How to avoid burnout at work? How to deal with burnout.

On November 27, 2014, a lecture by the famous Austrian psychotherapist, founder of modern existential analysis, Alfried Langle, took place on the topic “Emotional burnout - ashes after fireworks. Existential-analytical understanding and prevention ”. We publish the text of the lecture in a small abbreviation.

Emotional burn-out is a symptom of our time. This is a state of exhaustion, which leads to the paralysis of our strengths, feelings and is accompanied by a loss of joy in relation to life.

In these stressful times, cases of burnout syndrome are increasing. This applies not only social professions, for which the burnout syndrome was characteristic earlier, but also other professions, as well as a person's personal life.

Our era contributes to the spread of burnout syndrome- the time of achievement, consumption, new materialism, entertainment and enjoyment of life. This is the time when we exploit ourselves and allow ourselves to be exploited. This is what I would like to talk about today.

First, I will describe burnout syndrome and say a few words about how it can be recognized. Then I will try to explain the background against which this syndrome occurs, and then give a short overview of how to work with burnout syndrome and show how you can prevent it.

Alfried Lengle is an Austrian psychologist, psychotherapist. On the basis of logotherapy and logoanalysis, he developed a new direction in psychotherapy, called existential analysis.

Mild burnout

Who doesn't know the symptoms of burnout? I think that every person has ever felt them. We show signs of exhaustion in ourselves if we have experienced great stress, carried out something large-scale. For example, if we were preparing for exams, working on a project, writing a dissertation, or raising two small children. It happens that at work it took a lot of effort, there were some crisis situations, or, for example, during the flu epidemic, doctors had to work very hard.

And then symptoms like irritability, lack of desire, sleep disturbance(when a person cannot fall asleep, or, conversely, sleeps for a very long time), decreased motivation, the person feels mostly uncomfortable, depressive symptoms may appear.

This is a simple version of burnout - burnout at the reaction level, a physiological and psychological reaction to excessive stress. When the situation is over, the symptoms disappear on their own. In this case, free weekends, time for yourself, sleep, vacation, sports can help. If we do not replenish energy through rest, the body goes into a mode of energy saving.

When the situation that contributed to the burnout is over, the symptoms go away on their own.

In fact, both the body and the psyche are so arranged that great stress is possible - after all, people sometimes have to work hard, achieve some great goals. For example, to save your family from some kind of trouble.

The problem is different: if the challenge does not end, that is, if people really cannot rest, they are constantly in a state of tension, if they constantly feel that some demands are being made on them, they are always preoccupied with something, they feel fear , are constantly vigilant in relation to something, expect something, this leads to an overstrain of the nervous system, a person's muscles tense, pain occurs. Some people begin to gnash their teeth in a dream - this can be one of the symptoms of overexertion.

Chronic emotional burnout

If stress becomes chronic, then burnout goes to the level of frustration.

In 1974, New York psychiatrist Freudenberger first published an article about volunteers who worked in the social field on behalf of the local church. In this article, he described their situation. These people had symptoms similar to depression. In their anamnesis, he always found the same thing: at first, these people were absolutely delighted with their activities.

Then this delight gradually began to diminish. And eventually they burned out to a handful of ash. All of them had similar symptoms: emotional exhaustion, constant fatigue. At the mere thought that they had to go to work tomorrow, they felt tired. They had various bodily complaints and were often sick. This was one of the groups of symptoms.

As for their feelings, they no longer had power. What he called dehumanization happened. Their attitude towards the people they helped changed: at first it was a loving, attentive attitude, then it turned into a cynical, rejecting, negative one. Also, relations with colleagues worsened, there was a feeling of guilt, a desire to get away from all this. They worked less and did everything in a pattern, like robots. That is, these people were no longer able, as before, to enter into relationships and did not strive for this.

This behavior has a certain logic. If I no longer have the strength in my feelings, then I have no strength to love, to listen, and other people become a burden for me. It feels like I can no longer meet them, their demands are excessive for me. Then automatic defensive reactions begin to operate. From the point of view of the psyche, this is very reasonable.

As a third group of symptoms, the author of the article found a decrease in productivity... People were dissatisfied with their work and their achievements. They experienced themselves as powerless, did not feel that they were achieving any success. There was too much for them. And they felt they were not getting the recognition they deserved.

Through this research, Freudenberger found that burnout symptoms do not correlate with the number of hours worked... Yes, the more someone works, the more their emotional strength suffers from it. Emotional exhaustion increases in proportion to the number of hours worked, but the other two groups of symptoms - productivity and dehumanization, dehumanization of relationships - are hardly affected. The person continues to be productive for a while. This indicates that burnout has its own dynamics. This is more than just exhaustion. We will dwell on this later.

Burnout stages

Freudenberger created a scale of 12 burnup steps.

First stage it also looks very harmless: at first, patients with burnout have an obsessive desire to assert themselves ("I can do something"), maybe even in competition with others.

Then it starts careless attitude to their own needs. A person no longer devotes free time to himself, goes in for sports less, he has less time for people, for himself, he talks less with someone.

On the next step a person does not have time to resolve conflicts - and therefore he displaces them, and later even ceases to perceive them. He does not see that there are any problems at work, at home, with friends. He steps back. We see something that looks like a flower that withers more and more.

