Emotional burnout: symptoms and how to deal with it

In May 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) described the signs of burnout syndrome. It is defined as “feelings of depleted energy, increased mental distance from work, a cynical or negative attitude toward work, and a decline in professional productivity.” The news immediately caused strong reactions among less competent people - publications appeared and quickly spread that emotional burnout was officially recognized as a disease, although this is not true to this day.

The syndrome is defined only as a factor that can influence the development of the corresponding pathology, but burnout is not an independent disorder. This term first became known to psychological practice from the American psychiatrist G. Freudenberger. The professor observed his own colleagues for a long time, and later was able to generalize changes in their thinking and behavior, which became brighter and more noticeable with each working day. Today one of the leading experts in this field of knowledge is Christina Maslach. According to her classification, emotional burnout is directly related to constant forced activity that cannot be suspended.

According to public surveys, not only subordinates, but also managers suffer from burnout. Many call this phenomenon a full-fledged epidemic due to its massive spread. Thus, 23% of working Americans noted that they experience characteristic symptoms “often or constantly.” Modern researchers, practically psychologists, argue that today's realities invariably create conditions favorable for the development of emotional burnout, which is why it is especially important to know about risk factors, diagnose signs in a timely manner and take appropriate measures, including preventive ones.

Symptoms of burnout

Emotional burnout is a progressive syndrome; it is often extremely difficult to notice its first signs and predict the further development of the disorder. The psychological state changes qualitatively gradually, without sudden jumps, incrementally. Every year, emotional burnout covers more and more areas of professional activity. If previously the symptoms of the syndrome were experienced only by those who are forced to work within the framework of constant interaction with other people, today emotional burnout is diagnosed even among housewives. As the disorder progresses, the following signs may appear:

• Anxious thoughts - a person begins to doubt his professional suitability, fear excessive responsibility, doubt about a prosperous future
• Loss of interests - over time, those activities or hobbies that previously brought pleasure, helped to distract, cease to be important and meaningful
• Physical ailments – emotional burnout is characterized by physiological disturbances; most often people complain of nagging muscle pain, eye discomfort, appetite and sleep disturbances
• Excessive irritability, apathy, reluctance to interact even with the closest people - is explained by an unconscious desire to conserve the remaining energy
• Decreased self-esteem.

Fatigue is a normal and understandable state for the body. Emotional burnout is characterized by duration and the accumulation of symptoms, which over time become noticeable both to the person himself and to others. It is important to diagnose the symptoms of the disorder in time and prevent their further development - independently or with the help of specialists.

Why is it dangerous?

Emotional burnout negatively affects all areas of life of the person who experiences this phenomenon, as well as the people around him. In addition to the proven effect on a person’s somatic health, it is possible to classify the main dangers of emotional burnout for different categories of citizens, depending on their gender and age characteristics.

1. Consequences of emotional burnout for men. It is known that representatives of the stronger half of humanity strive for full professional self-realization. Their ambitions often exceed their real capabilities, but the craving for self-affirmation, prestige, and recognition always turns out to be stronger than circumstances. Emotional burnout is exactly what will prevent you from achieving success even if you have all the necessary competencies. A man’s self-esteem will suffer so much from unfulfilled and unjustified hopes that he is unlikely to be able to overcome the fear of failure in the future.
2. Consequences of emotional burnout in women. Burnout syndrome has a negative impact on your personal life. The desire to be alone and to replenish energy reserves is often perceived even by those closest to them as neglect. Subsequently, conflicts arise in the family, which can easily lead to separation - and this is an additional test for the already sensitive psyche of a woman.
3. Consequences of emotional burnout in children. The syndrome is especially dangerous in childhood, when the child is just learning about the world around him, learning to express and cope with emotions, and interact with people around him. The stress experienced can seriously affect the child’s psyche and his view of reality. The development of full-fledged fears and even phobias, disruption of the process of personal identification and establishing contacts with peers cannot be ruled out.
4. Consequences of emotional burnout for adolescents. During adolescence, boys and girls are especially susceptible to negativity. Having experienced the symptoms of emotional burnout, a teenager’s life can be forever changed - complicated by depressive, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, psychosomatic illnesses and even suicidal tendencies.

It is impossible to predict how burnout will affect a particular person, but the frightening range of possible consequences should serve as the main motivation for regular analysis of one’s own well-being.

Who should I contact for help?

