Emotional burnout - syndrome, symptoms, prevention, treatment

Emotional burnout syndrome

In recent years, emotional burnout is typical for many people. This is due to the fact that the pace of life has accelerated significantly, problems at work and at home are growing like a snowball, and there is less and less time to solve them and opportunities.

The name and definition for it were invented in 1970 by G. Freudenberg. He used the term "burnout" by analogy with a scorched and lifeless desert, a building. If you imagine the ashes after a major fire, then this is as sad a sight as a person in a decline of moral strength. As cruel as a real firestorm can be, so merciless is the fire of the human soul. Externally, a person may remain the same, but his inner world is completely devastated.

There are three degrees of emotional burnout:

• Exhaustion. A feeling of unreasonable anxiety, insomnia, physical illnesses appear.
• Cynicism. This is a disorder of self-perception or depersonalization. A person begins to evaluate his own life and actions as if looking at them from the outside. He feels that he is losing self-control and increasingly isolates himself from others.
• Inefficiency. At this stage, people lose confidence in themselves, the correctness of their actions and words.

On the one hand, each person will be against falling into the "snares" of emotional burnout, but on the other hand, it is difficult to wave your hand at all problems and just relax. Therefore, you need to know how to properly cope with this condition and the main reasons for its occurrence.

Symptoms of emotional burnout

Many people believe that emotional burnout is a consequence of continuous stressful work without days off. However, doctors claim that the source of this condition is the predominance of negative factors over positive ones. When a person experiences more stress at work and at home than satisfaction, this is a sure way to cause a problem.

Scientists have found out what factors determine a person's success at work:

• balanced workload;
• control over the situation;
• decent compensation;
• own value in the eyes of the team and society;
• fairness in the team, relationships with subordinates and superiors.

If two or more factors are classified as negative, that is, not fully met, emotional devastation occurs. For example, with a very good salary, relationships in the team are tense. Or a wonderful team is managed by a despotic leader who treats many unfairly.

According to statistical studies, people whose professional activities are related to communication are more susceptible to emotional burnout. The risk group includes:

• healthcare workers;
• teachers;
• journalists;
• social workers;
• salespeople;
• actors.

Doctors explain this by the fact that each person working in the above professions is forced to communicate with people who have their own views on life, complaints, hopes and claims. Forced to help, listen, respond to requests, ask and solve someone's problems, they increasingly understand the imperfection of people and the world as a whole. At the same time, a persistent hostility to one's own field of work activity arises. However, it has already been proven that today emotional burnout is typical for a person of any profession.

An important factor of a person's personality has a strong influence on the development of emotional burnout. For example, each of us has a limit to patience or desire. Thus, one person can ignore the nagging of management for a long time, while another languishes at work at the first signs of discontent of the boss. In addition, there are people for whom monotonous and meticulous work is much more interesting than rush jobs with solving this or that burning problem and vice versa.

Depending on these factors, doctors have identified personality traits of a person most susceptible to rapid emotional burnout:

• tendency to perceive the surrounding reality in black and white tones;
• rigid life position;
• desire to do everything perfectly, to avoid shortcomings even in small things;
• painful punctuality and diligence;
• self-sacrifice;
• prevalence of illusions over real facts;
• intolerance of other people's opinions;
• low self-esteem.

Working on yourself and eradicating the above-mentioned distinctive features of your character is an important component of self-healing.

Prevention of emotional burnout

The most important thing is to determine the onset of symptoms in time and urgently pull yourself together. This is very difficult for those who set high goals for themselves and simply cannot reach the bar that is unattainable by definition. However, this vicious circle can be broken if you know how. By admitting the wrongness of their actions, a person takes the first step towards healing.

Everyone needs to know that:

• In the conditions of modern reality, stress is almost impossible to avoid, so you need to learn to control your emotions and perceive problems calmly.
• You should not give in to temptations and momentary whims. As a rule, they are the result of despair, but as a result, they do not solve the problem, but only aggravate it. If you can't cope with aggression or an emerging desire, just count to 10, take a deep breath in or out and try to look at the situation from a different point of view.
• Never forget about the main laws and values of human communication and life.
• If you know that you can't control yourself in different situations, get a pet. They relieve excessive aggression, negativity, calm down, and lower blood pressure.
• Use various relaxation techniques. If you are scared or stressed, try to calm down first, and only then make a decision.
• Take more walks in the fresh air and exercise. Put aside your favorite TV series for an hour-long walk in the park or a trip to the gym.

The best blocker for spontaneous decisions is the abbreviation STOP! This term comes from Alcoholics Anonymous. It stands for if you are Angry, Anxious, Lonely or Depressed, take care of your own needs before blaming others for your failures.

When you are faced with an unsolvable problem and there is at least one way out of the current situation, decide! You should not be stopped by the fear of changing jobs or breaking up relationships. Doubts can only be avoided by acting, making mistakes and trying again.

The most common problem that causes emotional burnout is irregular working hours, an incorrect daily routine, and a very labor-intensive job. If all this concerns you personally, start developing a plan that will eliminate at least one of these factors. Try not to spend money on excesses, do not buy things that cost more than you can afford. It is especially important not to get into debt and loans, which will then become a heavy burden on your soul, significantly hit your budget and force you to devote even more time to work. Finally, think about changing jobs to one that will bring you much more profit for the same period of time or effort.

Everyone probably knows people who worked tirelessly and as a result got a lot, but now it does not matter to them, because they are simply morally exhausted. They are mired in debt and material problems, from which they try to escape, making even greater efforts. The futility of these impulses drives them into total dissatisfaction with themselves, others, their work. As a result, they are haunted by chronic fatigue, physical illnesses and stress.

The main thing is self-control, discipline, time management and time for rest. Only by enjoying simple human joys can we work with full dedication and experience joy and pleasure from it. You need to be able to stop in time, when the first signs of emotional burnout begin to appear.

The specialists of our clinic will help you identify the onset of emotional burnout and prevent the problem from developing. We will do everything possible to ensure that your life remains bright and full of joy, set you up for a positive mood and rid you of imposed fears and doubts!