“I can’t take it anymore, I’m going crazy!” Who among us has not uttered such words at least once? And although we usually exaggerate, burnout at work, different from the effects of stress and depression, is now spreading like an epidemic. A few words about eyelid disease and its early symptoms.
“I don’t have any strength”, “I don’t feel anything”, “Everyone got me”, “I no longer believe in myself” … These or similar phrases have probably been uttered more than once by ourselves; we hear them from our relatives and colleagues. It seems that we have forgotten how to cope with life. What is this misfortune that has engulfed the entire society? Another fashion fad?
Such an explanation would be convenient and comforting and would allow us to breathe a sigh of relief. But alas, apathy, headaches, aversion to work, a feeling of uselessness, fatigue that does not go away – all these are signs of emotional burnout that occurs under the influence of stress, sometimes accompanied by depression, but is not limited to them.
It affects people of different social circles and professions. It also calls into question our values and goals, our way of life, our relationship with our profession. The philosopher Pascal Chabot leaves no room for illusions. No, this is not fashion, but a modern “disease of civilization” – like melancholy in the XNUMXth century, neurasthenia in the early XNUMXth century, paranoia between the two wars.
Burnout, which arose 40 years ago among workers in “helping professions”, today affected all professions
These collective diseases reveal a breakdown in the relationship between the individual and society, and it is not clear who is more to blame: a society that has created a cult of speed, productivity and efficiency, or a person who has fallen into the trap of an insatiable thirst for success and recognition.
Burnout, which arose about forty years ago among workers in “helping professions” (teachers, doctors, social workers), today has affected all professions, says existential therapist Svetlana Krivtsova. Women are especially affected by it. The reasons are obvious: gender inequality at work, a woman’s place in the family…
Burnout is a derivative of stress, its last stage, when a person is already exhausted. Most often they talk and write about burnout at work, losing sight of the fact that you can burn out emotionally at home, Svetlana Krivtsova recalls (for example, in a situation where you have to take care of a parent who has dementia for years, or endure bullying from a husband / mother-in-law) .
Burnout, adds Maria Makarushkina, a counseling psychologist, strikes almost without warning. “I didn’t notice anything. It’s just that one day my fuses suddenly blew,” something like this is usually said by “victims”. Although the prerequisites were there: work overload, lack of support from management, isolation, sleep disturbance, obsessive thoughts, stomach pains, conflicts at home… and categorical denial of problems.
In the International Classification of Diseases, emotional burnout is defined as “overwork, depletion of vitality”
The warnings of relatives or doctors do not work: the one who is threatened with burnout does not notice for a long time that he is exhausted. At first, he is pleased with his increased involvement: “You don’t understand. I want to develop!” Then he scolds himself for not living up to his high expectations: “You don’t understand! This is urgent!”
This constant “you don’t understand” is a wake-up call, warns Saskia Schoffel, a French student whose father killed himself due to depression. Now she is fighting to have burnout recognized as an occupational disease. We hope that our material will help you notice the alarming symptoms and prevent burnout in yourself or your loved ones.
What is emotional burnout?
Burnout Syndrome (BES) is a state of physical, emotional or motivational exhaustion in which productivity at work suffers, there is a feeling of fatigue, insomnia, and the risk of somatic diseases increases. So the body protects us from excessive loads and stress.
In the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), this syndrome is classified as a disease with the general name “Problems associated with the difficulties of organizing a normal lifestyle” and is defined as “overwork, depletion of vitality.” There are three types of burnout symptoms:
- emotional exhaustion (feelings of emptiness and fatigue);
- depersonalization (coldness, cynicism);
- reduction of professional achievements (underestimation of success, feeling of own incompetence, helplessness).