Am I At Risk Of Burnout?

Sometimes it feels like we are working too hard and might wonder - am I at risk of burnout?

Burnout is work-related and described as a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of self-identity. Burnout is not, however, a medical diagnosis. Burnout can be caused by a heavy workload, working long hours without a break, a lack of work-life balance, or feelings that you have little to no control over your work.

Are there other causes? Yes. Disliking your job is a big one, being asked to do things that go against your personal values is another, or continually being stretched outside of your comfort zone a third. Many things can underpin burnout - in my case it was the accumulation of stressful events that I wasn't dealing with adequately.

Burnout is more prevalent in what is termed the helping professions where emotional exhaustion is common. Nurses, doctors, social workers, teachers, first responders, and similar professions. Burnout is more psychological than it is physiological, with the symptoms manifesting as both. Working too hard in a physical industry is more likely to cause a chronic injury, although it may lead then to a psychological illness. ?

Common characteristics of burnout include: frequent illness; disengagement; frustration; feelings of helplessness & hopelessness; the loss of motivation. At its worst, burnout can cause suicidal tendencies. Burnout is not a 'thing inside of our heads', it is real and serious.

Burnout is becoming a major contributing factor to depression. Burnout was the major cause of my own depression and suicidal ideations.

Although there are many similarities between burnout and depression, there are differences. According to many academic readings, the key difference between burnout and depression is that burnout relates to a specific circumstance whereas depression is more generalised. Where burnout can cause us to feel negatively towards a specific situation, i.e. our work, depression can make us feel negative about lots of different things all at once.

Living with burnout can cause us to lose confidence in only some of our abilities whereas depression can cause a loss of confidence in our ability to do anything at all. Burnout can make us think that we have failed at a something specific. Depression may cause us to feel as though we have failed as a person or failed at life.

If removing the source of the stress, such as changing your work patterns or getting a new job, makes you feel better then chances are you have burnout despite some of the symptoms of burnout and depression overlapping.

As is the case with most psychological challenges that we face, prevention is the key. I work harder now than ever before, probably twice as hard as when in the police where my burnout occurred. The key difference now, I manage my breaks and sleep much better. Surrounding myself with good people who will tell me when I need to take a break is a real key factor. My family!

There is a saying, "If you love what you do you will never work another day in your life." Bollocks. I love what I do and I work hard at it. The difference: enjoyment, connection, excitement, helping others, travel, and most importantly, variety. If you dislike your job and work long hours, you are at high risk of burnout because rest is not instant. Additionally, if you dislike your job, you are receiving the negative hormone cortisol as part of our stress response.

Cortisol is bad, very bad in fact. Cortisol keeps us in a continual heightened state so that we will not be able to relax or sleep quickly. Exercise helps to reduce cortisol so 30-minutes of cardio at the end of the workday is helpful. When we talk with others we produce oxytocin which helps to dissolve cortisol, so that helps. The best way to manage burnout is through prevention.

Prevention starts with the basics - good food, stable home, exercise, connecting with others, and a good night's sleep. If sleep is challenging for you, here is a sleep tips document that might be helpful. The best form of prevention though is to remove the cause altogether.

This may include scheduling regular breaks, setting strict boundaries such as hours of work, negotiating workloads, or ultimately finding work that you enjoy. Something must change, doing nothing adds to the burnout dilemma. Take action now if you believe you may have burnout.

Burnout often needs some form of external intervention otherwise it's just ourselves talking to ourselves about ourself. Having someone close to you to tell you that you need to slow down or take a break is a wonderful resource to have. Even if it is just a cat sitting on a keyboard glaring at you to take a break!

Let's talk!

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Lance, a former police crisis negotiator and personnel?development manager, now provides enhanced communication, safety management, and personal resilience support to businesses across all industries;?https://www.warninternational.com/ ?

Lance is the author of the bestsellers -?Behind The Tape and Dark Side of the Brain?-?https://www.warninternational.com/products?category=Books ?has created a series of eLearning courses -?https://elearning.warninternational.com/