Is there anyone who does not suffer from stress and anxiety? Almost no, but a degree of tension can lead you to significant psychological and physical problems that many people cannot imagine. If you feel overwhelmed and lazy, even simple tasks think a lot of stress to complete, or you find yourself so exhausted that you rush into anger or frustration. You may be suffering from psychological burnout, and here you need to pay attention because it may be more severe than you expect.
Currently, we are living in a time of incredibly psychological burnout. It is widespread due to the nature of the era in which we live; look around well, and you will find not a few of your friends, colleagues and family members are constantly tired and constantly, physically and emotionally.
Psychological burnout is associated with a stressful job, but this is not the only reason, albeit the most prominent. It can affect many areas of your life and even cause health problems. Fortunately, there are ways by which you can cope with this often debilitating condition and overcome it; in some cases, you need to consult a doctor.
Here we are talking about this psychological state, its minuses, and how to distinguish and deal with it.
Burnout vs extreme fatigue
Psychological burnout can be difficult to describe; it is not a specific medical condition. According to the “APA” Dictionary of psychology, burnout is physical, emotional or mental stress accompanied by decreased motivation, decreased performance, and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.
The problem, in this case, is that you may not realize that you have it until it’s too late when you cross the line between real psychological burnout and a state of exhaustion so severe that you can’t do anything. The problem increases even more if you like to stay busy, and you may not realize that you are already pushing yourself and your body out of bounds.
Let’s give some examples here to clarify the nature of this frightening situation; if you work in more than one job for a long time to provide the basics of life for your family, this is somewhat understandable despite the significant fatigue. Still, the problem is if you are doing the same thing just because you want to provide everything for your children or some family members, do not bully them. Here you are “burning” yourself and your body exaggeratedly, resulting in constant fatigue and fatigue without a real need to be satisfied for all this work.
These are the reasons for the occurrence of psychological burnout.
Burnout occurs when your work-life balance goes out of sync; this was common, and we may have seen it clearly during the covid-19 pandemic, with the increase of remote work and the infiltration of business-related technology into our home’s daily lives.
The stress that contributes to mental burnout can also come from your general lifestyle and job pressure; some personality traits and thinking patterns, such as perfectionism and pessimism, can also contribute to the ease of reaching a state of mental burnout.
Here we can point out eight factors that can contribute to the occurrence of significant psychological burnout:
- Worry about money.
- Work from home.
- Worry about job security or job loss.
- Isolation and loneliness.
- Physical health problems such as not eating healthy food or those habits that are harmful to health.
- Sleep problems.
- Social relations and associated responsibilities.
- Caring about others more than yourself.
Problems of psychological burnout
Burnout is not something that goes away on its own; it can even worsen unless the underlying problems it causes are addressed. If you ignore the signs of burnout, it can cause further damage to your physical and mental health in the future. You may also lose the ability and energy to meet your job’s demands effectively, which may indirectly affect other areas of your life. These are some of the dangers of psychological burnout:
- The real danger of psychological burnout lies in people distancing themselves emotionally and cognitively, not only from work but from the people with whom they work.
- Treat others (co-workers, clients) with cynical and emotionless behaviour.
- Burnout sufferers are likelier to initiate interpersonal conflicts at work and be hostile to others.
- Lack of personal efficiency and productivity.
- A 26 to 35% higher risk of premature death (deaths under the age of 45).
- Three times more likely to develop depression and coronary heart disease in the future.
- Increased risk of Type 2 diabetes by 200%.
Signs and symptoms of psychological burnout
Symptoms can vary from person to person depending on several factors, including individual abilities in dealing with stress and the nature of the stress itself. The point here is that reaching the psychological burnout stage has adverse physical, mental, and emotional effects. These are some of the symptoms:
1-Fatigue. You’re drained all the time.
Fatigue is one of the main symptoms of burnout, and it can affect all areas of your life; you may feel like sleeping all the time or find that even simple tasks take longer to complete; in general, you will feel drained all the time.
For example, people have a hard time trying to balance work and parenting responsibilities, which makes you feel constantly shortened all the time towards one or both of them; this means a feeling of running all the time without self-satisfaction.
2-Feeling apathy or dissatisfaction with your work. I’m a robot!
Everyone has days when they don’t want to get out of bed and go to work; when these feelings persist, they become a problem; many people with burnout find themselves wondering: what is the point of what I do? Does the work I do really make a difference? Do I enjoy what I’m doing, or is it just a routine that I do like robots?? All these questions indicate a state of dissatisfaction with the work you are doing.
Such questions can be found in workers at all stages of their careers, and you can notice that there are people, who have not had a year or two in their field, or maybe they graduated from college months ago, and they feel this state of dissatisfaction.
3-Headaches. The desire to bang your head into the wall
Tension headaches are a common side effect of burnout; this symptom you will find recurring quite often.
4-Changes in your diet or sleep patterns
Humans are creatures associated with habits, and when we witness changes in these habits, it is often a sign that something is wrong; this is undoubtedly the case with psychological burnout.
Here, notice any significant changes in the diet, such as eating more or less than usual or not adhering to a healthy diet. Also, seeing any changes in your sleep patterns, sleeping at different times, or feeling the need to get more or fewer hours of sleep than usual may be another sign.
Other signs are
- decreased immunity and frequent illnesses,
- frequent muscle aches,
- failure and self-doubt,
- detachment and loneliness in the world,
- an increasingly pessimistic outlook,
- withdrawal from responsibilities,
- wasting time,
- taking out your frustrations on others,
- coming to work late and leaving early.
What to do if you suffer from mental burnout?
Realizing that you are experiencing burnout is often the first step to making a recovery plan; you may not necessarily recognize it in its early stages. As mentioned, you will often notice it in relatively advanced stages when unusual big things happen.
These are some of the things that help you get back on the right track:
- In mental health care, visiting a therapist is often an excellent first step to dealing with burnout or finding a safe place to talk to someone who is not a family member, friend, co-worker, or neighbor but a neutral, trained person.
- Have clear breaks in your schedule; you should stay away from the computer, the phone, or any source of stress.
- Exercise; doing some kind of physical exercise will be a good and helpful tool for coping; only you need a few minutes every day.
- Practice meditation; you can do this by taking deep breaths that force you to focus on each inhalation and exhalation.
- Establish a daily routine; establish a healthy daily routine for sleep and diet, and a dedicated time for anything but work is crucial; perhaps you need to pay attention to the social aspects of your life.
- Start building and enforcing boundaries between work and life; psychological burnout is expected because we often have difficulty saying No; therefore, you should say no to anything that crosses the edges of the other end of your life.
- Determine your financial budget in advance, setting priorities and sub-priorities.
- Discover and practice a hobby. If you don’t necessarily feel good at work, looking for something outside of work can often help you by starting a hobby, volunteering, or joining a club or organization; this is crucial;
- You can even learn something new, provided it takes a long time to learn, such as language and playing an instrument.
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Sources:
- What contributes to burnout
- What Is Burnout
- Examining reactivity patterns in burnout and other indicators of chronic stress
- Burnout Symptoms and Treatment
- Burnout Prevention and Treatment
- The Danger of Burnout in the Workplace
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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The post Why Psychological Burnout Is a Serious Problem appeared first on The Good Men Project.
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