequently due to prolonged stress.

  
  

In order to address uncertainty burnout, it is important to recognize the burnout by being aware of the signs while taking the time to validate your feelings. Then you can focus on key priorities.

Then with self-care, you can build up your energy to fight the good fight to rise above the uncertainties by shifting from the enormity of problems to resources as well as solutions all the while rolling with the uncertainty.

With faith, we trust in what our eyes cannot see and forge forward knowing this can and will get better.

The opportunity is to decide where we place our minds and to build up a toolbox of skills to navigate this path because with uncertainty there is one guarantee in that for periods of time things will be uncertain.

You can be okay even if everything around you is not okay at the moment. We can rebuild to step into a new normal at levels of strength never witnessed.

There are moments in a lifetime when what is unimaginable has happened. The challenge is to refortify our will to dig in, grow in community, and rebuild knowing that strength is in our fingers, action is in our feet, and the power to overcome is in our minds.

See these helpful free videos for how to heal from natural disaster trauma and to find a way forward.

Available at https://www.softskillstrainingcenter.com/