“Burnout is nature’s way of telling you, you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed; you’re a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. False optimism is like administrating stimulants to an exhausted nervous system.”
― Sam Keen, Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man
In today’s highly competitive and fast-paced environment, it is human nature to over-push yourself and over-stress yourself out.
According to the World Health Organization,
Burn-out is an occupational phenomenon and is not classified as a medical condition.
Burn-out is defined in ICD-11 as follows:
“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three factors:
-feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
-increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
-reduced professional efficacy.
Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”
“Burnout” is a comparatively new term, first mentioned by the American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger in 1974, in his book, Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement. He originally defined burnout as, “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.”
The 5 Stages Of Burnout
There may be 5 stages of burnout happening to any working individual. They are:
1. HONEYMOON PHASE
When we join a job or start a new business, we need to take practical steps and make ourselves more aware of the demands of the job/business so that we can actually prevent a possible burnout. We usually face a plethora of good emotions when starting something new and this can actually make us feel more burnt out than we would usually think. We need to take steps to cope and thereby implement positive changes as well as giving importance to our mental well-being. If we develop powerful coping strategies itself, we can stay in this positive phase for as long as we want to.
In the honeymoon phase, people can experience job satisfaction, great productivity, high energy levels, optimism, commitment, creativity, etc.
2. ONSET OF STRESS
After feeling great, there is a moment of realization of certain days becoming more difficult, you might develop negative emotions and be affected physically, mentally as well as emotionally.
Symptoms range from physical difficulties like high blood pressure, heart palpitations, headaches, fatigue, appetite changes, forgetfulness, etc. to mental difficulties like anxiety, inability to focus, avoiding making decisions, etc. Job dissatisfaction, Lack of social interaction, Lower productivity as well as general neglect of personal needs can also be seen in this stage.
3. CHRONIC STRESS
More intense symptoms are observed in this stage. Stress is experienced on a very frequent basis.
Symptoms include no hobbies, Missed work deadlines/targets, Tiredness, Physical illness, Procrastination, Resentfulness, Social withdrawal, escapism, anger issues, exhaustion, Denial of problems, panic, high caffeine consumption, feeling out of control, etc.
4. BURNOUT
Symptoms become critical here. Coping with this situation becomes difficult and it does not feel normal at all.
Symptoms include escapism, emptiness, problem obsession, pessimism, more physical symptoms, self-doubt, isolation, change in behavior, headaches, neglecting personal needs, desire to drop out, and much more.
5. HABITUAL BURNOUT
In this stage, burnout becomes a routine, a trap difficult to escape from. The symptoms have been drilled in your system and people are likely to experience ongoing problems which are physical, mental, and emotional in nature.
Symptoms include depression, chronic sadness, mental and physical fatigue, etc.
Conclusion
The average age of a person getting burnt out is 32. Burnouts can affect anyone at any time in their lives. It is so important to take care of yourself and prevent it as much as possible. Having good lifestyle habits as well as good self-care habits can be very useful to prevent burnout. Getting out of burnout is possible too by addressing the underlying issues and working on them.
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