Burnout syndrome - or work-related exhaustion - is the result of continuous stressful stress in the workplace that leads to physical and emotional wear and tears. It’s a set of symptoms that results from a state of chronic stress and persistence, associated with the working environment.
The syndrome burn-out depends on the individual response to a professional situation perceived as stressful from the physical and psychological point of view. In this context, the individual does not have adequate behavioral or cognitive resources and strategies to cope with this feeling of physical and emotional exhaustion.
Therefore, the worker who is subject to it gets to the point of "can't do it anymore” and feels completely dissatisfied and prostrated by the daily routine. Over time, Burnout can lead to a mental detachment from one's job, with an attitude of indifference, malevolence, and cynicism towards the recipients of the work activity. Burnout should not be underestimated, considering its transient and unimportant symptoms: demoralization and negativity for one's own context can sometimes lead to depression and other more complex disorders to be addressed.
The strategies to overcome the burn-out syndrome are different and include cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, the modification of work habits, and the adoption of useful measures to counteract stress in everyday life.
Among the numerous manifestations of burnout syndrome, three main characteristics are always present:
- Sense of exhaustion
- Increased mental distance from one's work
- Reduced professional efficacy
What Is a Burnout?:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), burnout is characterized by "a feeling of intense fatigue, loss of control and inability to achieve concrete results at work".
Initially associated with helping professional categories (social workers, medical workers, etc.), it is now recognized that burnout affects all professions, and more particularly those where one is in contact with the public, where one is in contact with the public. Works in a team, where we are responsible for people.
What Burnout is Not:
Burnout refers only to the work context and, by definition; it must not be extended to other areas of one's life. Furthermore, this occupational phenomenon should not be confused with disorders specifically associated with stress, as in the case, for example, of post-traumatic stress disorder, although some manifestations may be shared.
We cannot speak of burnout, therefore, if:
People suffer from chronic stress in other situations, such as family or relationships;
You suffer from:
- Anxiety disorders and phobias specifications;
- Disorders of adaptation;
- Mood disorders, including depression.
The Main Symptoms of Burnout Syndrome:
The majority of people with burnout “didn't see the disease coming”. However, burnout is not a condition that occurs suddenly without warning signs in an individual's life. The symptoms of burnout gradually come on.
Often, when workers consult, these symptoms accumulate for several months or several years and have invaded all areas of their life (professional, friendly, and social).
Emotionally and cognitively, symptoms of Burnout include difficulty concentrating, low self-esteem, guilt, failure, anger, and resentment; agitation, irritability, and nervousness; unhappiness and constant worry.
As for the physical symptoms, burnout can manifest itself with fatigue, insomnia, tachycardia, headache, stomach pain, digestive problems, muscle tension and back pain, nausea, dizziness...
Behavioral disorders: administrative attitude (hiding behind the rules), cynical distance, irony, aggressiveness, loss of the capacity for empathy, dehumanization of the relationship, social isolation, abuse of toxic substances (alcohol, tobacco, stimulant drugs, and/or sleeping pills).
Burnout can lead the patient to abuse alcohol, food, drugs, or psychoactive substances. In this case, the problem is further aggravated. If you do not intervene professionally, isolation, self-harm, impoverishment of social life, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and depression can occur.
The Most Common Causes of Burnout:
The reasons, in general, can be many: complex deadlines, problems with work colleagues, family stress factors. Among the elements concerning the work, stand out:
- Increased liability without proper compensation;
- Frequent conflicts in job scheduling or interruptions;
- Organizational changes or change of duties;
- Unrealistic deadlines and deadlines;
- Schedules that change often;
- Difficult interactions with colleagues or clients (anger, envy ...);
For those who do manual work exposure to bad weather and lifting heavy loads.
The lack of involvement of the worker in decisions concerning his working environment is also a serious risk factor. But even uncertain expectations can cause burnout: role ambiguity, dictated by poor information on the position, or role conflict, which arises in the face of requests deemed incompatible with the professional role or an overload beyond one's responsibilities. In general, it is not feeling motivated that is one of the things to pay more attention to. An underestimated and prolonged burnout according to experts can become a real health problem, a chronic disease.