Veronica Pivkina explained what you should consider when choosing who to contact:

• Find a specialist who is right for you. Usually, after 1-2 consultations, you can evaluate whether the recommendations help you, whether you like the approach to work, whether there is an effect, whether trust has emerged. If a specialist is not suitable for you and you do not like it, then effective therapy will not work - it is better to look for another one.
• Assess the specialist's qualifications. Ask about education, advanced training, and techniques used by the specialist. Don’t be afraid to ask even what seems indecent, vulgar, or inconvenient to you: a normal specialist will not leave any questions unattended.

It is important to remember that no specialist can solve your problem unilaterally. A person will still have to understand himself, work through the problem and change what does not suit him. Each of us manages our own lives, and everyone can change something in it.

Stages

Different researchers have defined the stages of development of emotional burnout in their own way, but in practice they most often turn to G. Freudenberger’s approach.

Herbert Freudenberger

Together with his colleague G. North, the professor identified 11 stages of worsening symptoms.

1. Obsessed with demonstrating one's own worth to more successful colleagues
2. Inability to escape from work, engage in favorite hobbies, or spend leisure time
3. Neglect of natural needs - normal daily routine, diet, social communication
4. Denial of the presence of a problem - irritability, feeling threatened, panic
5. Qualitative distortion of values, excessive obsession with job responsibilities
6. Deterioration of relationships with colleagues and immediate supervisors
7. A rapid reduction in social connections, the emergence of a tendency to bad habits as a means of getting rid of stress and relieving tension
8. Obvious changes in behavior that loved ones begin to notice
9. Depersonalization is a literal loss of the meaning of life, devaluation of everything that was previously dear
10. Feeling of internal emptiness, attempts to fill it with promiscuity, overeating, psychoactive substances
11. Severe depression – feelings of insecurity, exhaustion, mental and physical health problems.

Depending on individual characteristics, the development of skills to overcome stress, and the tendency to self-reflection, emotional burnout can occur with different dynamics, but in the end it all comes down to one thing - the development of full-fledged mental disorders.

Causes

There are external and internal reasons that can provoke emotional burnout. The first category of unfavorable factors can be corrected quite simply. Internal factors are attitudes, behavior patterns, character traits and beliefs that guide a person when making life-changing decisions. External conditions can provoke emotional burnout when a person already has internal prerequisites for this. External unfavorable environmental factors include:

• Harsh working conditions – heavy workload, tight schedule
• Unsatisfactory salary
• Lack of ability to concentrate on job responsibilities - excess distractions
• Dissatisfaction with the choice of profession, inability to change occupation to a more attractive one
• Unfavorable atmosphere - tense relationships with colleagues or management, excessive pressure.

Among the internal reasons for the development of emotional burnout are hyper-responsibility, social stereotypes, dependence on other people’s influence, opinions, devaluation of one’s own desires and needs, fear of being unnecessary, unclaimed, and useless.

general characteristics

There are several definitions of this term, but they all boil down to one essence. The name of the state of exhaustion was given by psychologist H. Freudenberger.

Emotional burnout (burnout) is a state of a person in which his psychological defense is triggered in response to specific psychotraumatic influences. In this case, psychological defense is the complete or partial exclusion of emotions.

In simple words, in such a state a person has no strength to laugh or cry; he lacks vital energy to react to the situations that happen to him. At this moment, the mechanism of emergency dosed and economical energy consumption “turns on” in the psyche. This manifests itself in a person’s personal life, professional sphere, and communication with people.

Human burnout occurs when we do the same things day after day, but do not see their results or do not feel progress. Because of this, our health, performance, and relationships with others deteriorate. The person becomes nervous, irritable, and “withdraws into himself.”

Who is most often affected?

In practice, there is a clear risk group, certain professions or stages of life, for which emotional burnout is more common. Among these categories of people are students, teachers, doctors, mothers.

1. Emotional burnout among students. Studenthood is a special stage in the life of every person, a time of increased activity, self-determination, and responsibility. The student is already an adult, but demands still continue to be placed on him. Instead of spending time with friends or a favorite hobby, the student is forced to prepare for an important session in order to continue studying and become a competent specialist. Responsibilities associated with preparing for classes are not the only activities of students - research work, creative and social associations, participation in conferences, forums, outdoor events, all these conditions create a favorable environment for the development of the syndrome. In this case, it is useful to seek the help of a teenage psychologist.
2. Emotional burnout among teachers. Educators encounter a variety of students of all ages and personalities every day. It is very difficult to find a common language with each of them, but within the framework of the educational process, an individual approach is a priority area of ​​professional activity. The teacher feels direct responsibility for the quality of children’s preparation, the results of their intermediate and final certification, but at the same time, their inability to cope with such a volume of work alone. Over time, the profession ceases to bring pleasure, fatigue and lack of acceptance of one’s own competence appear. The situation develops especially quickly when working with difficult children, disobedient, self-willed, and lacking initiative.
3. Emotional burnout among doctors. Employees of medical institutions take on enormous responsibility for the health, and often the lives of patients. Constant work with negativity (complaints, poor health, unpleasant procedures, stress) invariably affects the mental state of doctors. All specialists are susceptible to burnout to one degree or another, primarily those caring for cancer patients, patients with immunodeficiencies, as well as workers in intensive care teams.
4. Emotional burnout in mothers. It would seem that the birth of a child is a happy, significant event in life that cannot lead to negative consequences. However, in practice, an increasing number of mothers complain of emotional burnout. The baby begins to take up all the time, attention, strength, and this will continue until he comes of age. You need to have enormous internal energy resources to overcome all crisis stages of a child’s development without consequences for your own mental health.