In the future, feelings about oneself are lost. People no longer feel themselves. They are just machines, machines and can no longer stop. After a while, they feel an inner emptiness and, if this continues, they often become depressed.

At the last, twelfth stage, the person is completely broken... He falls ill - physically and mentally, experiences despair, suicidal thoughts are often present.

One day a patient came to me with emotional burnout... Came, sat down in a chair, exhaled and said: "I'm glad I'm here." He looked emaciated. It turned out that he could not even call me to make an appointment - his wife dialed a phone number.

I asked him then on the phone how urgent it was. He replied that it was urgent. And then I agreed with him about the first meeting on Monday. On the day of the meeting, he confessed: “All two days off, I could not guarantee that I would not jump out of the window. My condition was so unbearable. "

He was a very successful businessman. His employees knew nothing about this - he managed to hide his condition from them. And very for a long time he hid it from his wife. At the eleventh stage, his wife noticed this. He still continued to deny his problem. And only when he could no longer live, already under pressure from outside, he was ready to do something. This is how far burnout can take. Of course, this is an extreme example.

Burnout: From Enthusiasm to Disgust

To more in simple words to define how emotional burnout manifests itself, one can resort to the description of the German psychologist Matthias Burisch. He described four stages.

First stage looks completely harmless: it's really not quite burnout yet. This is the stage where you need to be careful. It was then that a person is driven by idealism, some ideas, some enthusiasm. But the demands that he constantly makes in relation to himself are excessive. He demands too much of himself for weeks and months.

Second phase- this is exhaustion: physical, emotional, bodily weakness.

On third stages usually begin to operate the first defense reactions. What does a person do if the demands are constantly excessive? He leaves the relationship, dehumanization occurs. It is a reaction to counteract it as a defense so that exhaustion does not get worse. Intuitively, a person feels that he needs peace, and to a lesser extent maintains social relations. Those relationships that must be lived, because one cannot do without them, are burdened by rejection, repulsion.

That is, in principle, this is the correct reaction. But just the area where this reaction starts to work is not suitable for this. Rather, a person needs to be calmer about the requirements that are presented to him. But this is precisely what they fail to do - to get away from requests and claims.

Fourth stage is an intensification of what happens in the third stage, the terminal stage of burnout. Burish calls this "disgust syndrome." This is a concept that means that a person no longer carries any joy in himself. Disgust arises in relation to everything. For example, if I ate rotten fish, I vomit, and the next day I hear the smell of fish, I get disgusted. That is, it is a protective feeling after poisoning.

Burnout reasons

In terms of causes, there are generally three areas.

This is an individual psychological area when a person develops desire surrender to this stress.

The second sphere - socio-psychological, or social - is pressure from the outside: various fashion trends, some kind of social norms, demands at work, the spirit of the times. For example, it is believed that every year you need to go on a journey - and if I cannot, then I do not correspond to the people living at this time, their way of life. This pressure can be latent and can result in burnout.

More dramatic requirements are, for example, extended working hours. Today a person is overworking and does not receive payment for it, and if he does not, he is fired. Constant overwork is a cost inherent in the capitalist era, within which Austria, Germany and probably also Russia live.

So, we have identified two groups of reasons. From the first, we can work in psychological aspect, within the framework of consulting, and in the second case something needs to be changed at the political level, at the level of trade unions.

But there is also a third reason, which is related to the organization of systems. If the system provides an individual with too little freedom, too little responsibility, if mobbing (bullying) occurs, then people are exposed to a lot of stress. And then, of course, the system needs to be restructured. It is necessary to develop the organization in a different way, to introduce coaching.

Burnout: meaning can't be bought

We will restrict ourselves to considering the group psychological reasons... In existential analysis, we have empirically established that burnout is caused by an existential vacuum. Burnout can be understood as a special form of existential vacuum. Viktor Frankl described the existential vacuum as suffering from a feeling of emptiness and lack of meaning.

A study conducted in Austria, during which 271 doctors were tested, showed the following results. It was found that those doctors who led a meaningful life and did not suffer from an existential vacuum almost did not experience burnout, even if they worked for many hours. The same doctors who showed relatively high levels of existential vacuum in their work showed high rates of burnout, even if they worked fewer hours.

From this we can conclude: meaning cannot be bought. Making money does nothing if I suffer from emptiness and lack of meaning in my work. We cannot compensate for this.

Burnout syndrome poses the question: Do I really experience meaning in what I do? The meaning depends on whether we feel personal value in what we do or not. If we follow the apparent meaning: career, social recognition, the love of others, then this is a false or apparent meaning. It costs us a lot and is stressful. And as a result, we have a deficit of fulfillment. Then we experience devastation - even when we relax.

At the other extreme is the way of life where we experience fulfillment - even when we get tired. Being full, despite fatigue, does not lead to burnout.

To summarize, we can say the following: burnout is a final state that occurs as a result of continuing to create something without an experience in the aspect of fulfillment. That is, if I experience meaning in what I do, if I feel that what I am doing is good, interesting and important, if I am happy about it and want to do it, then burnout does not happen. But these feelings should not be confused with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is not necessarily associated with fulfillment - it is more hidden from others, more modest thing.

What do I give myself to?

Another aspect that burnout brings us to is motivation. Why am I doing something? And to what extent am I drawn to this? If I cannot give my heart to what I am doing, if I am not interested in it, I do it for some other reason, then we are lying in a sense.

