The Book of Burn Out
by Bev Aisbett
Harper Collins

Trained Counsellor Bev Aisbett has written 17 highly regarded self-help books including Living With It: A survivor’s Guide to Panic and Anxiety and Taming the Black Dog: A guide to Overcoming Depression. Now she is taking a look at burn out – “what it is, why it happens, who gets it and how to stop it before it stops you”.

Aisbett states that she bases her self-help books on lived experiences and, despite the warning signs, she actually suffered burn out in trying to finish her latest book. This is because burn out tends to creep up on you and people are too busy to notice the warning signs until their body and/or mind lets them know in no uncertain terms that enough is enough.

“I had taken on too much at one time and … overestimated my ability to get everything done in the time I had available. This is the classic setup for burn out, where we think we can do the impossible at the cost of our wellbeing, health and quality of life.”

Understanding what is happening is the first step towards turning things around, and Aisbett lists reasons for burnout in various professions and in home situations as well as looking at the effect Covid has had on our lives.

After explaining how we can recognise the danger signs, the book gives a range of stress management techniques and looks into how to avoid meltdowns. It also tackles the big question as to why so many people keep pushing themselves.

The book is really easy to digest, with the main information in each section highlighted, capitalised and interspersed with simple illustrations. Aisbett uses humour to get her points across so that people can make necessary changes before things become too painful.

Lezly Herbert

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