Burnout - the reason and what to do

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 00:05

Fatigue is normal for anyone. Each of us can get tired of long physical and mental work. Communication with people, outdoor activities and large amounts of information consumed can provoke drowsiness, irritability, apathy. Staying in such a mood for a long time provokes emotional burnout.

Absolutely everyone in one way or another regularly encounters the symptoms of this disease of the 19th century, but the majority carefully hide it under colored masks and filters.

Burnout reasons

Ever since school, people have been developing the "excellent student's syndrome" - a phenomenon that kills a person's ability to healthy competition, to adequately assess himself and his work. Teachers and parents encourage children in every possible way for good grades, and sometimes they scold them in such a way that any adult would be frightened. This brings up in children the idea that they are not smart enough or talented, that their life is doomed to failure, that for every mistake they will get them in the head.

As a result, some immerse themselves in study, forgetting about rest and personal life, while others, on the contrary, begin to behave provocatively in order to declare themselves, because due to a lack of praise, they feel disadvantaged.

Both of these behaviors ultimately lead to neuroses, which greatly exhaust a person - emotionally and physically. And here there is a clash of the features of the human psyche and the requirements of modern society, because the body is not able to live happily 24/7, work all the time and not skip fitness workouts.

It turns out that the people of the 19th century live in a world of disliked good people, who do their best to appear as excellent students, machines for the production of happiness, which makes them unhappy.

It is especially important not to forget about your mental health, when there are millions of qualified specialists and thousands of different methods for this, allowing you to find a truly beautiful and harmonious life. It’s okay to be tired or sad, and it’s okay to get annoyed by situations you don’t like. Being human with all his fears and doubts, failures and misses is what should be the new fashion.

Signs of Emotional Burnout Syndrome (SEB)

Life resembles the quest "I wish I could live until Friday." The man realizes with horror that a new day has come. Already in the morning he experiences lethargy, apathy and a persistent unwillingness to do anything.

It seems that the whole world is at war with you. It annoys everyone: colleagues, relatives, partner and even a random salesperson in the store. There is a strong feeling that circumstances are always against you.

Frequent colds and illnesses. In the last stages of the CMEA, the body begins to rebel and ask for rest. A person develops headaches, he often catches colds and notices a deterioration in vision.

Interesting! How to make your husband jealous and afraid of losing his wife

Negative attitude towards clients and colleagues. The usual request and fair comments are taken with hostility. The person feels that he is not appreciated or respected. He absolutely does not want to delve into work issues, make edits or come up with new ideas.

The meaninglessness of life. More and more often the question arises in my head: “Why am I doing this?”. What previously brought joy is no longer appreciated. There is a persistent desire to close in a closet, go into the forest and do nothing.

There is no strength to show emotions. You are too lazy to amuse and entertain yourself, you have absolutely no strength to get angry at the stupidity of your bosses or clients. Something that used to evoke a response, such as going to a concert or a movie, now does not evoke any emotions.

If you occasionally feel 1-3 manifestations of CMEA, there is nothing wrong with that. It simply means that you are a normal person. It is impossible to smile 24 by 7 and enjoy life, like the man from the mayonnaise ad. But if a depressed, apathetic state has become normal, it's time to take action. It will not dissolve by itself. Already in the early stages, it is advisable to find an opportunity to take care of yourself.

Burnout stages

1. Love. A new job or project just blows away. At this stage, the person is ready to work for the idea. He is no longer interested in friends, relationships with a partner and hobbies. All energy is directed only to the working channel. He's starting to look like the secretary from The Devil Wears Prado. Many people ignore this period due to the state of euphoria and total immersion.
2. Rescuer-victim. At this stage, it seems to a person that without him everything will collapse. He experiences constant anxiety, plays the role of "rescuer" or "victim". Thoughts about work keep you awake, and the long-awaited weekend does not bring joy. Dislike for colleagues, clients, and bosses appears. Together with this feeling, a desire arises to close oneself from the whole world and relieve oneself of responsibility.
3. "Manager's Syndrome". The man ceases to monitor his health and resembles an employee of the film "Fight Club". He doesn't care what to eat or drink. He does not remember the last time he got enough sleep or played sports. The whole week resembles a huge groundhog day, insomnia and complete indifference to work develop.
4. Destruction. If you don't understand in a good way, then it will be in a bad way. At this stage, a person can become seriously ill and go to the hospital. The body no longer speaks, but screams that urgent rest is needed. At best, you can get sore throat or stomach ulcers. At worst, cancer. Relationships with others are also not going for the better. The person gives out an inadequate and aggressive reaction to minor stimuli. For example, he may throw a tantrum over unwashed dishes or crumbs on the table.