It is as if I was listening to someone but thinking about something else. That is, then I am not present. But if I am not present at work, in my life, then I cannot receive remuneration there. It's not about money. Yes, of course I can make money, but I personally do not receive remuneration. If I am not present with my heart in some business, but use what I am doing as a means to achieve goals, then I am abusing the situation.

For example, I can start a project because it promises me a lot of money. And I almost cannot refuse and somehow resist it. Thus, we can be seduced by some choices, which then lead us to burnout. If it only happens once, then maybe it's not so bad. But if it goes on for years, then I just pass my life by. What do I give myself to?

And here, by the way, it can be extremely important for me to develop burnout syndrome. Because, probably, I myself cannot stop the direction of my movement. I need the wall that I will collide with, some kind of push from the inside, so that I just cannot continue to move and reconsider my actions.

The example with money is probably the most superficial. The motives can go much deeper. For example, I may want recognition. I need praise from another. If these narcissistic needs are not met, then I become restless. From the outside, this is not at all visible - only people who are close to this person can feel it. But I probably won't even talk about it with them. Or I myself am not aware that I have such needs.

Or, for example, I definitely need confidence. I knew poverty as a child, I had to wear old clothes... For this I was ridiculed, and I was ashamed. Maybe even my family was starving. I would never want to go through this again.

I have known people who have become very rich. Many of them have reached burnout syndrome. Because for them this was the primary motive - in any case, to prevent the state of poverty, so as not to become poor again. Humanly, this is understandable. But this can lead to excessive demands that never run out.

In order for people to be ready for a long time to follow such seeming, false motivation, there must be a lack of something behind their behavior, a mentally felt deficit, some kind of misfortune. This deficiency leads a person to self-exploitation.

The value of life

This deficiency can be not only a subjectively felt need, but also an attitude towards life, which, in the long run, can lead to burnout.

How do I understand my life? Based on this, I can develop my goals by which I live. These attitudes can be from parents, or a person develops them in himself. For example: I want to achieve something. Or: I want to have three children. Become a psychologist, doctor or politician. Thus, a person for himself outlines goals that he wants to follow.

This is completely normal. Which one of us has no goals in life? But if goals become the content of life, if they become too great values, then they lead to rigid, frozen behavior. Then we put all our efforts to achieve the set goal. And everything we do becomes a means to an end. And this does not carry its own value, but only represents a useful value.

"It's so good that I will play the violin!" is the living of its own worth. But if I want to be the first violin in a concert, then while playing a piece, I will constantly compare myself with others. I know I still need to practice, play and play to get things done. That is, I have a predominantly goal orientation due to the value orientation. Thus, there is a deficit of internal attitude. I do something, but what I do is not present inner life... And then my life loses its vital value. I myself destroy internal contents for the sake of achieving goals.

And when a person thus neglects the intrinsic value of things, pays insufficient attention to this, an underestimation of the value of his own life arises. That is, it turns out that I use the time of my life for the goal that I have set for myself. This leads to a loss of relationship and to a mismatch with oneself. And with such an inattentive attitude to inner values and the value of one's own life, stress arises.

Everything that we have just talked about can be summarized as follows. The stress that leads to burnout is associated with the fact that we do something for too long, without a sense of inner consent, without a sense of the value of things and ourselves. Thus, we come to a state of pre-depression.

It also happens when we do too much, and just for the sake of doing. For example, I only cook dinner so that it is ready as soon as possible. And then I am glad when it is already over, done. But if we are happy that something has already passed, it is an indicator that we did not see value in what we do. And if it has no value, then I cannot say that I like doing it, that it is important to me.

If we have too many of these elements in our lives, then we are, in fact, happy that life is passing by. In this way we like death, annihilation. If I am just doing something, it’s not life — it’s functioning. And we must not, we have no right to function too much - we must make sure that in everything we do, we live, feel life. So that she does not pass us by.

Burnout is such a mental account, which we are exposed for a long alienated relationship with life. This is a life that is not truly mine.

Anyone who is more than half of the time busy with things that he does reluctantly, does not give his heart to this, does not feel joy at the same time, he must sooner or later expect to survive the burnout syndrome. Then I am in danger. Wherever I feel in my heart an inner agreement about what I am doing, and I feel myself, there I am protected from burnout.

Burnout prevention

How can you deal with burnout and how can you prevent it? A lot is solved by itself, if a person understands what the burnout syndrome is associated with. If you understand this about yourself or your friends, then you can start solving this problem, talk to yourself or your friends about it. Should I continue to live this way?

I felt this way myself two years ago. I had set out to write a book during the summer. With all the papers I went to my dacha. I came, looked around, went for a walk, talked with neighbors. The next day I did the same: I called my friends, we met. On the third day again. I thought that, generally speaking, I should already start. But I did not feel a special desire in myself. I tried to remind you what is needed, what awaits the publishing house - that was already pressure.

Then I remembered about the burnout syndrome. And I said to myself: I probably need more time, and my desire will certainly return. And I allowed myself to watch. After all, the desire came every year. But that year it didn’t come, and until the end of the summer I didn’t even open this folder. I haven't written a single line. Instead, I was resting and doing wonderful things. Then I began to hesitate, how should I treat this - how bad or how good? It turns out that I could not, it was a failure. Then I told myself that it was reasonable and good that I did so. The fact is that I was a little exhausted, because there were a lot of things to do before the summer, the whole academic year was very busy.

