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Burnout : What is it and how to identify the signs ?
Burnout can happen to anyone who is routinely exposed to high levels of stress whether work related or not.
When experiencing Burnout people often feel like they have nothing left to give and may dread getting out of bed in the morning, they begin to adopt a pessimistic outlook toward life. Burnout is often misunderstood and stigmatized.
Psychologist Herbert Frauedenberger first coined the word in 1974 in his book titled " Burnout : The high cost of High Achievement ”. He defined it as “ the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or a relationship fails to produce the desired result ”. Unlike the cold or the flu, burnout does not happen all at once.
Being a perfectionist, having a Type A personality style, needing to be in control are few of the factors that increase the risk of getting burnout.
Psychologist Herbert Frauedenberger and Gail North have outlined 12 phases for Burnout which are as follows :
- Excessive drive and ambition.
- Pushing yourself to work harder.
- Neglecting your own needs – where you begin to sacrifice on eating well, quality sleep and exercise.
- Displacement of conflict – instead of acknowledging that you are pushing yourself to the max, you blame the demands of your job or other factors for your troubles.
- You have no time for non- work related needs – somewhere along the line your values get revised, and work becomes the sole focus often at the expense of family and friends.
- Denial – instead of taking responsibility for your behaviours, you blame others by seeing them as incompetent, lazy and overbearing.
- Withdraw – you start to withdraw from family and your social circles.
- Behavioural changes - you may become more aggressive and snap at loved ones for no reason.
- De-personalization – you start to feel detached from your life and your ability to be in control of your life.
- Inner emptiness – you may start to feel empty or anxious and as a result turn to over eating, gambling, substance use as a way of coping.
- Depressed – life loses its meaning and you begin to feel hopeless and directionless.
- Mental/physical collapse - this can impact your ability to cope.
Signs to look out for to spot Burnout.
- Exhaustion – daily tasks like cooking a meal or taking a shower can feel burdensome, a long day at work can feel impossible to get through – this happens because burnout causes us to feel psychologically overwhelmed.
- Feeling dread and a lack of motivation – if you are experiencing burnout, you may find that taking a short vacation or having a weekend to unwind does not improve your motivation and enthusiasm levels.
- Sleep issues - Burnout can cause falling asleep and or staying asleep difficult. Sometimes it can lead to sleeping too little or oversleeping.
- Inconsistent appetite – burnout affects our appetite and we may find ourselves craving for comfort foods.
- Cynicism and Irritability – your mood can be the first thing to plummet in the early stages of burnout. You start feeling that your dreams are not worth pursuing and relationships are not worthwhile.
- You fall sick more often – burnout affects your immune system and you may observe you are catching a cold more easily.
- You have difficulty concentrating and focusing on tasks.
- A sense of detachment – you will begin to feel a sense of emotional lethargy, emotional numbness and feeling listless.
Burnout is more that chronic stress, it marks an accumulation of tension, exertion, and hopelessness.
If we feel overwhelmed, under appreciated and powerless to make effective changes in our responsibilities in work and home then burnout is more likely to occur.