Interesting! If an Aquarius man really loves how he behaves

Possible causes and treatment options for burnout include:

• A person with a sense of their own inferiority is overly trying to earn recognition and love - through diligence and excellent results of their activities. Therapy is to realize yourself, your dignity, regardless of the working moments, to work with a psychotherapist on self-esteem.
• A person does not know how to give himself time to rest, to have quality rest and gain strength. Therapy is to learn to rest in time and completely relax.
• A person is in an environment of increased stress, the environment requires complete dedication. Therapy is to learn to protect yourself from influence, to defend your boundaries, to give yourself a rest.
• A person communicates too much with people, overloading his nervous system, does not have time to recover. Therapy is to reduce communication with people, to allow yourself to be alone, where you can completely relax and be filled with strength.
• The person has incorrectly prioritized in his life. He is fond of his work, forgetting about himself, forgetting to take care of his health in time. Therapy is to analyze your habits of total dedication and possibly sacrifice in the name of work.
• High dedication in work and lack of expected decent remuneration. A person loses meaning in his actions, a state of tension from a sense of injustice towards him. Therapy - working with a psychotherapist on expectations and building boundaries, learning to be distracted and relax qualitatively.

Signs of burnout in a team

• "sameness" of employees;
• general apathy in relation to what is happening;
• "serving at work" by the whole team;
• frequent smoke breaks and tea drinking;
• lack of a clear understanding of the goals of the organization among employees;
• high staff turnover;
• inability and unwillingness of the manager and his employees to take responsibility for what is happening and the work performed.

It is important to point out that working conditions such as irregular working hours, a lack of a well-equipped workplace, and a well-defined lunch break are often the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, which is a harbinger of burnout.

But even if the working conditions are good, and the boss is attentive, a person can still burn out due to personal characteristics. This condition develops in people with a highly developed sense of empathy, inclined to sympathy and daydreaming, idealizing their work, obsessed with obsessions, as well as introverts, people with low self-esteem and increased conflict.

The syndrome of professional burnout is more common among "social" professions (social workers, medical personnel, teachers, psychologists, educators, etc.) and "communicative" (managers, executives, lawyers, lawyers, investigators, etc.). Housewives are also quite often prone to burnout syndrome, especially if the spouse or close relatives do not help take care of the children and do not take on some of the household chores. The reason for burnout is that a woman is forced to do monotonous work every day, her work is invisible and not properly evaluated.

According to research, 74% of psychologists and psychiatrists surveyed suffer from emotional burnout syndrome, and burnout is more common among employees of public clinics. Most likely, this indicates low pay, high demands and responsibility when working in these institutions. Another study, which was conducted in the Republic of Belarus, indicates that 80% of psychiatrists, psychotherapists and narcologists have symptoms of emotional burnout, and almost 8% have symptoms that lead to psychosomatic diseases.

Burnout is also common among psychologists. This is due to the fact that they often come to the profession in order to understand themselves and solve their personal problems. Quite often there are bright introverts among psychologists, and their professional qualities, such as empathy, altruism and selflessness "help" to quickly get into the burnout zone.

Test

There are special test methods for diagnosing the severity and prevalence of burnout syndrome. In the professional environment of psychologists, the Maslach questionnaire of emotional burnout is often used. It presents a group of questions, taking into account the specifics of the activities of workers in various areas: medical workers, sellers, law enforcement officers, engineering and technical personnel. For answers to questions, seven degrees of frequency are allocated - from "never" to "daily". This in-depth technique allows you to determine the level of emotional burnout. [5]

In this article, we offer a simplified version of the self-diagnosis test that will help you figure out whether to pay attention to the problem. From the following pairs of statements, select the ones that are more inherent in your behavior. Rate which column - left or right - you have marked more statements.

