Books for navigating mental burnout
January 7, 2025 3:28 PM   Subscribe

I am in a household where all of us are dealing with increasingly high levels of mental burnout. Please recommend us some self-help books or articles on the topic.

Hobbies no longer provide happiness. Concentration spans are falling fast. We would prefer these to be more science-backed and less woowoo if possible - anything religion-based is right out.

What has helped Metafilter? (Yes, we are doing the physical activity thing. Yes, we are limiting social media and internet use. Please recommend books or articles only).
posted by ninazer0 to Health & Fitness (9 answers total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
If you identify with any of the Neurodivergent flavours, this free ebook by Jennifer Kemp was something I found useful:

Understanding Neurodivergent Inertia: Strategies for Navigating Autistic Inertia & ADHD Paralysis
posted by freethefeet at 3:46 PM on January 7 [6 favorites]




I bought the burnout book and, heh, haven't read it yet. But the transcript of this podcast episode (scroll down for transcript, or listen if you prefer that) has some great initial tips.
posted by limeonaire at 4:31 PM on January 7


flow [harpercollins/wiki]
posted by HearHere at 4:59 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]


The authors of the book Burnout (linked above), Emily and Amelia Nagoski, host a podcast called Feminist Survival Project. The podcast covers and expands upon some of the concepts from the book. You might browse the episode list to see if there are specific topics that seem like they might be helpful to start with.
posted by bluloo at 6:59 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]


Not to abuse the edit window, but I just saw your note about science backed. Both Burnout and Feminist Survival Project are grounded in deep research on the topics they cover.
posted by bluloo at 7:00 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]


Nthing Burnout by the Nagoskis. It helped me through my burnout. A lot of what you do will depend on what is contributing to your burnout and your specific circumstances. But the book is general enough that the advice can be applied to most situations.
posted by eekernohan at 7:47 PM on January 7


Another vote for the Nagoskis' book!
posted by limoncello at 11:39 PM on January 7


I liked The Joy of Burnout by Dina Glouberman more than the Nagoskis one.
posted by AnnaRat at 5:32 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]


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