Here, of course, I had an internal struggle. I really thought and reflected on what is important in my life. As a result, I doubted that the book I wrote was such an important thing in my life. It is much more important to live something, to be here, to live a valuable relationship - if possible, to experience joy and not to postpone it all the time. We don't know how much time we have left.

In general, work with burnout syndrome begins with unloading. You can reduce time pressure, delegate something, share responsibility, set realistic goals, and critically consider those expectations that you have. This is a big topic for discussion. Here we do run into very deep structures of existence. Here in question about our position in relation to life, that our attitudes are authentic, correspond to us.

If the burnout syndrome is already much more pronounced, you need to get sick leave, physically rest, consult a doctor, for milder disorders, treatment in a sanatorium is useful. Or just arrange good time for yourself, to live in a state of unloading.

But the problem is that many people with burnout cannot deal with it. Or a person goes on sick leave, but continues to make excessive demands on himself - thus he cannot get out of stress. People suffer from remorse. And in a state of illness, burnout increases.

Medication can help for a short time, but it is not a solution to the problem. Bodily health is the foundation. But you also need to work on your own needs, an internal deficit of something, on attitudes and expectations in relation to life. You need to think about how to reduce the pressure of society, how you can protect yourself. Sometimes even thinking about changing jobs.

In the very severe case, which I saw in my practice, it took a person 4-5 months to be released from work. And after going to work - new style work - otherwise, after a couple of months, people will burn out again. Of course, if a person has been working hard for 30 years, then it is difficult for him to readjust, but it is necessary.

You can prevent burnout by asking yourself two simple questions:

1. Why am I doing this? Why am I studying at the institute, why am I writing a book? What's the point of this? Is it a value to me?

2. Do I enjoy doing what I am doing? Do I love doing this? Do I feel like it's good? Is it so good that I do it willingly? Does what I do bring me joy? Maybe this will not always be the case, but the feeling of joy and satisfaction should prevail.

Ultimately I may ask a different, broader question: Do I want to live for this? If I lie on my deathbed and look back, do I want it to be that I lived for this?

If you are constantly stressed, frustrated and exhausted, chances are you are on your way to burnout. In a state of burnout, problems seem insurmountable, and everything that happens around does not cause any emotional response. Constant dissatisfaction and alienation pose a real threat to health, as well as professional and personal life. However, if you can recognize the early signs of burnout, you can prevent it. If you have already reached a critical point, there are many ways to regain balance, believe in yourself again and start enjoying life.

What is burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by intense and prolonged stress. Burnout makes a person feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and does not allow him to meet the usual requirements. With prolonged exposure to stress, a person loses the interest and motivation that once prompted him to take up work.

Burnout reduces work productivity, drains energy, intensifies feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and provokes indifference and a cynical attitude towards life. In the end, it seems to a person that he is no good for anything.

Burnout consequences

The negative consequences of burnout extend to all areas of life, including work, relationships with family, friends and acquaintances. Burnout can cause long-term changes in your body, such as reducing your ability to fight off colds and flu. That is why it is imperative to start combating burnout as early as possible.

How do you diagnose burnout?

You are on your way to burnout if:

Every working day seems bad to you.
You no longer care about what happens at home and at work.
You feel that your strength is running out.
You spend a lot of time doing things that seem incredibly boring to you.
It seems to you that no one needs your job.

Signs and symptoms of burnout

Many of us have days when we feel helpless and useless, having a hard time getting ourselves out of bed and going to work. If you feel like these situations happen to you too often, you may be overtaken by burnout.

Burnout is a gradual process. At first, the signs are almost invisible, but they get worse over time. Any, even the earliest symptoms cannot be ignored. If you tackle them as early as possible, you can prevent disaster. If you wave your hand at them, burnout will come very quickly.

Physical signs and symptoms of burnout

Constant fatigue and powerlessness
Low immunity, persistent cold
Frequent headaches or muscle aches
Changes in eating and sleeping habits

Emotional Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

Constant premonition of failure and self-doubt
Feeling helpless, hopeless, and worthless
Feeling lonely
Loss of motivation
Negative attitude towards the surrounding reality, which intensifies over time
Lack of pleasure at work and a sense of self-satisfaction

Behavioral signs and symptoms of burnout

Dodging responsibilities
Unwillingness to communicate with others
Procrastination, exceeding deadlines for routine tasks
Seizing problems, alcohol or drug use to relieve psychological pressure
Striving to rip evil onto others
Lateness, desire to leave work early

Difference between stress and burnout

Burnout is a consequence of constant stress, but burnout and stress are not the same thing. Stress involves too much pressure, both physical and psychological. People who are under stress often think that the situation will return to normal as soon as it is under control.

Burnout, on the other hand, creates the belief that the situation will never return to normal. Burnout is complete emptiness, lack of motivation and lack of desire to do anything. For people experiencing burnout, life seems hopeless. People in stress drown in their duties, people with burnout simply "dry up". People under stress are fully aware of their situation, and burnout often comes unnoticed.

Stress or Burnout?

Burnout reasons

Burnout is closely related to professional activity. Anyone who works too hard and does not get the proper return from it is at risk of burning out - whether it is an office employee who has not taken a vacation for several years, or a housewife who is torn between children and elderly parents.