Characterized by burnout syndrome		Not common in burnout syndrome
I don't feel rested even after a long sleep	1	I feel energized in the morning and tune in for a productive day.
Before going to bed, I am overwhelmed by thoughts of work, and this prevents me from falling asleep.	2	I fall asleep easily and without worries about tomorrow
Work seems boring to me	3	I'm doing an interesting job
I work hard, but I do not feel the significance of the result	4	I adhere to the work schedule and achieve good results
I can flare up for no apparent reason	5	I am usually in a calm frame of mind, not annoyed
I avoid socializing with people at work and in everyday life.	6	I like to communicate with colleagues and acquaintances
I find it difficult to concentrate on work tasks	7	I concentrate well and meet deadlines
I often forget about small tasks and do not remember where the necessary things and documents are	8	I control all tasks and know how to organize my workspace
I often get sick and suffer illnesses on my legs	9	I have good immunity, I rarely miss work due to illness
Socializing with others is exhausting for me	10	I get a boost of energy from the people with whom I communicate
My job is not satisfying	11	I work with pleasure and enthusiasm
In my spare time, I like to watch TV.	12	I devote my free time to hobbies and active rest
It often seems to me that my work is meaningless and useless.	13	I feel important at work
I often conflict with colleagues and loved ones	14	My relationships with colleagues and loved ones are calm and harmonious
I check my email, keep my phone on, and think about work on weekends.	15	I completely devote the weekend to myself and loved ones

If you've picked more of the burnout statements, don't despair. Burnout syndrome is a psychological problem that arises against the background of a pathological pattern of behavior. You can identify attitudes that lead you to a state close to emotional burnout and correct your behavior.

Interesting! How to make your husband work and earn

15 Ways to Prevent Burnout Syndrome

1. Become more organized

It is believed that stress occurs against the backdrop of excessive exertion. This is true, but only partially. The problem for many people is that they do not know how to properly organize the workflow. It often happens that two people work in the same team in the same positions. One is regularly delayed and takes work home, the other copes with everything during working hours, because he knows how to properly distribute efforts.

There are many planning methods and time management techniques. Study them and find what will help you work more efficiently.

2. Plan your vacation

We tend to be more disciplined in keeping work diaries, weekly journals and writing plans for the month than we do with planning a vacation. This leads to the fact that we easily give up hobbies and favorite things, if urgent tasks arise. And sometimes we drag out the usual tasks, knowing that we can stay for an hour and finish everything. Set aside time in your daily plan for reading, watching useful video content, chatting with friends, walking, and so on. Strictly follow the plan and respect your personal time as well as your work time.

3. Take breaks during the day

The optimal operating mode is the alternation of intensive work for one or one and a half hours with breaks of fifteen minutes. With continuous work, your productivity drops significantly by the afternoon. Include breaks in your schedule and don't neglect them. Warm up, get out for some fresh air, do eye exercises.

4. Give up sleeping pills

The use of sedatives has a short-term effect. Medication disrupts sleep phases, so you may have strange dreams and not feel refreshed after waking up. Such sleep only contributes to burnout, while healthy sleep, on the contrary, discourages stress.

5. Listen to your body

To maintain physical and mental health, it is important to learn to recognize your body language. When you are angry, frightened, or anxious, your body reacts with tremors, heart palpitations, and sweat appears on your forehead and back. To help you calm down, find relaxation exercises that work for you.

6. Limit coffee consumption

Coffee gives a charge of vivacity and energy, helps to get involved in work. However, the effect of this effect is usually short-lived. Soon, you feel tired again.

Excessive consumption of coffee can provoke dependence on caffeine, this has a detrimental effect on the physiological and psycho-emotional level. Drink tea or plain water more often during the working day.

