The warning signals of “burnout” that you should not ignore

Burnout is more than exhaustion and often makes people feel negative feelings at work and themselves. Understand if chronic stress is overturning you towards the burnout.

In 2020, Amy was at the height of his career as a marketing manager in one of the largest health companies in the world, working under constant pressure.

He was organizing an event when he suddenly felt dizziness. “I thought I was dehydrated or perhaps had not fed well, but that feeling continued. From that moment on, everything was a little confused,” he says.

Amy remembers having constantly listened to a tinnitus and told her husband that she felt she was “sick and drunk in a boat”.

“Suddenly, I felt incapable,” he recalls.

Amy had to take a medical license and moved away from work for months. “My mental health deteriorated. I passed out in the shower, I could not take care of my children. My body was saying, stop!”

Mental tiredness, fatigue, lack of enthusiasm at work: the signs of burnout They are easy to ignore, but this can have serious health consequences.

It was only recently that Amy understood that he lived in burnout. There were warning signals, while working as if it were on the “automatic pilot”.

Christina Maslach, professor of psychology emerging at the University of California, Berkeley, was the first to use the term ‘burnout‘Decades ago. Defines as “a response to chronic stress at work that has not been well administered”.

“It is not a medical condition, so it cannot be treated in this way,” he explains.

The World Health Organization recognized Maslach’s work in burnout In 2019, describing a series of symptoms.

“We are working too hard,” warns Professor Heejung Chung, director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership of the King’s College London.

“The culture of being” always connected “that developed with digitization is increasing the levels of burnout – The workers cannot be distant, physical and psychologically, from work. “

Chung warns that the burnout It is a global problem, with some countries that report that over 70% of their workers are hit. It is also expensive, it costs to the United Kingdom economy over 102 billion pounds ($ 772 billion) per year, according to a survey by 2024 by the Axa insurance company.

In 2023, 421 people were removed from work by burnout In Brazil – Most number of the last ten years, according to data from the National Institute of Social Security (IS), the Ministry of Social Security.

The increase occurred mainly during the pandemic. 178 Removal of burnoutIn 2019, Brazil went to 421, in 2023, a growth of 136%.

One of the main causes of burnout It is chronic stress at work, where situations are often outside our control. A survey conducted in 2020 with 20,000 German workers revealed that 60% of them had multitasking requests, 48% felt time and performance, 46% dealt with work breaks, while 34% reported working at a quick pace.

Although the burnout Generally associated with paid works, researchers have often found cases of burnout In students, parents and caregiver. The psychotherapist Claire Plummy stresses that this mainly affects women.

“Most of the accusation of this double working day falls on women,” he says.

Identify the symptoms

In addition to tiredness, experts indicate two other symptoms that may indicate a burnout And not only exhaustion: the growing contempt for the work you are doing and a negative vision of yourself.

He strongly explains that you may not even notice these symptoms that appear to work. For example, in terms of productivity, it highlights situations such as “the teacher who writes a class plan” a line “or stop preparing for meetings and presentations”.

Many people dream of awake with a way to escape that situation.

“You can have thoughts of evasion, fantasies of someone who assume all your responsibilities. I heard the patients say: ‘I would like to become covered,” he says.

The five phases of burnout

• Period of the Moon Miele- You say yes to everything, but forget how much things do to do. You end up taking more work than it should and stress appears accordingly.
• Abandonment – You stop doing things that were once important for you, like going out with friends or meetings. You can lose your repertoire complete with experiences, stop enjoying activities they loved. The works that require concentration can become a challenge and you can experience the feeling of the tired mind.
• Without motivation – The constantly annoyed humor can turn into apathy. This can evolve in a sense of distancing, in which you don’t feel very present in everyday life. The effort of compassion- when you find no energy to put yourself in the role of others, can arise. You end up losing your sense of realization and you feel ineffective.
• Burnout – When a person reaches the phase of burnoutHe feels completely exhausted and emotionally exhausted. You can continue working, but you have difficulty maintaining a routine.
• Collapse – The final phase is the burnout Clinical, when the person no longer wants to leave the bed. Previous generations can describe it as a “collapse”. Therapists report cases of people who “have” completely “completely” cannot speak or leave the house, others have panic attacks. Recovery can take months or even years.

Six factors that increase the risk of A burnout

• Workload – Have a work overload, with many activities to carry out, but little time or tools to perform them.
• Lack of control –Have little autonomy in daily decisions.
• Little recognition – Not receiving awards or prizes to do something good. You feel like a march in a great project, without visibility of the final product.
• Compromise Relations – Unshastible relationships with supervisors, colleagues, patients and customers, making it difficult to solve problems and create a toxic environment in which there is the risk of being intimidated.
• Lack of justice – Go through situations of discrimination, inequality at work or find barriers to grow professionally.
• Conflict of value – See little sense in your work or work in an environment that generates an ethical conflict in you.

How to recover from A burnout

Professor Sabine Sonnentag studied the ability of workers to disconnect the work with high levels of stress at the end of the day.

He discovered that workers who “mentally disconnect from work after dealing with many requests” are less likely to cross situations of emotional exhaustion e Burnout.

Plummy recommends looking for a person you can talk to so that “they can show you a light at the end of the tunnel”. It doesn’t have to be a psychologist, it can be a friend or colleague.

“Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to make drastic changes in your life, how to leave your work, to recover from a burnout“Says Claire Ashley, author of the book Dr. Burnout (Medical burnout, free translation). Instead, it suggests focusing on three areas: control of her work, her well -being and the construction of a support network around her.

To understand what is under your control, Ashley recommends making Stephen Covey’s control sphere online, which helps people identify what they can really change.

The exercise, proposed by the American writer Stephen Covey, brings questions like “If I can’t control or change it, can I accept?”

The work of Russ Harris, a doctor and psychotherapist, who proposes to analyze demanding situations from three options, also mentions: exit, stay and live according to their values, or remain and give up acting effectively.

Although these options have been developed to improve the mental health of people in difficult times (Harris has worked widely with the World Health Organization in the refugee camps), Ashley says that these principles can also be used during the recovery of a burnout.

“Identify its values ​​is the fourth step in the recovery process of A burnoutAnd it is essential to do it, because every decision you take from there must be aligned with these values, “he explains.

Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.