Managing Activist Burnout During Global Crisis
6 minute read.
What is burnout?
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed…Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life”. (WHO)
Burnout is listed as an “occupational phenomenon” in the ICD-10, not a medical condition. The reference goes on to list three characteristics of burnout, including: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and reduced professional efficacy (WHO).
Like many, I take issue with this description. Yes, burnout is physically, psychologically and emotionally debilitating. Yes, it happens as a result of these needs being neglected over time. But “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” is immensely reductive of the social and occupational contexts we are currently living in.
As workers, we are subject to internalized capitalism, productivity guilt and heavily demanding employers. Meaning, we are not the only ones in charge of “managing” our workplace stress. For example, reduced hours without reduced pay, fully staffed jobs and increased benefits could highly reduce burnout, but are not within our control.
The workplace is the source for much of our stress, mostly due to workplace exploitation. For many, fearing that we are not doing enough, that we can not/should not take time off is a daily experience.
Secondly, the above definition necessitates the “occupational context” of burnout without explaining that the precipitating labor does not need to be paid. Under capitalism, all labor is not paid and we can absolutely experience burnout outside of paid work. Unpaid carework roles, including caregiving, parenting and managing a chronic illness/disability can cause burnout.
Activism, while generally unpaid, can also cause burnout.
How can you burn out as an activist?
Being an activist in 2024 means you are organizing against a tenacious ruling class during the death throes of capitalism.
In the US especially, money needed for housing, healthcare, infrastructure and education is used overseas to annihilate entire families, all for the crime of existing on their native land and resisting occupation.
Our labor contributes to US imperialism while we ourselves are overworked, in debt, sick and tired.
Yet we still organize, because history tells us that the power of the people can make change.
Regardless, it is hard.
Racism and other expressions of mistrust and hate continue because unity amongst the working class and the sick would bring untenable power to the people. This terrifies the ruling class (capitalists) who maintain their power through racial and patriarchal violence, regardless of the capitalist's individual identities. This disunity is facilitated through policy, propaganda, fear mongering, misinformation and our education systems.
Throughout the US’s colonial existence, the goal of the ruling class has been to divide us and conquer us, keeping us in a hierarchy that breeds hostility, oppression, violence and other forms of grievous injustice.
We are taught to think even less of those who fall outside of our border. As we bear witness to the dehumanization, abuse and slaughter of Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni and other Middle Eastern peoples, the socialized anti-Arab, anti-Islam sentiment in the West is impossible to look away from. The iPhone 16 is paid for the with the blood of Congolese children, leading the unquenching thirst of capitalism to both develop and feed Western consumerism.
Our choice to rebel against these injustices, reject racist Western hegemony and put our bodies on the line is a difficult one. It takes practice, compassion, and large doses of revolutionary optimism.
In my own therapy recently, I processed grief over what I observe as widespread reductionism. We are socialized to flatten the experiences of others in order to keep us from finding unity, and eventually solidarity with each other. We are made to be suspicious of each other due to our race, gender, ability status, sexuality, immigration status, beliefs, etc. We are made to be ignorant of each other, harm done is not met with restorative justice, and we suffer separated.
Organizations like the Black Panthers, that attempted to unify black, brown and white workers have been met with state sanctioned violence, repression and even death.
My therapist, one of a small group of people whom I credit my survival over the past 5 years, encouraged me to meet my own tendency to be reductive with the idea of possibilities. Not just options to choose from, but possibility of what is beneath a first impression. Or possibility of what something can grow into.
Unity and solidarity are our only paths to survival. We must care for each other and ourselves.
For these reasons, a practice of caring for the self is essential. I don’t mean the co-opted, commodified expression of individualism that has become selfcare. I mean radically, compassionately and consistently caring for yourself. It includes how you hold your body, how you think about yourself, how you make decisions.
Let’s talk about some ways in which you as an activist can prevent burnout and care for yourself.
Interested in therapy or out of state coaching? Let’s chat.
Managing Activist Burnout
Find an organization.
Fighting for large scale change as an individual feels impossible because it is. Sure, we can advocate in our relationships, at medical appointments, and at work, but the greater question of oppression is not an individual experience.
As Audre Lorde famously said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Our struggles are intertwined, and others are intertwined with us.
