Burnout of Employees

Professional burnout is a serious problem for both employees and companies. Burnout can affect a person’s physical and mental health, as well as their professional abilities. In this article, we will look at the causes and signs of professional burnout, how to prevent it and what to do.

What is professional burnout

Professional burnout is a state of exhaustion caused by prolonged stress and overload at work. Burnout can be attributed to the protective reaction of the human psyche to traumatic events. Burnout is most often caused by internal corporate processes, and burnout at work can be a consequence of prolonged stress caused by various reasons unrelated to work. 

According to the definition of the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome that occurs as a result of chronic stress at work, which a person cannot cope with. This syndrome is even included in the ICD – the International Classification of Diseases. 

It would be a mistake to take up work with triple strength, feeling signs of burnout. It often leads to a state of even greater depression and a sense of hopelessness. This is how a person gets trapped in a routine and loses the strength and energy to find a way out of a vicious circle. The level of the stress hormone cortisol is increasing in the body, a person feels exhausted, but constant anxiety does not allow them to take a break and allow themselves to rest.

What types of professional burnout are divided into

There are several types of professional burnout, depending on the reasons why this happened:

1. It appears when an employee risks his health and personal life for working results. This type of burnout is associated with overload.
2. It appears when an employee feels underestimated and does not see opportunities for growth. This type of burnout can occur even when an employee is not overloaded.
3. It appears when an employee, according to internal feelings, believes he is not coping with the assigned functions and feels uselessness and lack of competence, even when this is not the case.

What are the symptoms and stages of burnout

Symptoms of burnout

The symptoms of burnout faced by tired workers include:

• Lack of joy and satisfaction from work.
• Feelings of guilt and anxiety.
• Inability to focus on work tasks.
• Insomnia or drowsiness and a constant feeling of fatigue.
• There are physiological, emotional and behavioural symptoms of professional burnout. From the outside, one can only notice behavioural symptoms that manifest as a result of negative emotions and physiological ailments.
• Among the emotional symptoms of burnout, one can distinguish a decrease in self-esteem, motivation, satisfaction from life, negative thoughts, a feeling of being trapped, and a sense of loneliness.
• Among the physiological symptoms of burnout, there is often a change in appetite towards an uncontrolled increase or vice versa, refusal to eat, a feeling of various pains in the body, digestive disorders, and a tendency to frequent colds.
• Behavioural symptoms that are difficult to miss include:
  • Unwillingness to communicate and work.
  • Irritability.
  • A tendency to postpone work until deadlines are over.
  • The appearance or aggravation of bad habits.
  • A decrease in employee efficiency.

Burnout stages

The stages of burnout vary according to the increase in the employee’s negativity towards work.

1. The first stage of “Saving the world” is that the employee is full of energy, works without lunch breaks, often at the expense of weekends and night sleep, and eats randomly.
2. The second stage is “Something is going wrong”: continuous work does not go unnoticed, health worries, but the desire to work is still strong, the employee shrugs off the symptoms of ill health.
3. The third stage is “Tension increases”: there is a dispersion of attention and forgetfulness about work tasks. The old desire to “catch up and overtake” disappears. Deadlines are disrupted, conflicts with management and colleagues arise, and dissatisfaction with work accumulates.
4. The fourth stage is “Waiting for the Big Bang”: health problems worsen, and sleep problems appear. Additionally, relationships with loved ones deteriorate, and there is a desire to be isolated. Work tasks are demotivating, and performance is reduced. An employee loses the meaning of work, but the “diagnosis” is often not yet apparent to him.

How to distinguish burnout from depression and fatigue

Fatigue and laziness still pass after resting and engaging in an exciting hobby. You will not be able to get out of the burnout state by willpower, or distract yourself from it by switching to something else, since there are no more forces left. Unlike fatigue, burnout symptoms do not go away after rest. A person himself may think that he is just lazy, thinking that something needs to be done, but laziness leads to anxiety. 

The fact that you are not tired, but the presence of the following symptoms can determine burnout:

• Pessimism and increased anxiety.
• The feeling that everyone is unhappy with you, that you are guilty of something.
• Constant negative thoughts and memory impairment.
• Uncontrolled appetite or unwillingness to eat.
• Colds, fatigue.
• Lack of interest in what used to interest you.
• Being late for work and not wanting to do it.
• A decrease in enthusiasm for work and a fascination with mood stimulants.

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between burnout and depression on your own since depression follows from burnout if you do not determine your condition in time. Symptoms of depression are often similar to symptoms of burnout. We recommend contacting a psychotherapist when you have thoughts of suicide, a pathological sense of guilt, a lack of faith in the future, and a feeling of extreme fatigue. You will not be able to cope with depression on your own.

Who can burn out

The peculiarity of burnout is that people who are highly motivated and involved in work from the beginning can burn out, lose interest in life, and work faster than others. Employees wholly absorbed in work devote as much time to it as possible. However, this can lead to overworking, inability to disconnect from work and a constant desire to work even in your spare time. The lack of rest begins to affect your well-being negatively, and when you realise this, it’s too late: the work has taken all your strength, and it has become difficult and unpleasant.

The causes of burnout may be the same, but they manifest themselves differently depending on the circumstances. Hyper-responsible and striving for perfection, people who always try to please and achieve high results are especially susceptible to this.

Employees who face constant criticism and pressure, contradictory instructions, and a lack of communication culture in the team and from management can burn out. An irregular work schedule with high responsibility and no switching options also leads to professional burnout.

At risk for burnout:

• Top management and heads of company departments due to multitasking and irregular employment.
• Employees whose functions are related to constant communication with people include doctors, teachers, psychologists, customer service specialists, and emergency services staff.
• Freelancers and remote workers often burn out due to the demands from management and clients to always be online or in touch, even after hours. Therefore, they cannot disconnect their thoughts from work tasks.

How not to burn out

You can prevent professional burnout if you learn how to set goals, plan, and act. The anticipation of positive results stimulates the production of the hormone dopamine in the body, which helps to avoid burnout. Actions aimed at achieving your goals increase self-esteem and self-worth.

If you feel that burnout is possible, make two lists:

1. A list of activities you enjoy. Try to do at least some things on this list daily.
2. A list of things that take away your strength. Try to delegate such cases or do them less often.

If you have already discovered burnout, take urgent measures to improve your condition:

1. Conversation with the supervisor

Try to formulate your problem and talk to your supervisor. You may be able to remove what causes burnout from your work.

2. Support

Close people can listen to your problems, contact them. When this is not possible, or you are not sure that your loved ones are ready to support you, contact a psychotherapist.

3. Physical activity

Get into the habit of going to the gym regularly or at least doing exercises. Physical activity helps to cope with stress, distracts from sad thoughts and leads to an excellent physical shape as a bonus.

4. Sleep

Try to fall asleep and wake up at the same time. This way, you will restore your well-being.

5. Mindfulness practices

Try to focus on your breathing, on your feelings and sensations, on what you are doing. Mindfulness practices help you be more open.

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