The truth of it...
The reason there is so much burnout in the field of social work is because you're faced with truth, reality, sadness and natural disaster every, single, day. You see death, mothers embracing their children for the last time, the elderly that are wasting away alone, with no one left. Eventually we all get old, our bodies start to fall apart and the nuclear family, the support system we all 'think will be there', isn't. When that truth wall hits you, not everyone survives, and their mental health suffers. They don't want to face reality because face it, reality sucks.
Social work means seeing people squander and lower their expectations. It means seeing cutters cut, mothers abuse, offenders re-offend and you see potential waste away. You have to hold onto your hope even though you see it slipping out of people by the millisecond. You see people become empty vessels and you have to maintain.
One of the realities, the scary truths, is this:
The waiting. Hurry up and wait. File your paperwork and wait. Reapply and wait. Figure out until... while waiting. Most people die waiting. If the metaphor and message isn't clear enough, I don't know what else to tell you.
STOP WAITING.
Social work means seeing people squander and lower their expectations. It means seeing cutters cut, mothers abuse, offenders re-offend and you see potential waste away. You have to hold onto your hope even though you see it slipping out of people by the millisecond. You see people become empty vessels and you have to maintain.
One of the realities, the scary truths, is this:
The waiting. Hurry up and wait. File your paperwork and wait. Reapply and wait. Figure out until... while waiting. Most people die waiting. If the metaphor and message isn't clear enough, I don't know what else to tell you.
STOP WAITING.
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