Blood tests and the measurement of the stress hormone in saliva can help predict people at risk of burnout, according to a study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. In the future, this could result in new ways to help burnout workers.
As the authors of the article remind, burnout causes not only problems at work or mental suffering, but – if ignored – threatens physical and mental health.
The International Labor Organization estimates that burnout, depression or work-related anxiety states at least 10 percent. inhabitants of North America and Europe.
Scientists from the Hospital of Sir Louis H. Lafontaine and the University of Montreal checked whether the risk of burnout in a healthy person could be assessed on the basis of various physiological indicators. They assumed that chronic stress can overload organs and systems by influencing the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol.
According to the researchers, while patients with depression have elevated levels of cortisol, people who are burned out have a tendency to lower levels of this hormone. Cortisol regulates our body’s response to stress. It is not good if its concentration is kept too high for a long time, but the state with too little of it is also not good. A correct reaction to stress is a necessary condition for normal human functioning in the environment.
The latest research was carried out on a group of 30 healthy middle-aged workers of various professions. They were measured from 15 different indices reflecting the functioning of systems and processes affected by chronic stress, such as the endocrine, immune, heart and circulatory systems, and metabolic processes. The measurements concerned, inter alia, blood levels of insulin, glucose and cholesterol, blood pressure and pro-inflammatory factors. This allowed the researchers to calculate something like the body’s physiological burnout index (the so-called allostatic stress index). It is used, inter alia, in to assess the risk of metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and immune disorders.
The participants were also subjected to a stress test, and then the levels of two compounds secreted in stressful situations were measured in their saliva – i.e. cortisol and alpha-amylase.
The cortisol level was measured over two days, five times each time – i.e. right after waking up, 30 minutes after waking up, at 14, 16 and before going to bed. The respondents also completed questionnaires helpful in the assessment of chronic stress, burnout and depression.
It turned out that people who had a high index of physiological load on the body more often obtained results indicating chronic stress and occupational burnout, but not depression. Moreover, these subjects also had lower morning cortisol levels and stress responses. Similar relationships were not observed with alpha-amylase.
According to the lead researcher, Dr. Robert-Paul Juster, the research indicates that workers exposed to burnout have lower salivary cortisol levels and more dysregulated physiological processes.
According to scientists, further research is necessary to verify whether these are in fact the hallmarks of occupational burnout. This is extremely important as there is currently no consensus on the diagnostic criteria for this ailment, and its symptoms often resemble those of depression. Researchers hope that their work will help people at risk of burnout more effectively. As they recall, nowadays they often use antidepressants, which indirectly contribute to lowering the level of cortisol. Meanwhile, if it is lowered anyway, such an approach may be wrong, points out Dr. Juster. (PAP)