The Mental Element
Hi! I’m
Maria Elena
I founded the Mental Element Group after retiring from the Air Force and while in the middle of my own burnout.
Ironically, for twenty years I worked teaching aircrew, other warfighters, and defenders about the physiology of stress and the effects of stress and fatigue on their performance, their safety, and, of course, long-term health.
BUT ...
It wasn’t until my third year and sixth semester teaching applied sport psychology that the lightbulb turned on. While I was giving a lecture on the hallmarks of Burnout in athletes, I realized--I'm feeling most if not all of these:
✔️Chronically tired
✔️Emotionally dysregulated
✔️Unable to focus
✔️Actively avoiding activities that I used to enjoy
✔️Joint & muscle aches
✔️Unable to recover from workouts
✔️Lack of confidence
✔️Mental fog
✔️Ravenously craving comfort foods
✔️Hypothyroidism
✔️Rapid weight gain
✔️Unable to lose weight
So many of the signs and symptoms I educated others to look for, I missed in myself.
How is that possible?
I spent 20 years of Active Duty educating others on the various hazards that could pose risks to their performance.
I educated them on how fatigue and stress affected their decision making, reaction time, and even their G-tolerance.
I emphasized for my University undergrad students how high performing, highly demanding, and highly stressful environments and professions exact a price on the athlete, operator, performer or artist.
I pointed out that the effects of chronic stress and fatigue will likely impact their personal relationships, first and foremost, and then their habits and eventually, their ability to perform and ultimately affect their ability to the enjoy their sport, mission, or work.
Research reveals over and over again that the effects of relentless stress on the brain, the central nervous system, gut, immune system and cardiovascular system are detrimental at best and even lethal, at worst.
On a personal level, I’d been diagnosed with idiosyncratic hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia–a diagnosis which I fought, I’ll explain more about that later–and I’m at risk for developing Type II diabetes.
Once the picture of military bearing and fitness, approximately 9 months after retirement, I gained approximately 25 lbs, walking was painful, and I often woke up extremely groggy, with painful joints and random, extreme swelling.
I was supposed to be enjoying retirement–I’d planned on spending 2 hours plus at the gym–spending time in the sauna, getting massages, waking up late and napping whenever I wanted.
Finally! Freedom to relax
There’s just one problem .. .
How
exactly
does one "relax?"
Outside of Shavasana in yoga class, no one’s ever taught me what “relaxed” looks or feels like.
Yes, this sounds bananas when spelled out but it slowly became apparent to me as I interacted more and more with the civilian world.
Mind you, I wore the uniform at least once a week
from the age of 13 (because I started in Junior ROTC)
and finally stopped wearing it every day at the end of
my 20 year career.
In total I wore the uniform almost 30 years!
So, what does the uniform have to do with it?
The military uniform we so proudly and meticulously wear, is a constant cue and an outward representation of our military bearing, our professionalism, our composure, and our constant state of readiness.
That constant state of readiness makes relaxation extremely
difficult
I would go so far as to say:
That constant state of readiness is incompatible with relaxation.
No one, but no one, teaches us how to relax
On one of my first (and what would become one of many, many) visits to the VA, the physical therapist commented on my posture.
She invited me to go ahead and relax
Which, I thought I did
Until she pointed out that my posture was not relaxed; it was, in fact, rigid.
I thought about it afterwards, and I realized that I did sit at attention.
Not quite “front six inches” but I definitely kept a braced, straight backed, and ready posture.
Quite the opposite from open and
“relaxed.”
Another way it had become apparent, but
I hadn’t quite connected the dots,
was in my breath.
In my meditation journey,
I had noticed that I held my breath
and my body rebelled against my attempts
at belly breathing.
I could NOT let my belly go. I could breathe deeply, move my diaphragm and expand my rib cage but allowing my abdomen to expand like a bellows was a no-go.
That’s how I slowly came to the realization that the military bearing we adopt outwardly, after a while, and certainly after 20 plus years of practice, seeps into our character.
Our military bearing very likely affects our DNA.
We say that figuratively but, given what we know about how environmental conditions affect our genes, very likely, also, literally.
We learn to function very, very well under acute stress situations but aren’t taught about the chronic stress of simply serving for a prolonged period of time. We definitely aren't taught how to recover from either.
Yes, we talk about depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and now we’re discussing Operator Syndrome but we don’t do a good job of addressing a syndrome with a much more ambiguous presentation and much broader symptomatology:
Burnout.
Occupational burnout is defined as a pathological syndrome that develops in response to long-term, chronic, interpersonal and occupational stress. It is defined as a prolonged response to stressors at work and includes symptoms of exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy.
Did you catch that? Cynicism is one of the symptoms of burnout. And we thought it was a quirk that makes us grumpy old vets. Cute.
Amazingly, burnout has not been associated with PTSD until recently
Because we aren’t taught the difference between relaxation and readiness, we can interpret our exhaustion as laziness, lack of motivation, or, the dreaded, lack of discipline. So we deal with it how we were taught–try harder! Suck it up! Workout more!
When we fall?
Get back out there! Bounce back! Be resilient!
And by doing so we keep our bodies and brains in the sympathetic dominant state that caused the symptoms in the first place.
We may even fight the diagnosis that labels us as broken or lazily singles us out as malingering. Even if that isn’t the case, diagnoses like PTSD, fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety often come with repercussions and consequences that affect our ability to perform our duties, limitations to our readiness status and could be career-ending.
Maslach, C. (1998). A multidimensional theory of burnout. Theories of organizational stress, 68(85), 16.
Ogińska-Bulik, N., & Juczyński, Z. (2021). Burnout and posttraumatic stress symptoms in police officers exposed to traumatic events: the mediating role of ruminations. International archives of occupational and environmental health, 94(6), 1201-1209.
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What if …
We learned to identify the early signs of burnout?
Learned how to seek help before we were forced to seek it?
The organizations for which we work not only encouraged us to manage our stress but gave us the opportunity and resources to access the truly deep rest our brains and bodies require?
I know, I know…a gal can dream.
But
Seriously
What if we knew how to rest and relax?
What if we learned how to transition from a readiness posture as regularly and as easily as taking off the uniform and boots at the end of the day.
(I’m talking taking off all of it–I see y’all with your coyote brown shirts and socks at the gym)
What if you learned to do while building a community with others who shared the uniqueness of the military or public service experience?
This is why I founded The Mental Element Group, LLC.