Countless people who work in “helping” professions feel like they have been pushed to the brink. Burnout is particularly common among people in the medical field, such as doctors, nurses, therapists, and other healthcare workers. People working in education and social services are also feeling the same pressure.

It’s not easy to handle the demands of these fields, day in and day out. But why is burnout so common amongst workers in the helping fields compared to other sectors? Let’s explore why millions of people employed in these fields have been suffering from burnout lately and the unique factors that are affecting their mental health.

Worrying About Your Patients

If you work in healthcare, you might feel like you can’t take time away because you worry too much about your patients’ well-being. In fact, medical students completing their residencies work round-the-clock shifts so that they can keep covering for the same patients and avoiding disruptions in treatment — but this means staying awake for long hours. In this field, you can’t easily take time away.

While people working in education or social services don’t have patients, they feel the same way towards their students or the children and teenagers that they’re helping. Even when they’re not on the clock, they can’t help but worry.

You Always Have to Be “On”

When you work in a helping profession, you have to be mentally “on” whenever you’re at work. Someone in an office job might be able to spend an hour or two scrolling through social media during the workday after they’ve wrapped up their tasks. But a nurse, doctor, teacher, or social worker does not have this luxury. If you’re tending to a patient or a child who needs your help, you can’t just check out. You’ve got to stay focused on the task at hand. It’s easy to see how this can lead to exhaustion.

Growing Demand for Your Services

Right now, there is an increasing demand for medical services. Millions of people are struggling with their mental and physical health, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that more and more people are dealing with long wait times for medical appointments or therapy sessions. Meanwhile, people in the helping professions have an ever-growing workload.

Staff Shortages

As the demand for helping services piles up, and the backlog of people waiting for such services grows, more and more people leave these professions. Many hospitals, schools, and other institutions in the helping sectors are losing employees and struggling to cope with staffing shortages.

Even large increases in wages offered is not always enough to bring in new employees. This means that the people who still work in these fields are stretched thin. They have to take on the work of multiple employees to ensure that everything gets done.

Guilt Over Your “Shortcomings”

Chances are, you went into one of the helping professions because you genuinely wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. You do your best for your patients – but at the end of the day, you know that it’s never quite “enough.” Even when you’ve done all you can, you can’t always solve their problems.

Sometimes, you have to send a patient home into a situation that you know isn’t good for them, or you have to watch your therapy clients make the same mistakes over and over. This isn’t your fault, but it can be difficult to deal with.

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Are you struggling with burnout while working in a “helping” field? Talking to a therapist can help. Reach out to us to discuss the benefits of women’s or men’s counseling.