The rate of burnout also depends on the lifestyle and character of a person - in particular, on what he does in his free time and how he looks at the world.

Work-related causes of burnout

Lack of control over the workflow
Lack of recognition and rewards for good work
Unclear or high expectations
Monotony, lack of complex but interesting tasks
Chaotic or overly stressful work environment

Lifestyle reasons for burnout

Overwork, lack of time for rest and communication
Lack of truly loved ones who can support
Striving to take on as many responsibilities as possible, unwillingness to accept outside help
Lack of sleep

Personality Traits Affecting Burnout

Perfectionism, the desire to do everything as best as possible
Pessimistic views of yourself and the world around you
Desire to control everything, distrust of others
Ambition, workaholism

Sounds familiar?

If you feel that burnout is impending or has already occurred, you need to stop immediately to prevent further physical and emotional damage. Take a break and think about how you can help yourself.

Reach out to other people to deal with burnout.

People who experience burnout feel helpless. However, stress can be controlled. There are several steps you need to take to bring your life back into balance. One of them is communication.

Social interaction is a natural antidote to stress

Talk to someone who knows how to listen. You will immediately feel how your nervous system calms down and your stress levels decrease. The interlocutor does not have to solve your problems at all. It will be enough if he just listens to you, without distraction and refraining from judgmental statements.

By pouring out your soul, you are unlikely to become a burden for someone. On the contrary, many friends and family are likely to be flattered by your trust, and your relationship will only get better.

Tips for Overcoming Burnout Through Positive Interaction

Spend as much time as possible with those closest to you- spouse, children or friends Try to escape from worries and make your time together was as pleasant as possible.

Communicate with your colleagues a lot. Good relationships with colleagues can prevent burnout. For example, during a break, put your smartphone aside and try to chat with someone nearby, or make an appointment after work.

Try not to connect with people you don't like. Communicating with negatively minded people who only do what they complain about life pretty much spoils the mood. If you are forced to work with such a person, try to limit the time you spend together.

Join a community that you find important and interesting. Religious and social groups allow people with similar views to communicate with each other, share ways to deal with stress and make new friends. If you have a professional association in your industry, you can attend meetings and talk to those who are facing the same problems as you.

If you don’t have acquaintances with whom to communicate, it’s never too late to make new ones and thereby expand your network of contacts.

The Power of Grant

Helping others is rewarding, helps reduce stress and expands your social circle.

Of course, if you're on the verge of burnout, you shouldn't take on too much, but sometimes people don't ask for much. More often than not, both parties have enough kind word and smiles.

If you are engaged in monotonous and uninteresting activities or are constantly in a hurry somewhere, you may need to change your job. Of course, for many of us this is a very responsible and not very realistic step, because we need money to pay the bills, but in any case, something can be changed for the better.

Try to find meaning in what you are doing. Even the most boring tasks tend to benefit other people by providing them with the right products or services. Focus on what you enjoy, even if it's talking with coworkers at lunch. Change your attitude towards work, and you will feel a sense of control over the situation begin to return to you.

Find balance in life... If you hate your job, look for satisfaction in your family, friends, hobbies, or volunteering. Focus on the moments that bring you true joy.

Make friends at work. A close emotional connection with colleagues can help you overcome monotony and neutralize the effects of burnout. If you have people with whom you can exchange a few words, the stress level from unloved or strenuous work will be significantly lower. You will be more efficient and your days will feel less dull.

Take a vacation. If you think burnout is inevitable, take a break. Take paid or unpaid leave or sick leave, in short, find a way to temporarily stay away from your workplace. Use this time to replenish energy with these tips.

Burnout- this is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong in your life. Think about your dreams and goals. Do you have to neglect them? Consider this situation as an opportunity to analyze your life, relax, reflect and recover.

Set boundaries. Do not seek to embrace the immensity. Learn to give up on things that are time consuming. If this is difficult for you, remind yourself that each rejection frees up time for what really matters to you.

Get yourself a tech-free vacation. Turn off your computer and phone for a while every day so that calls and letters do not bother you.

Feed your creativity. Creativity is another antidote to burnout. Try new things, take part in fun projects, make time for your hobbies. Choose activities that have nothing to do with your job.

Plan your vacation. Relaxation techniques - yoga, meditation, and deep breathing - relax the body as opposed to stress, which causes tension.

Sleep as much as possible. Feelings of fatigue caused by burnout can make you think irrationally. Keep your stress in check by getting a good night's sleep.

Learn to focus on tasks

Learn to reduce your stress level at the moment.
Drive disturbing thoughts and feelings.
Motivate yourself to take action to cope with burnout.
Improve relationships at work and at home.
Think about the feelings that make work and life meaningful.
Improve your health and living standards.

Exercise

Even if you think sports are the last thing to think about in a burnout, remember that sports are a powerful stress management tool. With it, you can improve your mood right now!

Exercise for at least half an hour a day. If necessary, you can split this interval into shorter intervals. A ten minute walk improves your mood by two hours.
Rhythmic arm and leg swings recharge your batteries, improve concentration, and relax your body and mind. Try running, weightlifting, swimming, martial arts, or even dancing.
Shift your focus from thoughts to physical sensations (such as how the wind blows on your face) and focus on movement (such as how your feet step on the ground).

Remember to eat the right food

What you eat directly affects your mood and energy levels throughout the day.

