How to Save the World Without Burning Yourself Out

Inevitably, the world disappoints us. In the most tragic cases, the illusion of a perfect world is exposed in childhood, in a million ways we’d rather not talk about. More often, it happens as we grow into adulthood and learn secondhand about neglectful and malicious acts some committed in the past and others commit today.

The letdowns disturb us, prompting the question Why is this happening? The question begets a reaction: Someone should do something about this! A perceived lack of someones or a sense of duty can impel us to donate time, money, and, in some cases, entire careers trying to fix the wrongs we see in the world. And such acts, meant to help others, may help us in return.

Research suggests that voluntary, altruistic actions (dubbed prosocial behavior) increase subjective well-being. It also suggests that people working in public service are more satisfied with their careers than those who work in the private sector. But too many people to help; not enough time, money, or people to help them; freeloaders; people who believe your approach is wrong or, worse, evil; or dealing with a fire hose of falsehood (a flood of false communications meant to undermine support for a cause) can leave public service workers yearning to live on a large tract of farmland, miles away from the nearest cellphone tower.

Usually, though, things aren’t so extreme. Usually, we burn out because we haven’t taken enough time for ourselves. Countless articles discuss the United States’ lack of mandatory vacation days and its workers’ tendency to use less than their allotted time off. Their best (and, often, only) advice is to use more vacation time. But, not only do we have fewer friends than in the past, our identity is often enmeshed with our job. Given extra time off, many might struggle to find something to do and someone to do it with. Then again, myriad physical and electronic bulletin boards are available to help with that kind of search.

The term burnout isn’t limited to needing a vacation. Researchers also use it to describe the effects of a poor working environment. In addition to workplace factors, poor morale and high turnover can lead to emotional and physical exhaustion, a cynical attitude toward clients, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. A vacation may help. So might increased staffing, if resources allow.

But if overwork isn’t the issue, one might need to find more challenging or meaningful work. This might mean a new position. Or it might mean a job at a new company.

Or it might mean neither of these. Burnout is often conflated with secondary traumatic stress (STS), which stems from the work rather than the working environment. STS involves the appearance of PTSD symptoms including anxiety, and avoidance of anxiety, in people who encounter descriptions, images, or reactions of others to trauma but do not develop an ongoing empathic relationship, like that of therapist and client.

A major predictor of whether someone develops STS is the frequency and ratio of contact with others’ trauma. In this case, an organization might help its workers by spreading the work of divisions devoted to helping trauma victims among more people, or rotating workers in and out of such a division more often.

Personal history with the type of trauma one is exposed to at work is another major predictor of STS symptoms. Of course, many people who pursue public-interest work do so in response to their personal history, hoping to help people who went through the same things they did. And some organizations specifically look to hire people with a personal connection to the work. Such a dynamic is unlikely to change, so both the individual and the organization might consider mandatory therapy, crisis debriefing, or creating a supportive environment to help workers deal with any symptoms that may arise.

Of course, STS symptoms may never, arise, or do so only rarely. Only five percent of adults suffer from PTSD in any given year. It seems unlikely that a higher proportion of people will suffer from STS. But if not, what might distress the greatest number of people working in public service?

Best guess? Reality.

Burnout Essential Reads

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When we are new to an issue, the fix seems easy. Those people, the ones already working on the issue, have no idea what they’re doing. If only they’d do what we say, things would be cleared up in just a few days. And so, for example, you take some finance courses to learn how money works. Inspired by how simple compound interest is, you tell all your friends and they all agree it’s amazing and tell you they’re going to do what you’re doing but immediately forget what you said and you see it happening but keep learning more and trying to convince them only to learn Ben Franklin wrote about this exact scenario—270 years ago.

You might react to this news by putting the books away. Or keeping what you’ve learned to yourself. After all, no one listened. But if you’re lucky, 10 years into the future, someone you used to know might call you up to thank you. You didn’t think they cared, but listening to you helped them keep their house when they lost their job.

And knowing this—that you might not be able to help everyone you wanted to when you started, but you’ll help people you didn’t expect—might keep the fire burning that was lit by the injustices you witnessed so long ago.