7. Destroy ideals

In pursuit of the ideal result, you are more likely to achieve not an ideal, but disappointment in yourself and your abilities. Remember that the best is the enemy of the good. And more often than not, doing well is enough.

8. Put your phone down

Sometimes arrange yourself a “digital detox”: give up gadgets for at least one day off, when you are with your loved ones and they cannot lose you. Can't afford it? Then at least turn off messenger notifications and don't check your work email.

9. Do not follow the lead of momentary decisions

To be rude, to vent anger, or to offend the interlocutor is the first thing that comes to mind when we are upset or indignant about something. Take your time to resolve conflicts here and now. Wait until you are calm enough to have a constructive conversation.

10. Go in for sports

Physical activity is essential for emotional health. Go to the gym, do swimming, yoga, or aerobics. This will help relieve tension.

11. Breathe Deeper

Master breathing practices. You will be surprised how simple exercises refresh your mind and help you solve complex problems.

12. Write letters

Keep a diary of feelings and thoughts, analyze your failures and successes on paper, write letters to yourself. Sometimes it is enough to transfer anxious thoughts to a blank sheet and rewrite them in a positive way, so that fears and emotions recede.

13. Communicate

Don't shut yourself off from the world. Chat with colleagues, spend more time with loved ones.

14. Try new things

Make it a rule for yourself to try something new every month: sign up for a trial dance lesson, visit a trampoline center, go to a pop art painting workshop, and so on. So you will get a boost of energy from new experiences, meet new people. Perhaps you will find a new hobby that will relieve stress and will inspire you.

15. Change your behavior

If you realize that your internal attitudes are interfering with a healthy attitude towards work or business in general, work to wear has become a habit and overshadowed your personal life, think about changing your behavior. Be prepared that this path will not be easy. You may need to seek professional help.

Rapid Recovery Exercises

It is easier to maintain a resource state throughout the day than to work at a speed of 140, and then lie down exhausted. Here are three simple exercises to help you replenish your strength.

Draining emotions. Unexpressed anger, resentment, resentment and other unpleasant emotions get stuck in our body in the form of bodily clamps. The more there are, the faster fatigue builds up. If possible, try to express negativity through action. For example:

• beat the pillow (just not the one you sleep on)
• break old dishes
• shout to the ground
• do interval workout in the gym
• punch a punching bag
• go to karaoke

For emergency assistance, you can do the following exercise. Think of the situation that pissed you off. Rate from 0 to 10 how annoying it is right now. It is advisable to choose what “pisses me off” by 7-8 points. Start thinking about this situation by breathing more air into your chest and clenching your fists harder. As soon as it becomes impossible to hold your breath, exhale it forcefully and open your palms. Again, rate from 0 to 10 how annoying the situation is right now. If nothing has changed, repeat the exercise 2-3 more times.

Reasons for joy and pleasure. Our brain is lazy and wants to have fun in every way. Without it, he will sabotage the workflow in every possible way. To stay resourceful, make a list of things that make you happy.

Write down everything from the smallest to the global ones. It is advisable to come up with pleasant activities for all senses: hearing, smell, sight, touch, taste. For each day, pick one or two perks from the list and reward yourself for the work you do.

Eight rooms. Imagine your life as a house with 8 rooms - these are areas of your life. Think, in which three of them you have not been for a long time? Perhaps, they haven't cleaned the “health room” for a long time, haven't opened the door to a “hobby” or forgot about “self-education”. Write down what you can do to make a difference and find time to visit these rooms. What simple steps will help? For example, a prolonged sleep, meeting with friends, a detox gadget. Plan these simple steps.

Sometimes a person cannot resist the system in a particular organization. For example, I had experience working in a company with 14 hour shifts and one day off per week. Working conditions and peculiarities of corporate culture simply physically did not allow to recover.

After analyzing the situation, I chose to leave. This was a cardinal decision, and, of course, I do not urge anyone to write a leave of absence. But if you feel that you are “burning out”, try to make a forecast and figure out: do you have a chance to recover in this particular job? Or is it time to look for something else?