Minimize your sugar and simple carbohydrate intake... If you crave familiar snacks like pasta or fried potatoes remind yourself that high carbohydrate foods lead to mood swings.

Minimize your consumption of foods that affect your mood.(specifically caffeine, trans fats, chemical preservatives, and hormones).

Introduce into your diet fatty acid Omega-3s that improve mood. The best sources Omega-3 acids are fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines), seaweed, flaxseed and walnuts.

Avoid nicotine. Smoking helps some people calm down, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant that raises anxiety levels, not increases them.

Drink alcohol in limited quantities. Alcohol temporarily relieves anxiety, but if consumed in excess, you will feel even worse when the effects of the intoxicants wear out.

V modern world with its speed and demand for every individual, burnout is an increasingly common syndrome. Moral and mental exhaustion reaches such a point that it is difficult to calmly continue to engage in their activities, communicate with people around and even adequately assess the surrounding reality.

Many people notice signs of this problem in themselves, try to understand what it is and how to deal with emotional burnout in order to improve the quality of their life. To do this, you need to understand the features mental disorder, be able to detect the stage of development of the syndrome and turn to a specialist in time if your own actions and work on yourself do not give the desired result. Although it is better to prevent the development of the problem by taking preventive measures.

What is burnout syndrome

The concept of "emotional burnout" was proposed and described more than 40 years ago by the American psychiatrist Herbert Freudenberg. Initially, the term described the state of people who, in their professional activities, are forced to constantly communicate with others, spending all their energy for this. Emotional burnout of the personality was associated with constant stress at work, a feeling of inner tension and an inability to properly perform their duties.

However, today this term from psychology includes a wider range of definitions. For example, burnout in the family is separately considered, especially in relation to women after childbirth who lead household and take care of children. Daily routine of repetitive tasks, lack of free time for yourself and full concentration in the interests of the family leads to the fact that a woman ceases to feel joy from her marital status, from communication with relatives, from any actions performed.

Thus, burnout syndrome (SEB) is a state of apathy and depression associated with an overload of the brain and nervous system, which leads to a depletion of the personality. Some people live like this for years, without changing anything, and not paying attention to the fact that their effectiveness is much lower than what it could have been. Although the problem can and should be fought.

Causes and provoking factors of CMEA

To understand how to deal with burnout and improve the quality of your life, it is worth understanding what factors trigger this condition. Its reasons lie not only in increased workload or constant stress. There are other prerequisites that can trigger complete burnout. Among them:

monotonous work, repeated from day to day;
insufficient encouragement for work, both moral and material;
constant criticism and disapproval from colleagues or a manager;
inability to see the results of your work;
lack of clarity of the work performed, constantly changing requirements and conditions.

By themselves, these factors can negatively affect the mood and sense of self of any person. But they have an even greater influence if his character is prone to maximalism, if he is a person with a heightened sense of responsibility and a willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of the interests of other people. Then he will be in a state of constant stress and overstrain.

If you suddenly feel tired, feel helpless and frustrated, and feel like you’re completely out of order, it’s quite possible that this is emotional burnout. This condition leads to a feeling of powerlessness, so it is very difficult to solve the problem. The detachment and indifference that comes with burnout can become a source of work problems, compromise normal communication and even physical health. Therefore, you should never let the situation take its course, you need to fight and look for ways out.

What is burnout syndrome?

CMEA or burnout syndrome is a condition characterized by mental, emotional and physical exhaustion against a background of chronic stress, which in most cases is caused by work. Most often, representatives of professions associated with constant communication are affected: for example, teachers, doctors, social workers and employees of large companies with a wide staff and high requirements for personnel.

Doctors very often suffer from CMEA

Due to strong overexertion, a person gradually simply loses interest in everything. CMEA leads to a decrease in productivity and energy, because of this, there is a feeling of helplessness, resentment and hopelessness. It seems to the victim that he lacks strength for anything, and he is doomed to pointless and boring work.

One of effective ways to prevent CMEA - to put aside work problems at work. Going out the door, you can even symbolically wipe your feet so as not to drag the burden of problems home with you.

Of course, such symptoms are not uncommon in case of banal fatigue or bad mood. If our work is not appreciated or is overwhelmed, we may feel this way too. Therefore, CMEA should not be confused with depression or fatigue.

How do you recognize the CMEA?

In order not to confuse burnout syndrome with other similar conditions, you need to know three main differences:

A person feels emotional exhaustion and devastation, he is not happy with the work that he previously liked, nothing brings pleasure, colleagues and all the people around him annoy. This translates into poorly performed tasks, constant quarrels, unwillingness to go out and communicate with someone.
There is a feeling of the meaninglessness of work, the desire to work well disappears, since “no one appreciates this anyway”. Gradually, this feeling can spread to other areas - for example, a person will stop taking care of himself, since it will not get better anyway.
Unlike fatigue, CMEA does not disappear after rest. After the weekend, the "burnt out" person will remain the same unhappy and lethargic, while the tired one returns full of energy.
Unlike depression, which is always based on fear and guilt, burnout is based on anger and irritability. A person does not think that he works badly or is rude to others, it seems to him that the whole world is against him.

Teachers often burn out emotionally

Although initially burnout may seem harmless, over time it often leads to psychosomatic illnesses, poor memory and concentration. A “burnt out” person can not only lose his job, since his value as an employee will plummet, but also his family, which will have to live under the yoke of his negativity.

