/qa/ - Question & Answer

What is burnout then?
The current soyentific consensus outlines burnout as a multi faceted issue, usually arising from chronic stress and certain mental health conditions.
However, no one has formally outlined the relationship between brain state and burnout.
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This i what I will explain in this post.
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Why burnout occurs at all
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Mental fatigue has recently been attributed to a distinct rise in extracellular glutamate in one key area of the brain called the Lateral Pre Frontal Cortex (LPFC).
Glutamate increases gradually over a working day or while you are very engaged in any focus demanding task.
(It doesn't have to be work, playing video games also causes sharp glutamate buildup)
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Usually. Astrocytes (Basically your brains Janny cells) will re uptake this glutamate as it is released to prevent over over excitation;
However, constant focus can overwhelm the astrocytes and glutamate can build up faster than it can be re uptaken by the astrocytes.
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This is normal for every activity that fully engages the brain, having this build up is what allows humans to excel at a task and build momentum.
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The problem arises when a person stops said task.
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Excitotoxicity, and the shutting down of the Pre frontal Cortex
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The brain will start to protect itself from too much glutamatergic stimulation by forcing you into a fatigue like state. This is what burnout is technically. It's not too much stress on the system, it's actually the brain PREVENTING more stress on glutamatergic neurons.
It can arise from working really hard and locking tf in on a task, or it can happen systematically overtime.
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How glutamate Builds up overtime
Glutamate gets cleared naturally overnight as you sleep, but the amount cleared is directly related to how good your sleep quality was.
Most people are unaware that looking at blue light can NVKE your sleep quality, significantly reducing the amount of glutamate cleared from your brain overnight.
Other things like eating to close to sleep and drinking too much coffee will also inhibited glutamate clearance during sleep.
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This will cause the built up glutamate to stay somewhat present in your LPFC and pre frontal cortex when you wake up, and this gradual build up will force you into a wall, which will feel impassable since the underlying cause has not been fixed.
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How will I ever save myself knowing that I have to do so much work, just so I CAN work!?
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The good news is, you can ALSO push for more clearance during daytime. You can completely avoid and reverse burnout doing in essence, nothing at all.
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Going for a walk without music or a podcast will put the brain in a close to idle state, and give power to the astrocytes to clear more glutamate via increased cerebral blood flow.
Sitting still and closing your eyes will also prevent more glutamate release.
Listening to music you already know while driving is very good for thinking less.
Doodling mindlessly will help push your brain back into a pro-clearance state.
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Conclusion
The way to fix burnout and never hit that wall ever again, is to make time in the day to do, nothing.
Just be
^Calm…

Don't eat with a youtube video, or even music. Stop scrolling social media when you're bored (this is terrible for recovery), and now you know why video games aren't actually relaxing, no matter what game you play.
During idle time, try not to fix your boredom and instead, practice being bored and thinking about nothing in particular.

I hope this post convinced you to stop filling your day with constant consooming of snca media, and take time to just..
^Relaxxxxxxxx……