“Burned out”: What is burnout syndrome?

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This article is for those who are “burnt out at work” (or somewhere else) and are looking for a way out.

Psychologist Denis Zubov talks about burnout syndrome: what it looks like and how to overcome it.

The correct fight against emotional burnout is not just to screw in a new light bulb, but also to replace it with an energy-saving one.

Burnout is a whole-body response to chronic stress.

Not all stress is bad. There is stress that allows us to develop: a challenge, a difficult and interesting obstacle. When we overcome it, we learn new things and rejoice in victory.

There is stress that destroys us: prolonged and/or too strong, which overloads the body and provokes physical exhaustion. If you live in such stress for a long time, chronic emotional overstrain occurs, followed by psychological burnout.

The key sign of burnout is its prolonged nature. This is not a bad mood and negative emotions for one day, but an intense, time-extended experience from which it is difficult to get out. This is the cumulative effect of the fact that we have been going “in the wrong direction” for a long time and a signal that we urgently need to change something.

What does it look like. Signs of burnout

Here are the phrases that clients come to me with:

• “I feel bad for no reason”;
• “I don’t see the point in going to work that I used to love so much”;
• “I feel apathy and melancholy”;
• “Chronic fatigue haunts me”;
• “I do and achieve so little, all my achievements are worthless”;
• “I’m stuck at work, and I’m sitting in a daze.”

The key sign of burnout is its prolonged nature. This is not a bad mood and negative emotions for one day, but an intense, time-extended experience from which it is difficult to get out.

The “diagnosis” of emotional burnout is based on very specific markers. The diagnosis is in quotes because this is not an official diagnosis from ICD-10 and not a disease, it is a psychological problem.

With emotional burnout, the symptoms and signs are very different:

1. Health problems - fatigue, insomnia or drowsiness, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, sweating, increased blood pressure, changes in appetite.
2. Mood problems (emotional symptoms) - feelings of sadness, emptiness, pessimistic assessment of the past and future, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, loss of professional prospects, as well as anxiety, worry, cynicism.
3. Difficulties in planning and controlling your actions - rash actions, excessive use of tobacco, alcohol, constant desire to rest.
4. Loss of interest in new things, boredom, melancholy, apathy, condescending attitude towards work.
5. Feelings of isolation, misunderstanding from others, lack of support from loved ones.

Emotional burnout and depression. Emotional burnout has similar symptoms to depression. Indeed, some of the symptoms here are common - low mood, loss of motivation, negative image of the future, both syndromes are chronic. But depression is a clinical disorder that can be biologically caused, for example, by a hormonal imbalance or a serious illness. Depression has a different recovery mechanism. Rest or accumulation of resources, as a rule, will not help much here. And in case of emotional burnout, restoring the balance of “giving” and “taking”, emotional unloading is the most important first step.

Depression and burnout are different and require very different approaches to resolution and recovery.

Why is burnout dangerous?

Burnout is not a one-time phenomenon, but a process characterized by a gradual increase. There is no single generally accepted classification of the stages of burnout. Different researchers identify different numbers of phases in this process. The originator of the term, Freudenberger, originally divided burnout into early and late stages, and he later described 12 stages grouped into three stages. Other psychologists usually distinguish 3–6 phases of the burnout process.

However, all these descriptions of the phases agree on one thing: in the process of burnout there is an initial period of intense “burning”, when a person works too hard, is too involved in work. Some authors point out that this stage is often associated with the desire to fulfill high expectations (others' or one's own).

Konstantin is a new employee in a good company. He is capable and hard-working. Takes on literally all tasks. Helps everyone. Sole of company. One gets the feeling that he is always working, and in all departments at once. It has an advantage that increases stress resistance - it is a change of activities. However, too much work gradually exhausts his body. In order not to “burn out”, Konstantin approaches his work meaningfully: he is interested in everything he does, but tries to vary his working hours himself, balancing the workload and his strengths, he is not afraid to set priorities and sometimes choose one thing, refusing the rest .

