Understanding Burnout and Depression

Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.

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[HeART-cntrd]

This has been my M.O. during many chapters of my life, including present. When overwhelmed I shut down the big picture, isolate, get small task oriented without prioritizing, and go emotionally flat.

[abbykoop]

When I was a teenager I wrote a number of poems about not wanting to feel at all. Now that's kinda where I am and I wish I could feel more again....

[viralynn]

In this state I have learned to tell myself to put all decisions on hold and rest until I feel better. Unfortunately life doesn’t pause, and they still want a rent payment every month, when each month feels like a week of time.

[leialuminous]

When the lows aren't as low as they used to be, it's sometimes hard to register this stage. Usually if I find myself doom scrolling and less productive, I know it's time for a reset.

[craigfoulkes]

When things get stressed and i need to make lots of difficult decisions, i can feel the shutdown come on.

[edainari]

This explains so much about the past few days for me and about my childhood and teen years . . .

[gabrielamunoz]

G2K. I have been dealing and feeling this way going on three months! Extremely fatigued, (I have adhd and always told I’m “too much” and to calm down. So being so ridiculously tired is foreign to me! 😢 can’t remember anything even after just listening or reading on things, I have become introverted anti- social, numb, no desire for anything…adulthood is what we spend our childhood traumas getting over. Cycle of life I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Sonnell]

I love your channel, as one can clearly feel and see you are doing it to help. Out of kindness. I salute you. And you are at the same time good as well in what you are doing! Thank you :)

[jmso]

Thabk you for doing the short format videos. They're in no way able to wxplain everything, but they're very helpful for some of us suffering from stunted executive function.

[Daisy_Anne]

I wish you were part of my mental health team haha. You're awesome.❤

[CJandEllie]

I'm 💯 burned out. I hate work, coworkers, family, etc...too much. A job that refuses to pay for heat and light in the morning, nasty coworkers, exhaustion, shutting down. I almost walked out today.

[M]

What if the high stress source is gone long ago but still stuck with some of the symptoms of that stage?

[CELERITAS-BONITAS]

Finding care that was specialized changed the game for me, I feel so much more understood having someone who specializes in LGBT, Neurodivergent and minority religions.

[eha]

Now, what to do when you feel like that and you also believe the threat is life itself?

[JKDVIPER]

I subbed you. They was very articulate. 😉💯

[jenjo_art]

How do we help someone we love who defaults to this state move through it?

[DaveE]

My issue is intellectually learning how I work and others work and the systems around me work dosent make things better, def gives me some insights and shows me the propoganda. But given life is just one giant psyop within a contained opposition system within a larger counter insurgency strategy set up to benefit a certain class of people who then dictate everything. And the incentives of the system at various levels and doing the systems thinking. It’s like, I kinda have to learn to deal with this but also see the maybe distortions present even when looking at the truth, cuz who else would be motivated to uncover all this but someone going through stuff. But ugh, that feeling of just like the slow erasure of the future and just one giant system I have to fight that I have to be on point to win at because in a game theoretic situation like the culture we have you can’t truly have allies. More frenemies.

[Rob_A]

Omg, this has been me this past week.. what can we do to fix this?

[linnnea]

This is me knowing that I have to go see mom tomorrow.

[jbham]

how do I keep from using masturbation as a stress reliever?