Ten tips to avoid burnout in politics

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was this:

“You only notice wear and tear in retrospect. Once you feel it, the damage has already been done. Burnout is a particularly harmful damage.”

Coined by the German-American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger in the 1970s, the term describes a severe stress condition that leads to sweeping physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.

As a trained psychologist and a former operative in politics, I am acutely aware of the stress and pressure political professionals are under. The always-on culture in politics leads to drained physical and emotional energy, solidifies into permanent exhaustion, and finally leads to cynicism, isolation, and depression. The huge amount of emotional labour together with false-face acting on the political stage puts them at a higher risk of burnout than other occupational groups (the mapping project of the Apolitical Foundation is presently exploring the details).