Burnout: Breakdown or Breakthrough?
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” - Rumi
When my father died suddenly on April 5th 2015, one week after I turned forty, I began a journey through grief which, when combined with a high level of chronic work stress, unresolved childhood trauma, and a crushing relationship breakdown, culminated in a major burnout – or ‘mid-life crisis’.
Reverend Professor Stephen Wright (2005) defines burnout as:
“a form of deep human suffering at every level – physical, psychological, social, spiritual – which occurs when old ways of being…no longer work and start to disintegrate.” (p. 2) (in Thomas, 2020)
Assagioli (1961) explains that a crisis may lead to a split between the ego and the ‘Self’, which results in a ‘big bang’ that triggers healing.
Because a crisis or burnout may be defined in spiritual terms, “spiritual awakening amounts to a real cure” (Assagioli, 1961:6) (in Thomas, 2020). Vaughan (1995) agrees that burnout is characteristic of a state of spiritual aridity, with the antidote being spiritual renewal (Thomas, 2021).
So why is mid-life such a common time to experience a crisis of healing and of transformation?
Ken Wilber suggests that mid-life is the point at which human beings reach the ‘trans-egoic psychic’ level. This is the level where we are open to experiencing a deeper level of consciousness, before moving on to a stage of psychic integration (Thomas, 2020).
Washburn (1988) describes mid-life as a time when the ego spirals back towards the creative, psycho-spiritual ‘Dynamic Ground’ or ‘Source’ it once sprang from in young childhood, before integration with the transpersonal.
Mid-life can precipitate a ‘crisis of meaning’, which may be associated with deep depression or low mood. To move through this, the ego must “fail significantly to stop the repression of Self” in order to open up to numinous healing experiences (Read, 2014:185) (in Thomas, 2020).
Read also suggests that the crisis is itself part of a natural healing process. He says:
“The fundamental mistake was supposing that the healing process was the disease” (Read, 2014, p. 103) (in Thomas, 2020).
The modern western world has historically been concerned with using external remedies to remove, fix or numb what is ‘diseased’. These exogenous, rational and material methods are often temporary, finite or perishable.
However, my experiences of recovery from burnout have led me to believe that it is through connecting to indigenous, intuitive, psycho-spiritual modes of healing, that we can nourish more permanent aspects of our deepest, authentic self – our soul - and heal from within. In this way, the ‘disease’ is actually a signpost towards what requires healing; it is in itself part of the cure.
Healing has been described as:
“…a reparative process of working through old wounds and emotional hurts and trauma.”
And growth as:
“the emergence of…new potentials, new feelings, new experiences, new parts of the self coming forth toward actualization” (Cortright, 2007, p. 73).
Transformation occurs:
“…when there is enough healing and growth to bring about the emergence of a new organizing principle that alters our entire being” (p. 73). (Cortright in Clewer, 2020)
These ideas mirror the Jungian concept of ‘individuation’ - the lifelong psychological process of differentiation of the self out of each individual's conscious and unconscious elements.
This process is often depicted in archetypal stories of the hero or heroine’s journey, in which a main character hears a ‘calling’ that eventually sets them on a path resulting in their descent into a seemingly hopeless abyss of despair (like in Star Wars or Lord of the Rings).
Here, the character may have to fight their demons or find lost ‘shadow’ parts of themselves that were exiled long ago.
But this punishing story does not have to be lived as a punishment; it can be lived as a story that is necessary for healing and spiritual growth - if we allow it to unfold without losing hope.
“We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope.” - Jyn Erso (Rogue One)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu talks about the importance of hope as an antidote to despair, in “The Book of Joy”:
“Despair can come from deep grief, but it can also be a defence against the risks of bitter disappointment and shattering heartbreak. Resignation and cynicism are easier, more self-soothing postures that do not require the raw vulnerability and tragic risk of hope. To choose hope is to step firmly forward into the howling wind, baring one’s chest to the elements, knowing that, in time, the storm will pass.” - Desmond Tutu “The Book of Joy” p. 122
Yet, as the book goes on to explain, hope requires faith, even if that faith is in nothing more than human nature or the very persistence of life to find a way.
His holiness the Dalai Lama has summarised:
“When we look at the news, we must keep this more holistic view. Yes, this or that terrible thing has happened. No doubt, there are very negative things, but at the same time there are many more positive things happening in our world. We must have a sense of proportion and a wider perspective. Then we will not feel despair when we see these sad things.” - Dalai Lama “The Book of Joy” p.121
And hope is nurtured by relationships, by community, or by connection with something ‘bigger’ than ourselves:
“Despair turns us inward. Hope sends us into the arms of others.” - Douglas Abrams “The Book of Joy” p. 123
Because a crisis is about breaking down, many people talk about having been broken open in a way that breaks them through to another, more spiritual dimension.
As Leonard Cohen (1992) sang:
“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
However, seeking out the spiritual aspects of life too strongly, can also lead to us ‘spiritually bypassing’ our own pain. In other words, it becomes another form of dissociation - rather than an opportunity for true awakening through being present with painful emotional experiences.
Jung famously said:
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” - Carl Jung
Nevertheless, living in alignment with our soul’s purpose constitutes a powerful protective factor that can not only mitigate against adversity, but also help us to recover from traumatic events.
Many individuals, including myself, have been profoundly changed by life-saving experiences - when moved by the beauty of nature, or contemplating the awe and wonder of life.
The storyteller Michael Meade affirms:
“Each person is a story that the Soul of the World wants to tell to itself…The desire to be part of something greater and to occupy life more fully, is also a desire to touch and be touched by the living imagination that sustains each soul and all of life.”
Following the death of my father, I was rent and broken apart with grief, living a story of descent that would last almost a decade.
But from out of the cracks painfully wrought by the force of this loss, a new flower of kindness and compassion gradually grew in my heart - and a new story of love was eventually birthed.
References
Assagioli, R. (1961). Self-realization and psychological disturbances. New York, NY: Psychosynthesis Research Foundation.
Clewer, L. (2020) Revealing Spirit: Healing, Growth and Transformation in the Wake of Abuse. Journal of Transpersonal Perspectives. Issue 01 | January 2020 Pages 76-78. Alef Trust.
Cortright, B. (2007). Integral psychology: Yoga, growth, and opening the heart. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Read, T. (2014). Walking shadows (1st ed.). London, England: Muswell Hill Press.
Thomas, D. (2020) Could Psychological Crisis be a Symptom or Catalyst for Awakening Experience. Journal of Transpersonal Perspectives. Issue 01 | January 2020 Pages 66-74. Alef Trust.
Washburn, M. (1988). The ego and the dynamic ground: A transpersonal theory of human development. SUNY Press: New York, N.Y.
Wilber, K. (1990). In the eye of the artist: Art and the perennial philosophy. The Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey. Vermont: Inner Traditions, 9-16.
Wright S. (2005). Burnout. A spiritual crisis. Nurse Stand 19(46)