For those who study, work in a responsible position, interact with a large number of people every day, or are parents, it is especially important to pay attention to spending their own leisure time and organizing rest in order to prevent the onset of emotional burnout.

A little test to test yourself

Emotional burnout is an extremely unpleasant condition that can lead to the development of all kinds of somatic and psychological ailments. The problem with diagnosis is that people often attribute the symptoms of the syndrome to banal fatigue and do not take them seriously.

The method for assessing emotional burnout, the Maslach questionnaire, is one of the most popular and reliable for assessing one’s own mental state. Diagnosis is carried out according to the main features - emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduction of professional achievements.

The questionnaire consists of 22 questions, for each of which you must select one answer option.

Decoding the results on the scale of emotional exhaustion - a feeling of emptiness, lethargy, the meaninglessness of what is happening, lack of positive emotions, mental and physical fatigue:

• 0-15 points – low level
• 16-24 – average level
• 25-54 high level.

Decoding the results on the depersonalization scale - indifference to work and its results, colleagues, partners, clients, lack of personal involvement:

• 0-5 points – low level
• 6-10 points – average level
• 11-30 points – high level

Decoding the results on the scale of reduction of professional achievements - decreased motivation to work, a negative assessment of one’s work in general and its results in particular, dissatisfaction with responsibilities, avoidance of them:

• 0-11 points – low level
• 12-18 points – average level
• 18-48 points – high level

If emotional burnout syndrome is not stopped in time, then its continuously increasing influence can significantly worsen the quality of life and lead to serious psychological problems and somatic diseases.

Training

Friends, if you want to start actively working right now to reduce the level of stress in your life, clear your mind and reboot your consciousness, I advise you to take the “Brain Detoxification” course, which will help you:

1. Focus on what's important.
2. Reduce stress and anxiety levels.
3. Improve the quality of sleep and rest.
4. Reduce distraction.
5. Get rid of toxic thoughts.

The training consists of 10 lessons and practical tasks. You will receive tools and exercises, as well as video and audio materials. At the end of the course, they will give valuable recommendations for independent practice.

The author of the online training is Victor Shiryaev, an expert in the field of integral philosophy and developmental psychology.

How to fight

Chronic fatigue, decreased ability to work, loss of interest in life, apathy, a feeling of hopelessness - all these are symptoms of emotional burnout. Constant internal tension, unfavorable living and working conditions, daily stress, excessive workload, unfulfilled dreams directly affect the development of the syndrome and the time required to eliminate it. When you notice the first signs of burnout, it is important to take appropriate action immediately.

1. Rest – every person needs a complete and healthy rest, physical relaxation, and relief from nervous tension. It is important to be able to distribute your own resources in such a way that the time allocated for work does not require sacrificing leisure, and vice versa. At work, it is advisable to take short breaks every time you feel emotional stress. This could be breathing exercises, minor physical exercises, or just listening to pleasant music - this will have enough energy for the whole day. At the same time, it is not advisable to neglect vacation or often stay overtime at the workplace.
2. Systematization as a means of organizing a large number of things will help you plan your work schedule correctly - don’t be nervous, don’t rush, but methodically and consistently follow the plan, highlighting the highest priority tasks and minor ones that bring less benefit than they require energy costs.
3. There is no limit to perfection. Continuous self-development is a good quality of a person, but in an attempt to outperform all colleagues, acquaintances and idols from TV, even if possible, it will not be at such a price. Self-improvement should bring pleasure, to some extent, even relaxation, but not be based on feelings of envy and an irresistible desire to gain dubious authority.
4. Accepting mistakes. Appropriate perfectionism and an uncontrollable pathological desire to do the job perfectly are polar different concepts. It is important to understand that mistakes are part of any development; they are useful experiences that often do more good than harm. In an effort to complete a task perfectly, a person spends much more time correcting, redoing, and improving the project, sacrificing other job responsibilities and his own natural needs for rest.
5. Versatility. It is not advisable to focus your whole life solely on the sphere of professional employment. It is important to pay attention to hobbies, social contacts, dreams come true, spending leisure time in pleasant company, mastering new knowledge, skills and abilities not related to direct job responsibilities.

