Professional Burnout - How to Recognize and Overcome It

The term professional burnout was first used by clinical psychologist Herbert Freudenberger (Eng. Burnout) in his publication (The Journal of Social Issues, 1974).

Professional burnout BURNOUT - a physical and mental disorder of a person that occurs due to constant stress at work, which leads to a decrease in productivity. A person with this syndrome is in a state of frustration and is extremely tired.

Who suffers from professional burnout BURNOUT?

This syndrome is the most dangerous disease for people whose work is associated with regular communication with other people, emotional empathy and great responsibility.

BURNOUT often occurs in office workers, business leaders, salespeople, mothers on maternity leave, students and even teenagers, as they are exposed to constant interaction and communication with people. Burnout is also a kind of professional crisis associated not only with interpersonal relationships (verbal and non-verbal communication between two people or members of a small group of people who are dependent on each other), but also with work in general.

What provokes professional burnout?

This syndrome can be triggered by any situation that takes a person out of a state of harmony or stability. However, there are several specific factors that influence the development of the disorder:

• Biological - this is a genetic predisposition to disorders, congenital diseases, acquired physical defects. These factors are unchanged throughout life, a person cannot eliminate them;
• Social - these are habits or behavioral characteristics that are formed under the influence of society and the immediate environment. These include: socio-economic status, upbringing, lifestyle habits, ethnicity, etc.;
• Psychological - a set of human mental processes that manifest themselves in different ways. The syndrome can be caused by behavioral habits, feelings, emotions, and ineffective strategies for overcoming these problems.

Why is BURNOUT dangerous?

Emotional burnout at work can have many unpleasant consequences for a person's mental health. It all starts with a decrease in the quality of life - a person gets tired more often, gets angry more often, avoids responsibility, feels discomfort.

Emotional burnout appears gradually, often it is unnoticed by both the person and others, because it is confused with other diseases and has become more difficult to notice.

For example, physical fatigue caused by emotional burnout can easily be confused with a symptom caused by simple overwork. The difference is that ordinary fatigue disappears after rest.

The main danger of BURNOUT is that not detecting this disease in time leads to the transition of the symptom into a severe clinical form of the disorder. At this stage, it becomes impossible to cope with the problem without the help of a specialist - a person may develop depressive disorder, anxiety or apathy.

During depression, a person loses interest in almost all areas of life. What used to bring you joy seems meaningless.

Emotional disorders and stress: the differences

Emotional distress is the result of prolonged stress.

Stress is a physical reaction to external or internal changes. Stress helps a person adapt to changes.

Stress can be good when it stimulates a person's ability to develop and adapt, or bad - when a person does not have enough external and internal resources. He lacks social support, time and space to cope and adapt to the new environment. Such stress has a negative effect on the body.

One-time stress is beneficial, but if it is constant and, with increasing intensity, affects the same area of ​​​​life, stress becomes chronic and harms a person both mentally and physically.

For example, if bad news comes one after another for many weeks, this can seriously affect a person's psycho-emotional state.

When a person is constantly under stress, he can burn out. Then there will be a feeling of hopelessness, emotions become dull.

How does emotional burnout manifest?

The symptoms of emotional burnout manifest themselves in different ways. They depend on a person's attitude towards life, their level of awareness, and the severity of emotional burnout.

Psycho-physical symptoms of BURNOUT:

• Constant feeling of fatigue, not only in the evenings, but also in the morning, after sleep (chronic fatigue);
• Weakness, decreased activity and energy, deterioration of blood biochemistry and hormonal indicators;
• Frequent, unexplained headaches;
• Sharp weight loss or gain;
• Constant lethargy, lethargy.

Social and psychological symptoms of BURNOUT:

• Apathy, boredom, passivity and depression;
• Frequent nervous breakdowns;
• A constant feeling of negative emotionality for which there is no apparent reason (feelings of guilt, resentment, suspicion);
• A feeling of hyper-responsibility and constant fear that something “will not work out” or that a person “will not be able to cope”;
• A general negative attitude towards life and professional prospects.

Stages of emotional burnout

BURNOUT, like any disorder, goes through three stages:

• Tension. The psyche resists - a person who is trying to cope with a stressful situation. He is acutely experiencing problems or conflicts, is dissatisfied with himself, is anxious. At this time, there is a loss of energy and a decrease in mood;
• Period of resistance. The psyche cannot cope with the accumulated problems, begins to give up. A person reacts emotionally to external stimuli: he can scream, cry, and show aggression. Or indifference appears, interest in work is lost, a person performs duties worse, neglects tasks;
• Fatigue. The psyche gives up, emotional exhaustion begins. A person is detached, cynical, does not see the usefulness of his actions. Physical symptoms of the disorder may also appear.