Burnout development

To make it easier to diagnose burnout, New York psychiatrist Herbert Freudenberger created a special scale. The first steps look quite harmless, but it is better to start treatment already at this stage - the further, the more difficult it will be to return to the normal emotional background.

First, there is an obsessive desire for self-affirmation, perhaps an effort to prove something to others, rivalry. Then comes a careless attitude to their own needs, refusal to communicate, sports, entertainment. Then - the refusal to resolve conflicts, which leads to their protraction. Over time, a person simply stops responding to problems in communicating with family and / or friends. And then there comes a loss of the feeling of oneself as a person and personality, the person continues to act mechanically, without making any efforts and without thinking about the future.

Constant fatigue is one of the main signs of burnout.

After a while, a person notices that he has lost himself, feels an inner emptiness, and most often after that, depression sets in. Gradually developing, emotional burnout leads to the fact that he breaks down, gets sick physically and mentally, and often tends to suicidal thoughts.

Don't be afraid to change jobs. Some psychologists believe that this should be done every 4-5 years. This brings freshness and novelty to life and does not let it "burn out".

The peculiarity of the CMEA is such that it is easy to hide it.... A person can go to work, look the same as always, and even communicate more or less normally, attributing failures to fatigue or illness. Often, loved ones learn about the problem already at the last stages, when a person is almost ready to say goodbye to life.

The reasons for the development of CMEA (Video)

Many modern psychologists believe that burnout is a defense mechanism in the face of strong traumatic influences. In such a situation, the body simply "turns off" emotions, preserving itself. CMEA allows you to minimize energy consumption and save some body systems from unnecessary work: for example, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular. But over time, such a "preserving regime" becomes too economical and does not allow a person to work normally and communicate with others.

To understand the reasons for the development of burnout, one must remember that our nervous system has a limit on the performance of certain processes: for example, communication, problem solving, etc. Determining this limit is not easy, since it is not only individual for each person, but also depends on many indicators, for example, on the quality of nutrition and sleep, health status and time of year, and the situation in the patient's family. But if a person exceeds it, exhaustion sets in, which eventually leads to burnout.

Often the symptoms of CMEA are complicated by pessimistic people and lazy people around. You need to make them understand that you should not listen to them and help them.

The second reason is the lack of tangible results.... This happens most often with teachers. They can give their best, but they will not change anything, children will also come or not come to school, get bad or good grades, skip lessons and skip. A similar situation can occur with people of other professions if their success is not appreciated and encouraged. This leads to the devaluation of labor, and later to the loss of interest in it.

CMEA greatly reduces the quality of work

Separately, it should be remembered that a person's personal qualities play an important role in the development of burnout syndrome. There are people who do not get tired when they have to carry out monotonous routine work for a long time, but cannot activate themselves to complete an urgent project. But it happens the other way around - a person can work successfully and fruitfully only for a short period of time, but at the same time he gives all the best, and later simply “fizzles out”. There are workers who are not capable of creative tasks, but they are executive. And there are creators who need a sense of freedom. If a job doesn't fit a person's personality, it will soon lead to burnout.

In most cases, CMEA is the result of improper work organization, managerial mistakes and unpreparedness of personnel for their duties.

How to prevent burnout?

CMEA is a problem that is easier to prevent than to solve. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor your condition and take measures to prevent it at the first signs of burnout.

What to do?

Try to start the day with relaxing rituals, such as meditation or exercise.
Go to proper nutrition, workout. This will give strength and energy to solve problems.
Set boundaries. If something is annoying or annoying, you need to try not to do it, refuse unwanted requests and do what is really important.
Take a break from modern technologies... For a while, you need to turn off your phone and computer and just sit in silence.
Get creative, find a hobby, or attend events more often that have nothing to do with work.
Learning to manage stress can help fight burnout.

If the situation has not yet been launched, then it is quite possible to cope without the help of specialists, but you need to realize that there is a problem and you will have to work on its solution seriously.

How to recover on your own

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to prevent burnout. Most often, a person understands what happened when the CMEA is already destroying his life. If this has already happened, then you need to concentrate on returning to a normal emotional background.

Sometimes you have to step out of the race to recover

There are three steps to treating the effects of burnout:

Step one: slow down. It is necessary to reduce to a minimum professional activities - for example, take a vacation. In your free time you need to rest, relax, forget about work and problems.
Step two: get support. Burning out, a person usually withdraws into himself and reduces communication to a minimum. This is a normal reaction - he tries to conserve the remaining energy. But you need to overpower yourself and tell your loved ones what is happening. Even the very fact of a conversation can bring relief, and the support of dear people will definitely help to cope with stress.
Step three: revise goals and priorities. If emotional burnout has occurred, this is a serious sign that something is wrong in life. You need to analyze everything and understand why this happened. Perhaps you should change your job or your attitude towards it, or even completely redraw everything.

But one should not expect that immediately after realizing a problem, a solution will come. This may take time, as the burnout did not happen in a day. But if you try to follow this simple tips- sooner or later health will return.

“I am emotionally burned out at work” - this is the verdict that people increasingly pass on to themselves. It even becomes a good excuse for frequent sick leave or a reason for dismissal. Most of by and large doesn't understand what burnout is. Irritation, body pain, bad mood at work, many people identify with him.

