About Burnout
Learn what causes burnout, the signs to look out for and how to recover
At times we can all feel under pressure at work – deadlines, demanding clients, difficult colleagues.
When the demands are greater than you feel you can cope with, you're likely to feel stressed.
If this goes on for an extended period (think months or years) then burnout may not be too far away.
This page explains what burnout is, why it occurs, the symptoms and signs to look for, as well as sharing some pointers on burnout recovery.
What is burnout?
The World Health Organisation (1) classifies burnout as:
a psycho-biological syndrome that results from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.
What is clear when we see this definition is that it is context specific (work) and, that there are clear ways to diagnose it. A syndrome is a collection of symptoms or signs associated with a known health issue.
Burnout is more than tired
According to the WHO burnout happens at the intersection of
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complete physical and emotional exhaustion;
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mental detachment from your job/workplace or negative feelings towards role ; and
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low sense of effectiveness.
The three dimensions of burnout
The most easily recognisable component of these is exhaustion. In fact, people almost brag about their tiredness or how exhausted they are from their busyness. They may wear it like a badge of honour.
You are less likely to hear about their sense of ineffectiveness or their detachment and cynicism. Such talk is seen as unprofessional.
What will you notice in yourself?
Researchers have created burnout audits, called inventories, as a means to identify when someone is suffering from burnout.
The statements below are curated from the Maslach and Oldenburg inventories.
Cynicism
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You talk and/or think negatively about the organisation, culture and management
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You no longer care about your work or clients
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You're no longer interested in your colleagues
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You feel resentment towards your colleagues
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Your work no longer interests you
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You find your job dull
Exhaustion
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You are tired before you arrive at work
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You feel emotionally drained after work
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You are worn out at the end of each work day
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You feel constantly under pressure
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You have no energy for anything outside of work
Efficacy
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You are taking longer to get started and/or do things
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You are unable to concentrate, problem solve or make decisions
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You are just going through the motions
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You are impatient or irritable with co-workers/clients
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You feel useless and have lost confidence in yourself
If you can tick most of these, then you may be struggling with work-related stress and on your way to Burnout Hotel.
A few of these may also indicate another health condition such as depression.
ACTION! Whether you can tick some or all of the above statements - it's time speak to your manager and EAP provider or other health professional
What causes burnout?
Burnout is caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It happens when all coping strategies someone has tried have failed and they become worn out (physically, mentally, and emotionally).
What’s interesting is that not everyone who works in a highly demanding role burns out.
Whilst exhaustion (a natural consequence of intense physical, mental, or emotional demand/strain) is a component, according to research (2) Burnout only results when factors known to support worker wellbeing are low or lacking.
Workplace factors known to reduce the likelihood of burnout and increase engagement
In other words, it’s due to an imbalance.
When job demands (let's call them drainers) are high but protective or supportive resources (what might be called sustainers) are low, workers check-in to Burnout Hotel, a place to recover from exhaustion and futility.
The burnout equation
How does burnout develop?
At the heart of burnout is physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, an inability to continue, but how do we end up in that state?
It all starts when we conscientiously make room in our lives to accommodate something at work. We might start earlier, skip breaks and/or work late. We can do this now and again but, if it begins to become a regular thing then things can start to wrong.
The pressure starts to impact us and we might find ourselves waking in the night, causing us to sleep poorly and wake feeling tired.
This leads to feeling mentally/physically tired at the start of the day. In that state we are not going to do our best work and can struggle to meet work demands.
This leads to feelings of worry, stress and low confidence which leads to working longer and more intensely, perhaps bringing work home.
The more this goes on the more likely you are to give up things that were once important to you - time with family, socialising, exercise, hobbies. Everything stops and work becomes your main focus.
If we end up in this vicious spiral of decline for too long then increasingly signs of burnout materialise until we end up in an empty and exhausted state, circling the drain.
Burnout does not go away by itself
Thanks to the resilience of the human body, burnout doesn’t happen overnight. We burn out when we have nothing left (physically, mentally, or emotionally) to deal with what's being asked of us.
This means that as soon as you recognise you are no longer coping, it is important to ask for support and not soldier on believing things will come right. The sooner you do, the sooner you recover.
Stress hormones circulating in the blood long term will impact every part of your body and can lead to serious mental and/or physical health issues.
When I burned out, I had a sense that things were not right. I had not been my life-loving self for some time. I was permanently tired, and everything felt effort-some.
I was going through the motions, witnessing but not engaging, feeling more and more distanced from my role, colleagues, and life in general.
Nothing held meaning and all felt worthless, including me.
How to recover from burnout
When I work with someone who has burned out or is close to doing so, the first thing I tell them is that recovery is like burning out, it takes a long time.
Burnout recovery requires rest and rediscovery
Your body is worn out so you must remove the stressors and take things easy for awhile. The length of time you need to rest will depend how long you have been struggling for.
Once you're feeling less overwhelmed, overworked and over-scheduled, you can begin to piece yourself and your life back together.
For example, you will have made space in your life to cope with the extra demands at work. To do so, you will have let go of activities that you felt were unnecessary but that actually sustained you.
Just as we need regular credits into our bank account in order to stay balanced, we need these elements in our lives. They restore and sustain us.
Activities that restore and sustain us
This means during your recovery, it is important to re-find and re-establish the parts of your life that you let go of and, make a pledge to never let go of them again.
They are the all important credits to your mental wealth account.
Without them, you are likely to find yourself becoming overdrawn and burned again.
References
1. World Health Organization. (2022). ICD-11: International classification of diseases (11th revision)
2. Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2006). Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 309-328.
Ready to end burnout?
I've been there and I know how hard it is to admit that things aren't right but everyone wants you fit for work.
If you recognise yourself in this article then it's time to make some changes. I can support you in making them.
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