Emotional Burnout Syndrome – Why It Affects Us and How to Get Rid of It.

Thomas Simon

Excessive psychological and emotional stress on people at work can lead to a condition known as burnout syndrome. This type of burnout is mainly due to a person’s poor mental state, caused by a connection with the profession. An important role here is played by the tolerance to stress of the person and his ability to relax outside of work hours.

Symptoms of emotional burnout syndrome

The main trigger of the syndrome is stress as well as frustration at work. Each person is differently resistant to these negative factors, which depends on the personality and character of the person, as well as the support they feel from their environment. If a person falls into this, he or she is passive, exhausted and disappointed. At such moments, family and close friends should be especially supportive, but colleagues also play an equally important role.

A sudden and acute stressful situation never leads to a burnout, the feeling of continuous chronic stress, as well as zeitnote, is to blame. Nowadays, employees are placing ever greater demands on impeccable behavior. However, if a mistake is made, it usually has serious consequences. Then there is a feeling that the person, no matter how hard he or she tries, can not meet the requirements, and his or her spent energy is wasted and has no effect. Emotional burnout syndrome is a phenomenon that we face more and more often, mainly due to the increasing pace of life.

Who could be at risk?

In fact, burnout can affect anyone who has been engaged in any activity for a long time. Those who have to communicate with people at work are the most vulnerable. These are so-called auxiliary professions that are primarily related to health care, education, social work, law and psychology. Another vulnerable group is communication workers, for example: salespeople, journalists or telephone operators. However, positions that do not match the employee’s qualifications are also at risk. In this case, any activity is demotivated. People who depend on the evaluation of others are also at risk and include the best athletes, artists or self-employed.

In addition to high-risk activities, people of a certain nature are also more prone to burnout. Competitive individuals, perfectionists, pedants, unable to rest, people who are very sensitive or, conversely, less assertive, that is, unable to defend their views. It is also necessary to be able to adequately assess people who do not have a common opinion about themselves and who are mostly depressed and anxious, are obvious adherents of burnout diagnostics.

First of all, all these people are initially passionate about their work, sometimes they may have very idealistic ideas. The demands on themselves are gradually increasing and if they face failure, they regard it as a personal defeat. After that, there is a burnout.

Emotional burnout syndrome needs to be caught in time

Burning out usually goes through a total of five phases.

Enthusiasm phase

In the beginning, a person is full of enthusiasm in work and not only. The activity fills him, satisfies him, he is ready to sacrifice a lot for it. Therefore, over time he will forget about his hobbies and other activities.

Stagnation Stages

The initial enthusiasm passes and it turns out that not everything is so perfect. And here again it is necessary to start an active rest.

Stages of disappointment

You start to doubt the meaning of the work you are doing.

Phases of apathy

This phase comes after a long period of disappointment. A person works only on duty, without interest, only because of money.

Burning phase

At this stage, burnout syndrome is already evident. The person is emotionally and physically exhausted.

The phases and sensations described above relate to the experience of working life. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish it from other, but similar types of disorders. For example, depression is also characterized by a bad mood, loss of energy, feeling of helplessness, etc. However, it is not only related to the work environment, but also manifests itself in family relationships. In addition, depression is typical for seasonal occurrence, waking up during sleep or when people tend to blame themselves.

On the other hand, the typical manifestations of burnout syndrome are sleep problems. In contrast to depression, a person does not blame himself, but his environment. Thus, he is closer to chronic fatigue syndrome, which manifests itself in a similar way. The ability to concentrate decreases, depressive states appear, but chronic fatigue has other physical manifestations, such as fever, muscle and joint pain, etc.

Emotional burnout syndrome and how to get rid of it.

If burnout syndrome is still in its infancy, each of us can deal with it effectively. Above all, you must realize that you are experiencing emotional burnout symptoms and that your job responsibilities are beyond your control. Something has to be done about this situation! It is better to take a break, go away and think about the causes and solutions of the situation. An effective tool is to focus on your hobby, reduce the pace of work and surround yourself with family and friends.

It is also desirable to include relaxation in your daily program. There are a number of methods that allow you to strengthen the parasympathetic nerves, which slow down the heartbeat without being able to control them through the will. The sympathetic nerves act against them antagonistically, which, in turn, speeds up the heartbeat. At training centers, you can learn techniques such as Schultz, yoga, or tai chi training. Through regular exercise you will reduce muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure and create a resting phase for your body.

It is also possible to suppress emotional burnout syndrome by means of movement

When the body is exposed to muscle strain, it releases endorphins, also known as happiness hormones. Their positive effect on brain activity has been medically proven, so it is strongly recommended to include regular exercise. This reduces the feeling of tension, increases self-confidence and suppresses depressive feelings. Initially, it is enough to include regular walks, while maintaining a good state of relaxation techniques. Sport should first of all entertain you and serve as a form of relaxation.

These methods should help you better withstand the workload, but they are not always enough. If you still have a lot to do at this stage, it is recommended to try to talk to your boss about possible changes. Be it a transfer to another job or a part-time job. However, if your request is not satisfied and the burnout syndrome increases, you should think about changing your job.

At the neglected stage it is desirable to seek help from a psychologist or psychiatrist. Various psychotherapeutic procedures are used, one of which is, for example, design analysis. Using this technique, a person tries to understand the meaning of their existence, trying to show them the uniqueness and originality of the person. Another method is logotherapy, which helps a person who has burned out to find the meaning of life, adapted to himself.

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