But in fact, this is a serious functional condition, which has many side effects and it takes a long recovery period to get rid of them.

What is burnout syndrome?

Burnout syndrome is a regression of professional development. A person experiences negative emotions, stress, internal psychological conflicts, psychosomatic reactions from prolonged stress at work. This syndrome is experienced by healthy people whose work is associated with intense and constant professional communication. These are professions of the "person-to-person" type: workers in the education system, medical workers, the social sphere, and the service sector.

Burnout includes three essential symptoms:

emotional exhaustion;
indifferent attitude to work;
devaluation of professional achievements.

Emotional exhaustion is characterized by a feeling of fatigue from work. The person is indifferent to responsibilities. Looking at such people, one gets the impression that they have no strength left to experience "real" emotions.

Indifferent attitude to work. A person communicates formally, even dismissively - with clients, and with partners, and with the team. In the medical field, education and services, a person is only superficially interested in the needs and problems of those with whom he works.

In sales, for example, “clarifying customer needs” and “after-sales service” are ignored. It is too energy consuming. It all comes down to a formal procedure: “If you want, buy and pay. If you don't want to - then goodbye. " Irritation tends to build up, so it's no surprise that customer conflicts are common.

Devaluation of professional achievements. A person develops a feeling of professional incompetence and incompetence. All achievements and successes in work are devalued. And personal skills and abilities seem so primitive that even a schoolchild can master them.

It is a mistake to mistake annoyance and lack of desire to go to work for burnout.

If an employee feels a lack of energy, a decrease in mood, an unwillingness to perform duties, but he has enough days off or a vacation to get in shape, then this is the usual fatigue. Burnout takes a long time for a person to recover. However, after returning to work, the burn-out state necessarily returns. Changing the type of professional activity is often the only way out of this state.

Remember that feeling tired is not accompanied by devaluation of yourself as a professional, cynical attitude towards work and clients, as opposed to emotional burnout. An employee loves his profession, values himself as a specialist, respects clients, but at a specific period he needs a rest.

Burnout Syndrome Causes

Individual personality traits

Perfectionists and people with high level claims to to a greater extent are subject to burnout. This category of people who strive to fulfill their duties perfectly and on time, without making mistakes. The goals are always set difficult, they are not looking for easy ways. If there is a discrepancy between the requirements for yourself and real result, then self-esteem falls, disappointment in oneself as a professional sets in.

Highly anxious people and people oriented towards external assessment are at risk.

People with a high level of anxiety worry about literally every little thing, are overly concerned about the future result, and make negative predictions. Life turns into continuous excitement.

External evaluators believe they are doing useful work for society and only those around them can evaluate the results. They do not have personal standards by which to determine how well or poorly the responsibilities are performed. Bad reviews, ratings, or gaze from clients make them question their professional suitability every time.

These are specialists whose work involves daily and intense communication with people. Many companies put customer focus in the first place, demanding from employees an individual approach to everyone, hyper courtesy, hyper communication, hyper service. All this takes a lot of energy and strength. Moreover, customers are all different, and it is not always possible to please everyone.

Working Factors

Lack of independence, moral and material encouragement, hypercontrol on the part of management, suppression of initiative, cause negative emotional reactions from employees. Indeed, in this way, managers hinder their professional and career development.

Factors such as a lack of a well-equipped workplace, comfortable lunch breaks and vacations, and opportunities to interact with colleagues create discomfort, which ultimately leads to burnout.

Coping with burnout

Step 1. Professional self-reflection

Any solution to a problem starts with realizing it. It is important for a person to accept that work is disgusting. And then find out the reasons: what led to such a state? The content of the work itself, the company, the leader, the conditions? When the reason is understood, the person will have a clear idea: is the problem solvable, how long it will take, and how drastic measures need to be taken.

Step 2. Go on vacation / move to another department / leave the company

In my opinion, some of this must happen. It is important to distance yourself from the problem, either for a while, or at all. A vacation, for example, is a good diagnostic tool to see if you are actually experiencing burnout or just fatigue.

Some companies offer the option of transferring employees to a similar / related department. The responsibilities remain the same, only the environment changes. The work has boiled in a new way, there is satisfaction and shifts for the better, which means that the problem was in external conditions. If, in a new place, work is exhausting, does not bring satisfaction and the above-described triad of symptoms is observed, it means burnout.

Let's say you went on vacation, worked in a different department, and the work is still exhausting and annoying - change the field of professional activity. Perhaps you have succeeded as a specialist and you need career growth.

Or, on the contrary, you need professional growth. When the set of responsibilities is constant and predictable, you begin to perform them automatically. They periodically need to be expanded and complicated so that professional regression does not occur.

It is quite possible that you do not match the psychological qualities of your profession (for example, introverts work as active sales managers, and extroverts are specialists in issuing primary documents), that is, you are unfit for a job. And there is nothing wrong with that, it's just time to really get down to business.

You can offer standard tips type: delegate responsibilities, separate personal and professional life, have more rest. But I am convinced that all this will not save you from the problem of burnout, but only create a temporary and illusory attempt to solve it.

The article was prepared by Anastasia Teteruk, a psychologist, recruitment and development specialist:

“If you can't handle problem situations at work, you do not know how to behave with your bosses or the team, you do not know how to effectively organize your working day, write to the address [email protected] I will definitely share my recommendations both as a psychologist and as a personnel specialist. "