Overcoming Burnout

Nicole Rose discusses burnout from a working-class dissident standpoint that's rarely centred in writing on this topic. At the same time, she refuses to be exceptionalised for this positionality in order to pander to a presumed "general" (more privileged) audience. It's refreshing to read sentences like "most of us don't eat well because we're broke" that feel more grounded in my own material reality than your typical wellness writing.

I came across Overcoming Burnout at an anarchist book fair, and it was sold to me with a disclaimer: apparently since its publication, the author has since stated that it is itself reflective of the habits and traits that led her to burnout in the first place. The book is a collection drawn from the author's blog in 2016-2017. It carries with it a personal tone and to some extent, an assumed audience of likeminded people familiar with the author's life. I'm not familiar with the author, so this book is my introduction to Rose's concerns and commitments. It begins when Rose is already sick due to burnout, and this is a challenging place to meet someone. She is critical of herself and others, disenchanted, and a little abrasive at times: Chapter 2 is entitled "when did I get so mean?" I feel that way myself at the moment, in the thick of burnout myself.

Chapters 1-9 are diaristic and introspective, covering the author's experiences of burnout in the context of her activist practice. Rose often seems to take for granted things about her life and her work that are truly remarkable, such as her experience as, and work with, incarcerated people. Or rather, she directly calls out the tendency for middle-class activists to treat her as a brave and exceptional person for having been incarcerated, when it is "the least romantic thing imaginable". I keep catching myself falling into that same habit, when Rose describes casually and in passing some of the shit she's been through.

The focus widens from Chapter 10 onwards, directing attention to lessons for the author's community of activists. I got the most out of the later chapters of the book, which connect Rose's experiences to those of her disabled and chronically-ill comrades as well as research into the psychology and physiology of activist stress. Chapters 14-20 primarily explore practical issues such as physical healing, organising, and mental health in an interconnected, collective way that centres ecology and solidarity. The final few chapters synthesize all of this together, highlighting the role of isolation in fostering and exacerbating burnout and the need to build resilience collectively.