Why burnout during COVID hits different
There aren’t enough hours in the day to properly grieve for our losses.
In the early days of lockdown, in the face of incredible uncertainty, many of us tried to put on a brave face and make the most of our time indoors. Making bread! Learning at-home workouts! Going to stupid daily walks for our stupid mental health! We stayed optimistic, knowing in our heads and hearts that if we just followed the rules, better days were almost certainly ahead. Ah, to be young and naive.
We are older now. Wiser, battle-hardened, jaw muscles rippling from months of forced Zoom smiles and screaming matches with strangers over mask mandates. Okay my imagery is weird here, but you get it: we’re tired, and more than a little bit jaded.
Losing someone is a powerful, gut-wrenching feeling. Losing something intangible — like impromptu chats with strangers, time to yourself while the kids are at school, a general sense that everything is as it should be — feels different. It’s death by a thousand cuts. Unlike with literal death, you’re not getting clubbed over the head with your grief. Instead you’re a frog in a pot of water, taking just a little too long to notice as the temperature rises to boiling.