Orgs have shared goals. This places the burden of work on many, not just you. When you join an organization, you can expect to be kept accountable, both in your work and caring for yourself.
Identify/hone your skills.
When it comes to organizing, there is no expectation that all activists share the same skills. Yes, it is good to become well rounded, but this can happen over years.
What do you bring to the table? Are you a great graphic designer, public speaker or photographer? Great at door knocking and other forms of outreach?
Are you a quick learner? Can you grasp concepts easily? Could you teach these same concepts to others?
Deepening your skillset can help improve confidence and self-esteem, while allowing you to contribute to a larger whole that is the movement. Generally, it feels good to do things we’re good at, so long as you listen to your body and stop when you need to.
Learn new skills at a sustainable pace.
As I mentioned above, it’s good for activists to be well rounded in skills related to community organizing. If you’re part of an organization, you are often expected to grow your skills over time. But practice caution, forcing growth and taking on too much can lead to stress, overwhelm and burn out.
Set personal goals for yourself. Want to improve your public speaking? Make a plan to do so over a 6 month period, wherein you can volunteer to speak at events. You can make the commitment to watch recordings of yourself speaking, and welcome feedback from your peers!
Growth, in every sense of the word, happens over time. It is not necessary or sustainable to force it.
Identify, understand and advocate for your limits.
Everyone’s body, ability, resources and access are different.
Under capitalism, we are taught to ignore our needs until we succumb to injury and illness, even if we already live with chronic illness and disability.
As an activist, it is important for you to identify what your limits are. The next step is to understand why these limits exist, and radically accept them. Finally, you’ll need to advocate for your limits. Not just to others, but to yourself!
And guess what – being in an org makes this easier! One of the most loving interactions we can have with a comrade is when someone says, “You’ve done enough, I’ll take it from here.”
Study.
Find a political and economical ideology you can get behind and study it. Learn about movements throughout history, learn what worked and what didn’t.
For me, finding socialism meant finding myself. I get to have heroes like Karl Marx, Rosa Luxemburg, Walter Rodney, Alice Jones, Alexandra Kollontai and Vladimir Lenin. Revolutionaries that made actual change, fighting for a better world for all of us.
Who can be your heroes? Your historical comrades?
Trust your comrades.
There are many ways we can trust our fellow activists, including delegating tasks, asking for help, offering and providing help and just showing up for each other.
How does this help us on a personal level? The best place to heal relational trauma is in reliable community. Building trust in relationships with other organizers can help repair attachment issues and aids in forming healthy, stable relationships.
For many of us, the first likeminded, reliable relationships we will find are with other activists.
These are the people you hit the streets with. The people you study, struggle, learn and grow with.
Healthy relationships can provide a barrier to burn out. Not only do we have people in our lives that will hold us accountable to take care of ourselves, but we begin to feel reduced anxiety in our less secure relationships.
Put your phone down.
Bearing witness is one thing, ritualistically pulling yourself out of the moment is another. Denying yourself your connections and the life you have built will not lessen the pain of others, but it will deplete your energy and will to fight another day.
No need to cut yourself off. Lately, I’ve been leaving my phone downstairs to charge at night, relying on an old school alarm clock to wake me up. This kind of small change in routine can reconnect you with the present, clearing your head.
Donate.
There are many ways to donate! You can give time, money, thoughts, energy, etc. You can send money to kiddos across the world or you can volunteer at a local survival program.
You can also consider donating mental attention towards movements like the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS).
Remember that the movement needs you.
Hard truth: burnout is serious and you cannot always come back from it easily. While fighting for collective liberation, long term neglect of your mind and body is not an option, and caring for yourself is non negotiable.
You are part of the collective.
Find joy.
Our world is complex, and while countless atrocities are being committed around or away from us, there is also good to be found. Finding multiple sources of joy in your life may be easier than you think.
Joy can be found in revolutionary optimism, movement, curiosity, exploration, pleasure, hobbies, education, etc.
Guilt and shame may present themselves, which is only natural. But so long as no one is being harmed, denying yourself joy does not lessen another’s pain. Lack of joy flattens your human experience.
Joy is not a distraction, it is sustaining.
That’s all for today folks. Thank you for being here. Stay safe, stay in the streets, stay vigilant, stay in community. #FreePalestine
Thank you for taking the time to read.
We work hard to empower readers to take control in a world where we are commodified and managed.
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