2. Depersonalization: is a distant or indifferent attitude towards work. Depersonalization manifests as negative, callous, and cynical behaviors; or interacting with colleagues or patients in an impersonal manner.
If you are feeling burned out from work and feel like you are struggling through each day, you may be experiencing “depersonalization.” Here we explore what that means in relation to burnout and get tips from a licensed psychotherapist.
Depersonalization refers to a negative, callous, or excessively detached response to various aspects of the job; cynicism refers to losing an emotional or cognitive involvement with work. The component of reduced efficacy or accomplishment represents the self-evaluation dimension of burnout.
This study used the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) as a measuring instrument [1]. Depersonalisation is characterized by impaired and distorted perception of oneself, of others and one's environment and it manifests itself as an affective-symptomatic lack of empathy.
Depersonalization symptoms
Feeling like a robot or that you're not in control of your speech or movements. The sense that your body, legs or arms appear distorted, enlarged or shrunken, or that your head is wrapped in cotton. Emotional or physical numbness of your senses or responses to the world around you.
Four stages of the formation of depersonalization were identified: vital, allopsychic, somatopsychis and autopsychic. The correlations of the leading depersonalizational and related affective and neurosis-like disorders were considered at each stage.
Dissociation and depersonalization disorders
Dissociative amnesia: People forget information about themselves or things that have happened to them. Depersonalization-derealization disorder: This can involve out-of-body experiences, a feeling of being unreal, and an inability to recognize one's image in a mirror.
Emotional signs and symptoms of burnout
Detachment, feeling alone in the world. Loss of motivation. Increasingly cynical and negative outlook. Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.
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.
Burnout tends to come with a feeling of complete exhaustion that doesn't dissipate with normal recovery tactics like time off, a work-free weekend or a vacation. Signs of burnout include: Excessive use of substances, including alcohol, drugs and prescription drugs. Physical and mental overwhelm and fatigue.
According to many psychology researchers , depersonalization may be an adaptive way to cope with stress. Some believe that it's your brain's way of protecting you from danger.
The findings of most of the studies reviewed indicate that individuals who have higher levels of neuroticism and lower agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness to experience are more prone to experiencing job burnout.
Stress does not just cause racing thoughts and behavioral symptoms, intense stress affects the physical brain as well. So, in the case of an overly stressed brain, a person often experiences depersonalization as a way of separating from that stress, essentially providing a bit of relief.
“It's like no longer being connected to your own body. Your mind is so overwhelmed that it just detaches from reality completely. You question whether or not you're real. Everything about you is unfamiliar.
Lack of Sleep Can Make Depersonalization Worse
When you're tired or haven't been sleeping properly, you feel more anxious. That's what happens to everyone with sleep deprivation. If you had OCD, it would be worse with lack of sleep. Same goes for social anxiety, claustrophobia, Depersonalization etc.
Complete recovery from depersonalization disorder is possible for many patients. The symptoms associated with this disorder often go away on their own or after treatment that help the person deal with the stress or trauma that triggered the symptoms.
Your brain on burnout
Chronic stress has long been known to contribute to mental and physical diseases, and now researchers are able to capture what happens to the brain. “One of the most striking (effects) is thinning of the gray matter of an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex,” Arnsten said.
Physical symptoms will become intense, leading to chronic headaches, stomach issues and gastrointestinal problems. Friends and family members may also notice behavioral changes. If left untreated, burnout can become a part of your everyday life and eventually lead to anxiety or depression.
Burnout involves three distinct symptoms: energy depletion and exhaustion, depersonalization and cynicism, and reduced efficacy.
Its 3 main areas of symptoms include lack of energy and exhaustion, feeling detached, negative or cynical about one's job, and reduced work performance.
Many times, people who are dissociating are not even aware that it is happening, other people notice it. Just like other types of avoidance, dissociation can interfere with facing up and getting over a trauma or an unrealistic fear.
Is depersonalization disorder a psychotic disorder? The difference between depersonalization and psychotic disorders is awareness. People with depersonalization disorder know the feelings of detachment are not real. People with a psychotic disorder believe their feelings are reality.