World Health Organization as a phenomenon caused by chronic stress at work, and cites four key indicating signs: Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; mental distancing from a job; feeling of negativity or cynicism towards professional duties; and a decrease in work efficacy.
The book identifies the four stages of burnout (disillusionment) as enthusiasm, stagnation, frustration, and apathy.
What causes burnout? Common causes of burnout include: lack of adequate social support; taking on more than one can handle at work, school, or interpersonally with family and friends; and poor self-care. Burnout is a serious matter.
The first stage is referred to as the Honeymoon phase (Figure 1). It is particularly relevant to new job roles or undertaking new work tasks and initiatives. At this stage, there are absolutely no signs of burnout, instead, you are full of enthusiasm, commitment, and joy from your work.
The second stage of burnout begins with an awareness of some days being more difficult than others. You may find your optimism waning, as well as notice common stress symptoms affecting you physically, mentally, or emotionally. Common symptoms include: High blood pressure.
If left unchecked, stress can cause physical and emotional damage or even trauma. Following are the five stages of stress as you may experience them - alarm, resistance, recovery, adaptation, and burnout.
Burnout is when a person reaches a state of total mental, physical and emotional exhaustion and it has some similar signs and symptoms to a nervous breakdown. Your doctor can prescribe medicines for many mental health conditions, and refer you to other healthcare professionals, such as psychologists or psychiatrists.
“Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion” might look like feeling exhausted no matter how much sleep you get, inability to relax, changes in sleep patterns, body aches, getting or feeling sick more frequently, skipping meals, feeling listless, and lack of motivation in non-work areas of life.
It takes an average time of three months to a year to recover from burnout. How long your burnout lasts will depend on your level of emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue, as well as if you experience any relapses or periods of stagnant recovery.
If left untreated, burnout can become a part of your everyday life and eventually lead to anxiety or depression. You can also begin to experience chronic mental and physical fatigue that prevents you from working. Your job status may be put in jeopardy if you continue on this path.
Abstract. The dimensionality of Maslach's (1982) 3 aspects of job burnout--emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment--was examined among a sample of supervisors and managers in the human services.
Burnout involves three distinct symptoms: energy depletion and exhaustion, depersonalization and cynicism, and reduced efficacy.
Studies have shown that taking a break from work is beneficial for you and also your work. Taking micro-breaks in the middle of the workday, such as lunch break or tea break, can be an effective tool to reduce burnout and increase efficacy.
childhood trauma can also lead to what is known as “burnout.” This is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion from chronic stress.
Take good care of yourself by getting enough sleep and incorporating regular exercise into your weekly schedule. A quick stroll is also great for increasing the blood flow to your brain and improving concentration.
When deciding which option to choose, it's helpful to think of the four A's: avoid, alter, adapt or accept. Since everyone has a unique response to stress, there is no “one size fits all” solution to managing it.
First, you may want to start with a simple deep breathing exercise called the 5-5-5 method. To do this, you breathe in for 5 seconds, hold your breath for 5 seconds, and then breathe out for 5 seconds. You can continue this process until your thoughts slow down or you notice some relief.