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Passionate about people: Juanita Lambe has designed a mental health programme for students with anxiety and depression (Photograph supplied)<\/p>\n
Feeling constantly drained, or noticing changes in your sleep or appetite may be more than stress \u2013 it could be burnout. The World Health Organisation classifies it as an \u201coccupational phenomenon\u201d, but Juanita Lambe believes it is a reality for many working women here.<\/p>\n
In her 25-year career as an occupational therapist she saw how burnout impacted females employed in \u201ccaregiving, education and health-related fields\u201d, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
It led her back to school, where she completed a master\u2019s degree that focused on \u201cthe systems that contribute to burnout among women, and how institutional leadership can foster healthier work environments\u201d.<\/p>\n
At Massachusetts\u2019 Endicott College, where she works in the School of Education, Ms Lambe has designed a mental health programme for students with \u201canxiety and depression who are having a difficult time coping\u201d.<\/p>\n
Building on that experience, she hopes to offer similar guidance and support to people here in Bermuda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Bermudians I feel like I’m in a position where I can perhaps offer some positives as well as support,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody’s experiencing different levels of stress or feeling overwhelmed. What I learnt about burnout is that most often, people don’t even know they’re in a burnout situation \u2014 they don’t know what it is, they can’t put words to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, when I’m able to talk with them, and we’re able to break it down, then they’re saying, \u2018That’s exactly what I’m experiencing.\u2019 I think what happens with women, from time to time, they\u2019re just overwhelmed with the burden of doing everything and I don\u2019t think they realise that they\u2019re neglecting themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because it comes on so gradually, burnout is often mistaken as regular exhaustion but it is far more serious.<\/p>\n
Often caused by prolonged, heavy workloads, it can increase the risk of strokes and other chronic diseases, and lead to mental health issues and reduced work productivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust feeling exhausted \u2014 that could be a sign. Not being able to sleep, struggling with diet, or having no energy, and not realising why, could also be signs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeking medical advice doesn\u2019t always provide the full picture, as the underlying causes of burnout aren\u2019t always obvious and symptoms are often treated individually rather than holistically.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be the type of food we’re eating. What worked when we were younger doesn\u2019t always work as we get older; we need vitamin D, we need magnesium, and the doctors don’t always tell you that,\u201d Ms Lambe explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find ourselves going to the doctor a lot because the symptoms are obvious. The doctor will say, \u2018Oh yeah, I could give you something for anxiety.\u2019 But it’s not addressing what’s really happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her path was fuelled by a passion sparked through volunteer work at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital shortly after she finished high school. At the time, occupational therapists on the island were \u201crare\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve always been passionate about people and helping people,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn’t know anyone who was in the profession, and I took an interest in it because it wasn\u2019t nursing per se, and decided to go that route,\u201d Ms Lambe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI left Bermuda and lived in New York with my great aunt who encouraged me to pursue whatever my career goals were. And at the time, occupational therapy was what I thought I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pandemic hit 25 years into her career. As an essential worker, Ms Lambe was distressed by all she saw on the frontline.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving to go through the experience of not having protective equipment or not having enough; watching my patients die \u2014 patients who perhaps didn’t need to die \u2014 observing the lack of care and concern for the families and then most often we, the rehab staff, were left to try to put the pieces together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were dealing with being in the throes of Covid-19 and then also having to encourage our patients and families with very little support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burnt out, she decided it was time for a career shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to go back to school and complete a master’s degree. My master’s degree is in organisational behaviour and leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to take that route in particular because I wanted to understand the behaviours that would lead one to the point of burnout,\u201d Ms Lambe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI discovered that a lot of the issues were related to systemic problems [and] also related to a lack of support and then also, perhaps a lack of self-care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fascinated, she decided to record her findings. With guidance from her professor, Ms Lambe\u2019s research was documented and is now waiting to be \u201cpublished as a book at some point\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs women we put so much into our families, our careers, whatever we do, and as we’re climbing the ladder, we don’t have the support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started observing women quitting. In the rehab clinic it was just a few of us remaining \u2026 They were depleted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had nothing left. And so it was at that point when I said, \u2018Well, that’s not going to happen to me. I have to figure this out.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI consulted with mentors and others and decided to take another route. I started to write, I started to talk about it, and I shared it with friends, I shared it with colleagues, and I haven’t stopped writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt led me to the point of mental health wellness and how we as women can, perhaps, help ourselves and not just wait for the organisation [we work for to do it].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Anyone in need of help with burnout can contact Juanita Lambe by e-mail: shethriveswithconsulting@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Passionate about people: Juanita Lambe has designed a mental health programme for students with anxiety and depression (Photograph…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-114142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}