How to Prevent Burnout:
The most important thing is to be aware (sometimes we are overwhelmed and we do not realize it) that we are living a moment of our life that requires particular efforts - especially emotional - and to listen to how our body reacts to this request.
Let us remember that the body does not lie; so if we perceive even just some of the symptoms listed above, let's stop and ask ourselves if we are investing our resources in a creative and constructive way and if we can make sense of what is happening to us, gradually integrating it into our daily life.
It is important to recognize the emotions that hinder us in relationships or create conflicts that accentuate stress (apathy, anger, resentment ...) and to communicate and share these emotional experiences with loved ones, who know how to listen to us in-depth.
If all this becomes difficult to manage, it is important to request psychological support, with the aim of strengthening our adaptive resources.
The Importance of a Good Workout...
We must train (and educate our children to do it from an early age) to strengthen our creative abilities in managing change, to tolerate frustrations, to develop defense mechanisms that are constructive, to integrate the emotional life with the cognitive one (not only rationalize) and find a balance between them, learning to listen to our interior.
If work violently invades our private life, it will be necessary to draw a clear boundary line and give space to relationships, to what relaxes and satisfies us, and to disconnect from all electronic devices that risk keeping us in continuous contact with work, depriving us of healthy and recharging breaks.
Change the Perspective to Prevent Burnout
Finally, in order to prevent and fight Burnout, it will be necessary to take care of yourself. Maintain healthy habits such as exercise, proper nutrition, gratifying interpersonal bonds, and limit the use of "quick" solutions to stress such as alcohol, nicotine or drug use, or any form of abuse, which risks becoming a real addiction.
Sometimes it is necessary to review our way of relating to work: let us ask ourselves what satisfies and gratifies us about it, what motivates us and really enriches us, and let's try to invest our energies in this direction. Finally, let's review how many hours a day we dedicate to work, remembering that sometimes, even if outside the office, our mind can continue to work - sometimes even at night - hindering a good balance between the quality of sleep and wakefulness.
If the amount of work we face on a daily basis has gotten out of hand, it may be time to consider positive change, a new way to collaborate with colleagues, or discuss roles, tasks, and workloads with a supervisor.
Lastly here are some steps to prevent burnout at work:
- Respect your needs ( sleep, food, physical activity, etc.) and get enough rest in moments of recovery after work: the important thing is to take the time to do what you like;
- Set reasonable goals, without expecting too much of yourself;
- When the amount of work seems really excessive, define priorities with your supervisor or, if possible, delegate some of the tasks to be completed to others;
- Avoid conflicts with colleagues and adopt a proactive attitude;
- Lead a healthy lifestyle (sports, diet, etc.) for greater resilience in dealing with any type of stressful experience.
Burnout in the Digital Professions
The high number of free professions and freelance workers is leading to the spread of work stress syndrome in this type of activity as well.
Customer requests are often not in line with the services offered. Earnings are linked to continuous procurement; freelance workers are often forced to undertake real negotiations with customers on the price of their services.
A self-employed person affected by burnout goes through phases similar to those of employees.
- The exhaustion brought about by the rhythms of work is not marked by defined hours.
- Indifference and cynicism due to the perception that the customer does not value the work done
- The inefficiency is caused by the opinion of others who do not consider the activities of a freelancer on a par with any other job.
Burnout from Smart Working
If in normal conditions, burnout is generally linked to the perception of an imbalance between professional demands-needs and available resources, in this phase of health emergency there are two factors at the basis of the phenomenon of smart working burnout:
- The inability or impossibility to disconnect from work;
- The inability or impossibility of having precise working hours, such as in the office.
In other words, the impossibility of “disconnecting” while preserving one's extra-working spaces.
Like a light bulb that never goes out or almost can burn out, in the same way even the worker, in the long run, can suffer a sort of exhaustion, due to an investment of energy and resources too high.