Recuperating from the Stress of Equity Work
Eve Kucharski, NTTAC Equity Team (Change Matrix)
For many mental health professionals and mental wellness advocates, empathy is a priority, and it’s common to consistently put the needs of others ahead of one’s own. It can be vital to do so when actively providing services to children, youth, young adults, and families. In circumstances where one is “living the work,” making time to address one’s own needs becomes necessary to prevent long-term burnout and debilitating levels of toxic stress.
Here are five ways mental health professionals, mental wellness advocates, and administrators can recover from the pressures of equity-focused work.
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“Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” — Eleanor Brown |
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#1: Explore care within organizational culture.
Creating a “people-first” work environment can be beneficial for mental health and mental wellness organizations and systems of care (SOC). Project leaders and managers should regularly take time to check in with employees to ensure that they are thriving in their work without reaching the point of exhaustion. Taking steps like checking in with employees about their wellness and self-care practices, or removing redundant meetings (or ending them early) when possible, can be a great first step.
Mental health and system of care senior leadership teams should also focus on creating an environment where employees are able to say "no" without fear of retaliation or being looked at as less than a "team player." Being straightforward about one’s bandwidth, particularly if inundated with projects exploring deep systemic issues with no clear short-term solutions, can be the key to protecting one’s mental and physical health.
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#2: Schedule time for self-care.
Self-care is not a one-size-fits-all. It is personal and based on individual preferences and needs. Mental health professionals and advocates can start as small (or large) as needed and work to implement positive changes in all areas of their lives. Mental health, wellness, and SOC organizations should prioritize personal care among team members. Regular breaks to stretch, drink more water, or eat during a consistent meal time are great ways to do so.
While it’s not always possible, it’s important to attempt to set boundaries between working and leisure time at home. Purdue University’s Ellen Ernst Kossek, PhD, says that in addition to reducing stress, burnout, incidences of mood disorders, and addiction, “managing work-life boundaries can provide a path to reduce role conflict and enhance the well-being of employees, teams, and organizations.” In an increasingly digitally focused work environment, Kossek even provides tips for how to manage work in a non-traditional, but effective way.
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#3: Consider a va(or stay)cation.
As ongoing responsibilities and projects continue to stack up, vacation time is often put on the back burner. But a study by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that long hours can kill. In fact, in 2016 WHO linked 745,000 deaths to stroke and heart disease brought on by overwork. There will always be more work to do within the mental health and wellness field, so making time for long breaks is vital. Dr. Michael Merzenich’s book Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life states that going outside of one’s comfort zone, like while taking a vacation, only increases brain plasticity — the brain’s ability to adapt to new environments — which can be helpful in creating work solutions, too. However, if the time and expense of traveling somewhere isn’t possible, taking a staycation can be just as beneficial. Staycations have become especially popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whatever one chooses, it’s best to disconnect completely from work. One’s loved ones deserve a break to just be and create fun memories, and the children, youth, young adults, and families who are receiving services also benefit from their providers recharging.
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#4: Be aware and mindful of equity fatigue and the health impacts of racism and discrimination.
Described as the “feeling of exhaustion, frustration, and occasional hopelessness experienced by systemically marginalized individuals and communities after prolonged periods of thinking and talking about the oppression they face,” equity fatigue is what is experienced by many people of color, LGBTQ-identified people, and other marginalized communities doing equity work. This can be due to factors like “hypervigilance” of ongoing inequities, and the incorrect assumption of colleagues that one represents an entire community due to their identity.
While equity fatigue might never be fully removed from mental health and system of care organizations, steps can be taken to mitigate its impacts. Some include informing coworkers and managers about its day-to-day impacts; avoiding feelings of guilt when caring for one’s mental health; and making space — via a healing circle or other method — for other colleagues to have candid discussions about the realities of racism, discrimination, and ongoing impacts. This aids in modeling the attitudes, behaviors, and processes desired in systems that truly care.
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#5: Take time to be physically or spiritually active.
For some mental wellness and system of care staff, exercise has become routine, and for others, it sounds like a nightmare scenario. However, even taking the time to do something as low-impact as walking for 30 minutes per day can come with a slew of benefits. In an NBC News piece, Ann Green, M.S., emphasized some potential health gains:
“Walking improves fitness, cardiac health, alleviates depression and fatigue, improves mood, creates less stress on joints and reduces pain, can prevent weight gain, reduce risk for cancer and chronic disease, improve endurance, circulation, and posture, and the list goes on…”
But mental health care doesn’t only have to stem from the physical. For many mental health professionals and advocates involved in high-stress care environments, spirituality can provide a great coping mechanism. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that religious and spiritual activity can create positive community and “help a person tolerate stress by generating peace, purpose, and forgiveness. But benefits generally vary between the two due to their different nature.”
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Contact the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for
Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health
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This announcement is supported by SAMHSA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award over five years (2020-2025) with 100 percent funded by SAMHSA/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by SAMHSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government. |
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