Hello @AlwaysMyself sorry about the late reply.
That is a tricky question re ideas/tips with burnout. In the beginning I could do almost nothing. Once it set in, I would get up in the morning and shower with the intention to do some things (I was studying p/t atm), I would venture to the lounge to open my laptop and it was there I stayed starring into the 'ether' for the rest of the day. This is when many other very challenging symptoms kicked in. I did a couple of things there. I went back to basics. I could not cook myself anything, I had no energy or interest in it. I was lucky that my son was in the house and he cooked my dinner for me every night (I was eating at least on nutritious meal a day) for six months. I was incredibly lucky. I also knew subconsciously (it was not conscious) to go for a walk, even around the block every morning and every evening. Of course there were days when I may not have done this but for about 5 days a week I did. It may sound strange for someone who is in such a state to be able to even achieve this but I have known about MH issues for most of my life and although I did not really understand what was going on with me I knew about the basic things that could help someone with symptoms such as what I was experiencing. Dont get me wrong, this was not a straight forward process. Some days I made it to end of the driveway and I had to come back. Sometimes I could walk that bit more. It took about 2 months for my diarrheah to stop everyday and about 6 months before I felt a slight shift in the array of symptoms I had. Things were such a blur through those times, I can just remember how I feel and it was not good.
And the journey of this has been continuing since. Every stage seems to be different and what has worked before doesnt seem to be working now.
My psych has stressed the importance of getting back to basics again even though she knows the lack of pleasure I feel with much of what I do. A big one for her is what I eat and getting exercise, even if it is in short bursts.
Completely understand about certain areas of your brain degrading with lack of use. I feel that too with the anxiety I produce. It feels like my brain has been so programmed to respond to situations with a fight or flight response, it doesnt know how anymore to respond to how the actual situation is.
I will think about other things I have tried to shift how I am still feeling but like you, I have tried various strategies that I know should give me some relief, and yes at times it does but not enough for me to really progress.
Hope you are having a nice Sunday