Often the process of professional burnout at certain stages causes increased aggressiveness towards not only work, but also towards others.

Gradually, “burning” gives way to emotional exhaustion, and various changes in personal attitudes and behavior begin. Burnout increases in severity over time, and this process can lead to illness.

Victoria has been working at the school for a long time. She considers children to be morons and the modern generation to be degenerates. Parents of students are irresponsible and infantile. The education system as a whole is stupid. Unfortunately, in such a case it is very difficult to overcome the consequences of professional burnout without changing jobs. Victoria needs to carefully analyze her position in life. Global inhibition of destructive behavior strategies and the development of new ones that can improve emotional well-being are necessary. For a believer, salvation from such despondency is the desire to fulfill God’s commandments and the sharing of rejection of sin and love for man.

What are the stages of emotional burnout?

You can assess how bad everything is from a different point of view. There are three stages of emotional burnout:

1. Tension - the psyche resists. Acute experience of problems and conflicts, dissatisfaction with oneself, a feeling of being “caged in a cage,” anxiety, low mood.
2. Resistance - the psyche begins to give in. A person can break down, scream, cry (inadequate emotional response), many things simply no longer evoke emotions, more and more work a person does not complete as “unnecessary”.
3. Exhaustion - the psyche has given up. These are emotional deficit (emotional exhaustion), detachment, psychosomatic disorders.

Levels of emotional burnout gradually replace each other if nothing is done.

How to cope with burnout syndrome?

To overcome work stress, you need to have a good understanding of what exactly a specific person can influence in a given work situation.

All reasons leading to burnout can be divided into two groups:

1. something that depends on the person himself;
2. that which is beyond his control.

A person can organize his work in such a way as to minimize the risks of burnout. Moreover, this applies not only directly to work issues, but also to what a person has outside of work.

For example, one of the key recommendations in this case is to follow the rule of three eights: the day is divided into three parts of 8 hours, and a person should devote 8 hours to work, personal affairs and sleep. Compliance with the daily routine and nutrition, sufficient sleep, rest in general, proper work planning, the habit of not procrastinating, the ability not to stay late at work unless absolutely necessary, having a hobby, adequate self-esteem, personal motivation - there are many factors that protect against the negative effects of work stress . They are amenable to change - some are easier, some are difficult, but if you have the desire, you can correct a lot.

However, there are some things that are more difficult to change. Although the best way to relieve the negative effects of work stress is to have a job that matches a person's abilities and aptitudes, this is not always realistic. Many people, for various reasons, do not do what they love, work only for a salary, etc. At the same time, it is very important to recognize the presence of choice in a global sense. After all, the need to go to a job you don’t like, to endure bosses who are unpleasant to communicate with, the inability to set your own work schedule and set deadlines for completing work, and the inability to influence the level of salary are only conditionally beyond the control of a person. A person’s initial choice to accept a particular job with all its conditions is also a choice. Of course, sometimes this choice is forced and even inevitable, but it is voluntary “slavery.”

Therefore, factors beyond a person’s control are rather the morals and behavior of the people with whom he is forced to interact. Without the use of manipulative technologies, a person’s influence on other people is limited by their desires, their personal choice.

Anna constantly complains about work - both a lot and often, and the salary is small, and her colleagues are unnecessary. And others do nothing, while she works hard. The first thing Anna needs to do to overcome emotional burnout is to stop the flow of complaints. And then - work out your own value and motivational spheres. Understand why she continues to work where she is not happy with everything. And if she chooses to continue working, she must take responsibility for this choice, learn to accept what is, and not blame others for her own dissatisfaction. By the way, as a result of such a strategy, it usually becomes obvious that others are also working hard.

