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CW self-harm
Something we don't talk about enough on the left is that warning people about the risks to themselves from burnout doesn't work on people whose are so stuck in self-loathing that they're deliberately running themselves into the ground as a form of self-harm
Something we don't talk about enough on the left is that warning people about the risks to themselves from burnout doesn't work on people whose are so stuck in self-loathing that they're deliberately running themselves into the ground as a form of self-harm
CW self-harm
I've seen it so fucking many times. People who are clearly traumatised and hurting, who think they've found a "good", "productive" way to harm themselves because "I don't matter, if I burn myself out completely in six months, at least I'm doing good until then"
I've seen it so fucking many times. People who are clearly traumatised and hurting, who think they've found a "good", "productive" way to harm themselves because "I don't matter, if I burn myself out completely in six months, at least I'm doing good until then"
CW self-harm
And those people make _phenomenal_ activists or organisers, right up until the burnout finally catches up and they have to suddenly drop everything onto people who aren't prepared to take it.
And those people make _phenomenal_ activists or organisers, right up until the burnout finally catches up and they have to suddenly drop everything onto people who aren't prepared to take it.
CW self-harm
If you go too far beyond your own capacity, eventually something will force you to stop - mental or physical, and when that happens, everyone who relies on you will be fucked. It's better to support ten people long-term than fifty people for three months.
If you go too far beyond your own capacity, eventually something will force you to stop - mental or physical, and when that happens, everyone who relies on you will be fucked. It's better to support ten people long-term than fifty people for three months.
CW self-harm
You can talk all you like about how nobody else is doing the work, and how you don't have the privilege to stop, but eventually, you'll hit the wall.
You can talk all you like about how nobody else is doing the work, and how you don't have the privilege to stop, but eventually, you'll hit the wall.
CW self-harm
The solution to nobody else doing the work is to recruit people to do it, not to burn yourself up doing it. I've seen too fucking many people think burnout was something they could push through because they had to. Trust me. Eventually it'll get you
The solution to nobody else doing the work is to recruit people to do it, not to burn yourself up doing it. I've seen too fucking many people think burnout was something they could push through because they had to. Trust me. Eventually it'll get you
CW self-harm
Pushing through burnout isn't like "oh, I'll grit my teeth and work through the tiredness", it's like trying to walk on a broken leg. There will _always_ come a point where it's not physically possible for you to continue
Pushing through burnout isn't like "oh, I'll grit my teeth and work through the tiredness", it's like trying to walk on a broken leg. There will _always_ come a point where it's not physically possible for you to continue
CW self-harm
I don't care how noble the cause is, how tough you think you are, how much grit you've got, whatever your cool punk mentor says, I guarantee, tougher people than you have gone under. Take steps to make the work you're doing sustainable.
I don't care how noble the cause is, how tough you think you are, how much grit you've got, whatever your cool punk mentor says, I guarantee, tougher people than you have gone under. Take steps to make the work you're doing sustainable.
CW self-harm
I'm a queer with a big car and friends all over the country. I do a lot of material support for people who are chronically ill (mentally or physically) and I see a lot of former activists who ended upin that situation because they pushed too hard.
I'm a queer with a big car and friends all over the country. I do a lot of material support for people who are chronically ill (mentally or physically) and I see a lot of former activists who ended upin that situation because they pushed too hard.
CW self-harm
And if you genuinely are resigned to grinding yourself to bits with the work you do, consider the impact on a grassroots organisation when someone doing a shitload of the work suddenly drops like a brick. If you won't do it for you, do it for everyone else.
And if you genuinely are resigned to grinding yourself to bits with the work you do, consider the impact on a grassroots organisation when someone doing a shitload of the work suddenly drops like a brick. If you won't do it for you, do it for everyone else.
CW self-harm
That sort of martyr complex is hard to deal with as a fellow organiser too - everyone else sees you doing it before you do, and it's a massive stress trying to work out ways to subtly take load off someone who won't put it down, to stop it all dropping at once
That sort of martyr complex is hard to deal with as a fellow organiser too - everyone else sees you doing it before you do, and it's a massive stress trying to work out ways to subtly take load off someone who won't put it down, to stop it all dropping at once
CW self-harm
That's before we even touch on the fact that someone burning themselves out for a community can lead to a _lot_ of resentment from that person, which in my personal experience, makes them an absolute fucking nightmare to actually work with
That's before we even touch on the fact that someone burning themselves out for a community can lead to a _lot_ of resentment from that person, which in my personal experience, makes them an absolute fucking nightmare to actually work with
CW self-harm
Because now, not only have you got a person who's burning out and under stress (and therefore more likely to make mistakes), you frequently have someone who's very difficult to point out mistakes to because they handle criticism very badly
Because now, not only have you got a person who's burning out and under stress (and therefore more likely to make mistakes), you frequently have someone who's very difficult to point out mistakes to because they handle criticism very badly
CW self-harm
I just want to add on - this is all stuff from my own direct experiences.
I just want to add on - this is all stuff from my own direct experiences.
CW self-harm
When I was deep in a pit of self-loathing, the thing that turned my willingness to throw any amount of energy at helping other people against itself was being told that fixing my own shit was the best way to do that
When I was deep in a pit of self-loathing, the thing that turned my willingness to throw any amount of energy at helping other people against itself was being told that fixing my own shit was the best way to do that
CW self-harm
Without going too deep in Mad Shit, that was the moment the thing in my own brain that was driving me beyond my limits to help other people turned that resolve towards helping me do better instead
Without going too deep in Mad Shit, that was the moment the thing in my own brain that was driving me beyond my limits to help other people turned that resolve towards helping me do better instead
CW self-harm
That was the moment the persecutor inside my head started to take the long journey back to being something protective. Begrudgingly at first, I'll admit!
That was the moment the persecutor inside my head started to take the long journey back to being something protective. Begrudgingly at first, I'll admit!
CW self-harm
This isn't me being one of those shitty neurotypicals who goes "oh no think of how it feels to the people around you when you're depressed", this is me baring my fucking soul in the hopes I can show other people how I dragged myself back from the edge.
This isn't me being one of those shitty neurotypicals who goes "oh no think of how it feels to the people around you when you're depressed", this is me baring my fucking soul in the hopes I can show other people how I dragged myself back from the edge.