How to recognize burnout?

To control your emotional background without the help of a specialist - you can use a questionnaire. For example, every day for a month, describe the emotions you experience during the day.

To assess social factors, you can answer the following questions:

• Do I feel safe in the environment I am in? Am I who I think I am in the process of doing this work?
• Is the work I do valued? Is it socially recognized?

Assessment of individual characteristics at the personal level:

• What have I been doing in the last hour? What good things have happened during this time?
• What has someone else done for me today that I can be grateful for?
• What can I be grateful for today from the world, from my body, from my colleagues, from my loved ones?
• What good things have happened today? 3-5 points, even if they are insignificant
• Why did this happen?
• Which of my personal qualities, actions influenced this event?
• How do I feel after answering the questions above? What have I learned about myself?

To assess individual characteristics at the corporate level:

• How do I work, how do I distribute the workload?
• In what conditions do I work? What would you like to change?
• Do I help my colleagues at work and do they help me in return? Can I ask my colleagues for help in case of difficulties?
• What would I like to change?
• How are group conflicts resolved in the team? What would you like to change?
• Do I have a clear work schedule? What would you like to change?
• Do my colleagues know about professional burnout, its symptoms, risk factors and its prevention? What is the management doing to prevent these problems? What would you like to change?
• Is there someone in my environment who has managed to overcome this "sickness"? Do I know how they managed to do it?

This method of open-ended questions helps a person monitor their emotional state and analyze the results.

What will help you overcome BURNOUT?

This "burnout" syndrome can be prevented if you understand the purpose of your actions. The main message of BURNOUT is: "I do, I do, but everything is pointless." This is what you need to fight against.

• Motivation - is the engine that pushes a person to achieve professional and personal goals. A motivated person feels satisfied with their results, is organized, prone to self-reflection, monitors their daily schedule and tries to improve the quality of life.
• Self-organization and time management skills - help to properly allocate time, monitor sleep and rest, concentrate on current affairs and plan for the future.
• Reflection - helps you understand yourself - to objectively analyze your actions, feelings, emotions, draw conclusions and constructively experience life situations. A person with the ability to self-reflection controls his thoughts and actions.

If a person is not self-organized, does not sleep enough, eats poorly, and does not monitor their health, motivation alone will not help them. You need to eat right, get quality rest, and master time management skills.

To achieve maximum results, you can use several techniques at once:

Record victories
Celebrate all your achievements, even the smallest ones. Praise and reward yourself. This technique helps eliminate thoughts like: “I can’t do anything, I work like hell, but I don’t get results” and others.

If you feel like you're lacking accomplishments, analyze your day.
The technique of recording gains works well if there is a reward. A person receives evidence in the form of a reward, as a result of which he feels a surge of strength. A few days of self-observation are enough to see your effectiveness.

Appreciate every day.
Write down what you managed to accomplish during the past day - 3-5 entries are enough. Explain how you managed it.  

• for example: I have held 4 successful meetings, which will increase my professionalism. I will be able to increase my income and climb the career ladder; An hour's walk in the park is good for your health. I am fine, I can lose weight.

Tomato method

People are afraid of large and complex tasks. Therefore, it is necessary to divide them into parts and celebrate small achievements.

For example, the tomato technique involves maximum involvement in the process for 25 minutes with a 5-minute break and a reward at the end.

You can set a special stopwatch to work on this technique.

Preventing professional burnout on your own is quite difficult, in order for the treatment to proceed correctly, fatigue and other disorders must be excluded. For this:

• First of all, you need to adjust your sleep and rest regime, if possible, avoid stressful situations;
• Start recording your daily emotions;
• If you don't feel any better in 7-8 days, then consult a specialist.

A psychologist will prescribe a course of treatment based on the cause of the disorder.

And finally

The problem of emotional burnout, and in general any chronic stress, is closely related to crisis.

A crisis is a difficult emotional state that arises due to external causes: loss, traumatic situations, and unexpected changes. Throughout life, people experience a number of crises.

For a motivated person - A crisis does not mean anything negative. It is an opportunity to change your life, adapt to changes and develop your strengths.

If a person does not understand what is happening to him, does not realize the situation and is unable to change anything. At such a time, any crisis is dangerous, because at this time behavioral errors and exacerbation of stereotypical thinking begin. A person begins to burn out physically and emotionally, loses interest in life, motivation disappears, all resources are exhausted.

Take care of yourself, do not close yourself in. Improve the quality of your life and open up your potential. Do not be afraid to ask for help and talk openly about problems.

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