And then I couldn’t walk anymore.
It was May 28, 2011, when I was struck by something I had only heard about before. And not even particularly well: Burnout.
Burnout manifests itself in many different ways. In my case, I simply stopped. I could no longer walk.
What followed was
… a long difficult phase that was very troublesome and also dangerous. Still, today I am grateful for it. For I learned a lot about myself and life in general through this serious health crisis. My life, which changed a lot for me during this time.
Burnout is a stress disease
And most of the time burnout is plain and simple depression. This has a lot to do with the personal and social relationship to performance and work, appreciation, and love. Therefore, burnout is not always, but often the result of an obsession with performance or recognition or simply: work addiction. That is probably why burnout is largely a taboo subject in our performance world.
Burnout is above all also: a very complex problem
…and therefore difficult to tackle. Especially if you try to do it on your own.
One of my most important insights
It is good if we talk about it. And to do so as appreciatively as possible.
And that is the reason why I want to do that here and especially today.
A few years ago, I told Tobias Niewöhner my story for his podcast “Abenteuer Mannsein“. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary, which was so drastic and so important to me and my life, I would like to publish the interview again today in my own podcast.
I hope to be able to give a little orientation, help, and hope to those directly and indirectly affected and to give them comfort.
You are not alone! Keep up! It really is worth it!