Natalya has a very wide range of tasks at work - not specified either in the contract or in the job description. She does not dare to refuse to her superiors, but the feeling that she has been saddled with a bunch of things that she should not do makes her terribly angry and depressing. Natalya needs to discuss with management the limits of her work responsibilities, learn to calmly and politely express her attitude towards assignments, including correctly refusing to perform those tasks that are not part of her responsibilities. This is a very difficult work with anger - righteous and unrighteous, with resentment. However, trusting in God's help helps to maintain health in these difficult situations.

The deep, “healthy” working goal is the full disclosure of human abilities, the manifestation of the “spark of God.” For this purpose, it would be ideal to find work that has a direction, pace and environment that suits the person's innate abilities. In such a job there will be an optimal level of work stress for a person. However, in reality this is very difficult to achieve.

Work stress...

In a work environment, a person periodically or constantly encounters something that he does not like. Unpleasant “unchangeable factors” cause constant stress in a person. The conclusion suggests itself that if there are things at work that a person does not like, but which he cannot influence, then they will inevitably lead to emotional burnout. However, this is a misconception based on the fact that the concept of stress has become widely used precisely with negative connotations.

Stress is just the body’s reaction (physical and mental) to the influence of various unfavorable factors. This is a normal body function. The set of stress reactions is an adaptation syndrome. Its essence is that the body adapts to the effects of certain factors (stressors). Normally, after a stress reaction, a stabilization stage should occur. Negative, destructive stress - distress (as defined by the author of the theory of stress, G. Selye) is spoken of when adaptive mechanisms cannot cope with the load.

There is a behavioral strategy that can significantly reduce the destructive effects of stress. The mechanisms of the adaptation syndrome are such that by understanding the biological necessity of stress, a person is able to wisely respond to the “stress of continuous change.”

The human central nervous system is the first to respond to stressors. Then the signal is transmitted further - to the hormonal system, etc. Thus, the neuropsychic reaction of a person is of great importance in this process. And whether stress will be destructive or not largely depends on the state of a person’s psyche, on how he himself perceives what is happening.

Therefore, it is worth taking into account the peculiarities of stress reactions of the human psyche. And, first of all, the fact that the presence of distress is determined primarily by human relationships. Gratitude or inattention, affection or hatred, mutual assistance or selfishness - these are the emotional conditions on which a person’s resistance to stress depends.

To prevent and overcome burnout syndrome, there are

• set achievable goals;
• maintain a reasonable balance between work and rest;
• switch, if possible, to another job (“healing stress of distraction” according to G. Selye);
• stick to a simple way of life;
• remember the bright things - don’t concentrate on the bad;
• keep count of your joys;
• Don’t make work your personal tragedy;
• “When trying to win love, do not be friends with a mad dog”, etc.

It is worth noting that secular psychology actively uses the concept of altruistic egoism, reasonable egoism. It is assumed that the basis of behavior that is useful to the individual and society is the desire to earn respect and gratitude, and the implementation of this code of conduct can protect a person from destructive stress.

However, the causes of burnout syndrome are not only purely biological adaptation failures from overload with work and communication or insufficient compensation for labor efforts. Everything is much deeper. Emotional burnout is a syndrome that accompanies a person’s loss of direction in his professional life (or life in general). This condition is associated with the destruction of internal stability - what is called integrity in psychology. It is not without reason that people who are “burning out” often talk about feeling “smeared”, “blurred”, “inability to collect themselves”.

Even with a superficial look at the problem of professional burnout, it becomes obvious that it is only possible to truly overcome it by thoroughly shaking up your life. You need to change your life strategies and organize your time wisely. And the most important thing is to learn to understand yourself well and build your life in harmony with psychological and ethical standards.

Symptoms

For a person suffering from burnout syndrome, personal and family values ​​fade into the background - work takes the main place in his life. When you work hard for some time, a moment inevitably comes: I still strive to do something, but nothing works out. The body, psyche and spirit are “broken” and cannot cope with the load.

In addition, the individual moves away from social life; it is not interesting to him. Depression appears, pain in the back and other parts of the body occurs, and the immune system malfunctions. Rest and vacation do not bring relief, nor does increased use of drugs and alcohol.