The most important rule in the fight against emotional burnout is the correct placement of life priorities. If a person is positive, knows how to dream and realize diverse desires, then he is unlikely to ever be at risk.

Summarize

Burnout syndrome is not uncommon today, especially when it comes to those specialists whose duty is to help other people. Increasingly, people began to devalue their health, hunting for a big salary, high position and prestige. Of course, it’s good to have aspirations and goals, but don’t forget that without the main resource it will be impossible to achieve them.

In order not to fall into an emotional trap, when you don’t even have the strength to express your feelings, you need to work on yourself every day: do not overload yourself with work responsibilities, avoid stress, observe a work-rest schedule, devote time to hobbies and sensibly assess your resources. This way you can achieve your most cherished goals and at the same time save energy and strength.

Be healthy!

We also recommend reading:

• Storytelling
• Professional burnout: what is it and how to prevent it?
• The need-information theory of P. V. Simonov
• Ability to understand emotional state
• 10 factors of professional burnout
• Emotional burnout
• Emotional Labor
• Munchausen syndrome
• How to sleep and relax more
• How to avoid burnout
• Emotional eating

Key words:1Psychoregulation

Recovery stages

Having diagnosed the signs of emotional burnout and made attempts to get rid of it, a person has already made a huge effort on himself. After all, the rehabilitation path is the hardest – always at the beginning. The more effective the techniques for overcoming a stressful situation are, the more often they are used in practice, the faster a person will notice qualitative changes in himself:

• Specific life goals
• Awareness of the presence of external traumatic factors, development of a plan to overcome them
• The desire to spend time with loved ones and do something new
• Predominance of positive thoughts.

This is the only positive feature of emotional burnout. If a person successfully copes with the syndrome, his life changes forever for the better.

Brief conclusions

• Emotional burnout is directly related to work routine or heavy personal obligations.
• It is not officially considered a disease, but the condition is accompanied by many different symptoms.
• The stages of emotional burnout are conventionally divided into 5 stages.
• Burnout can lead to serious health consequences if not diagnosed early.
• For successful correction of the syndrome, it is recommended to contact doctors of integrative anti-aging medicine.

Prevention

The most important prevention of emotional burnout is taking care of your health. An integral part of every person’s life should be walking or jogging, playing sports, eating right, and giving up bad habits.

Refusal from modern technologies is no less important for stabilizing the mental state. All kinds of gadgets have become firmly established in the life of every person - they serve not only as a means of communication, but as a tool for self-development, leisure time, vacation planning, and so on. Despite all this, numerous researchers insist that frequent use of smartphones contributes to the accumulation of nervous tension.

To prevent the development of the syndrome, one should master control over emotions. Relaxation techniques, relaxation, meditation will help cope with stress, which cannot be completely eliminated from life, but learning to respond to it is easier - quite.

Diagnostics

Only a specialist can correctly diagnose SEV. Diagnostics includes 3 stages:

• studying the patient's history and interviewing;
• laboratory research;
• testing.

First of all, the doctor studies the patient’s medical history, finds out the presence of chronic diseases and bad habits. Be sure to clarify the symptoms the patient is complaining about.

For a more complete picture, the doctor prescribes laboratory tests. Most often this list includes:

• general blood analysis;
• analysis to determine hormone levels;
• rapid test for liver and kidney function.

The main diagnostic method is testing, which was developed by the domestic psychologist V.V. Boyko. The test contains 84 statements to which the patient must answer “yes” or “no.” Based on the test results, the doctor will determine the phase of development of SEV. In total there are 3 phases.

1. Voltage . The patient experiences conflict situations acutely. His anxiety level increases. He is dissatisfied with himself as a person. Feels backed into a corner. His psyche is struggling.
2. Resistance . The patient begins to react to events inappropriately from the emotional side (screams, cries, breaks down, becomes hysterical). Some things no longer evoke emotions. More and more work tasks remain unfinished because he no longer considers them important. The psyche begins to give in.
3. Exhaustion . In this phase, the patient experiences a deficit of emotions, detachment, and psychosomatic disorders. The psyche gave up completely.

If the patient does not take any measures, then one phase gradually gives way to another.