It should be borne in mind that CMEA does not fall on a person immediately, but a cumulative effect occurs. That is, it is impossible to wake up one morning and feel: something is wrong with me! Therefore, the patient does not immediately seek help, attributing his condition to loss of strength. But timely treatment can reduce its duration to a minimum. If you notice any of the following symptoms, immediately seek help from a specialist.

Physical symptoms:

• migraine;
• insomnia;
• loss of appetite - its disappearance or, conversely, gluttony, leading to a change in body weight;
• muscle weakness;
• dizziness;
• constant fatigue;
• sweating;
• decreased immunity;
• darkening of the eyes;
• problems with the cardiovascular system;
• increased alcohol consumption.

Psycho-emotional signs of burnout syndrome:

• inferiority complex, lack of self-confidence;
• Bad mood;
• feeling of uselessness;
• indifference;
• dissatisfaction with everyone and everything;
• collapse of one's own ideals;
• hot temper;
• loss of motivation to work;
• cynicism.

This phenomenon is similar in its manifestations to depressive syndrome, since a person feels lonely and unhappy, suffers, and cannot concentrate to perform any operation. At the same time, emotional burnout is tolerated and treated much easier than depression.

Social-behavioral symptoms:

• whining, complaining about hard work and life;
• minimizing communication with people, deliberate isolation from society;
• envy;
• anger;
• blaming others for your troubles and problems;
• the desire to withdraw from responsibility and assigned duties;
• predicting gloomy forecasts on a universal scale or smaller ones, for example, worsening weather.

If the body and mind give signals, then they should be taken seriously and not delay a visit to a psychologist.

It should be borne in mind that emotional burnout, provoked by the characteristics of professional activity, is often accompanied by chronic fatigue syndrome. Typical symptoms of the latter are fatigue, muscle pain, decreased performance and mental activity, and the inability to bear heavy loads that previously seemed normal.

Possible “victims” of professional burnout

Some people are more susceptible to professional burnout than others. First of all, this is:

• workaholics - for them their whole life is work, they often stay late at their desks, take overtime shifts, are always ready to replace colleagues, so fatigue accumulates in the body;
• introverts - they experience discomfort due to shyness, difficulty finding a common language with colleagues, and it is difficult for them to deal with internal experiences;
• people who have internal conflicts - it is difficult for them to understand themselves, they do not know how to build a balance between work and personal life;
• those who have already achieved a lot and do not know where to move next - such people may have a drop in self-esteem, they may stop seeing meaning in their life;
• residents of big cities , where there is a lot of stress and bustle;
• people who have recently changed jobs or are worried about an upcoming certification;
• those over 45 years old - it may be difficult for them to find a new job due to age restrictions.

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As for specific professions, those in the “risk group” are those that involve constant communication with people, which entails nervous strain. Professional burnout most seriously threatens sales managers, doctors, psychologists, social service employees, teachers, lawyers, and company directors.

You need to understand that professional burnout of an employee is not a myth, but a real problem of our time. Businessmen, employees of large companies and workaholics in all fields of activity may encounter it. If burnout is not identified in time and measures are not taken, it will progress, worsening a person’s life. How can you recognize it or even prevent it if you are concerned about the fate of your employees?

Why can’t the psyche stand it?

Because it faces loads that altogether exceed its processing capacity. This can be compared to a fracture - the bone cannot withstand the force of a blow or fall. Or, if a person sits in an uncomfortable position for many years, then at some point the back begins to hurt, and after some time the consequences are the same as in the case of an acute injury. The psyche works thanks to the integrity of neural chains that ensure the stability of emotional reactions, and if these chains are destroyed under the influence of stress, then a person loses his usual internal supports.

That is, emotional burnout is the result of accumulated tension, which for a long time (several months, and sometimes a year) does not receive release in the form of a pause in work, communication with loved ones, or spiritual nourishment in the form of a hobby.

How to Tell if You're Mentally Exhausted

There are several signs of Mental exhaustion symptoms:

• You get tired quickly.
• You get irritated easily.
• Any little thing can upset you.
• You start to be late often and don’t get anything done.
• You can’t take on the next task for a long time, you’re stalling for time.
• You constantly feel depressed.
• Even simple things are difficult and cause fear and panic.
• You suffer from insomnia or, conversely, sleep a lot.
• You are pessimistic about the future.
• You avoid responsibility and find it difficult to make decisions.
• You find it difficult to concentrate.

What professions are in the “risk zone”?

Burnout is work-related, which means that there are professions that are more susceptible to this process:

• programmers,
• businessmen,
• artists,
• athletes,
• bloggers,
• doctors,
• psychologists,
• teachers,
• educators,
• investigators,
• police officers.

What triggers emotional burnout?

• High degree of uncertainty in work;
• irregular work schedule;
• responsibility for creativity;
• the need to set trends;
• excessive demands from management;
• inability to influence something;
• great effort for little pay;
• work associated with high risks;
• a lot of communication;
• the need to be something you are not.

If we talk about character traits, those most prone to emotional burnout are:

• workaholics;
• perfectionists;
• authoritarian people who are tough on themselves and others;
• geniuses, that is, very gifted people in their field who see the meaning of their life and their whole life in their profession;
• those who have lost contact with themselves, when a person cannot determine that he is tired and it’s time to rest - this mechanism for regulating one’s behavior breaks down in childhood;
• people with low self-esteem;
• soft, humane, with developed empathy;
• idealists;
• hyper-responsible.

Nutrition

1. Start your day right. Eat a balanced breakfast that includes complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, protein and healthy fats.

2. Don't overuse coffee. And don’t get carried away with other stimulating drinks either.

3. Carry a bottle of water with you. Try to drink enough liquid. Then you will feel more energetic.

4. Avoid junk food, processed foods and processed foods. Or at least reduce your consumption of such foods.

5. Carefully study the menu in cafes and restaurants. Choose meals that are rich in protein and vegetables.

6. Drink less alcohol. And if you have enough willpower, give it up completely.

7. Pack healthy snacks. Then you won’t have to buy chips and chocolates when you want to eat.

8. Watch when and how much you eat. Try not to overeat or eat late at night.

9. Eat more greens, vegetables and fruits. Nutritionists advise eating more plant foods per day.

10. Enrich your diet. Most likely, you are not getting all the substances your body needs.

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Dealing with burnout takes effort.

Rest

17. Find your optimal sleep time. And stick to it. For some it is 8 hours, for others it is 4. The main thing is to sleep equally long on weekdays and on weekends.

18. Always go to bed and get up at the same time. Also, an hour before bedtime, do not use electronic devices and start an evening ritual. The brain loves routine. Over time, he will associate routine evening activities with feelings of sleepiness.

19. Help your body relax. Avoid caffeine after lunch and avoid strenuous work shortly before bed.

20. Don't work on holidays and weekends. No matter how much you have to do, make time for relaxation. It will reduce stress and improve your mood. As a result, you will be more cheerful and get things done faster.

21. Take breaks. There should be two two-minute breaks for every working hour. This will help you focus and feel less tired at the end of the day.

Reasons for the development of CMEA

As mentioned above, emotional burnout develops due to excessive workload and fatigue. But there are other reasons:

• the need to repeat monotonous actions;
• low labor incentives;
• undeserved criticism from the outside;
• unclear tasks, unattainable goals;
• feeling of uselessness.

This condition is most often encountered by people who have a number of qualities:

• maximalism;
• responsibility;
• daydreaming;
• tendency to idealize.

Those at risk are those who abuse alcoholic drinks and energy drinks, as well as those who care for seriously ill relatives for a long period of time.

It is noteworthy that housewives can also develop SEV. They are oppressed by monotony and a feeling of uselessness. A good example is young mothers on maternity leave.