Avoiding Burnout
See also: Stress Management Tips‘Burnout’ is the term used to describe a feeling of being unable to cope because of pressure of work.
Burnout is generally a state of long-term exhaustion and lack of interest in work, and tends to result from over-work over a long period of time, or from consistent and excessive stress.
Although burnout was originally thought to result directly from excess work and stress, doctors now think that there is much more likely to be an element of disposition involved.
In other words, some people are very unlikely to ever suffer from burnout, however much pressure they are placed under, while others may suffer from it without being placed under what most people would consider excess pressure.
What is Burnout?
Defining burnout or burn-out
The World Health Organization’s 11th Revision of the Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) states that occupational burnout is an occupational phenomenon, and NOT a medical condition. It is included in the factors that may affect health, or reasons why people may contact medical services. However, it is not considered to be a health condition in itself.
The precise definition in the ICD-11 is:
"Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.
Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life."
Signs and Symptoms of Burnout
The symptoms associated with burnout are non-specific. People considering themselves to be experiencing burnout tend to be very, very tired, and often find it difficult to make decisions.
They can struggle to find energy for anything. They may also suffer from other mental health problems such as depression. However, even if they don’t reach a state of clinical mental illness, they may suffer from doubts about their ability or effectiveness, or low self-esteem.
Other symptoms that have been reported to be associated with burnout include feeling helpless, trapped and/or defeated, feeling that you are alone in the world or that you cannot connect to other people, being generally cynical or negative, feeling overwhelmed, and procrastinating or just taking longer to get anything done.
Burnout, depression or anxiety?
In a survey by Mental Health UK, 93% of adults could correctly identify some symptoms of burnout. However, more than two-thirds incorrectly identified symptoms of anxiety as symptoms of burnout.
The real problem is that symptoms of mental health issues are fairly non-specific. This makes conditions harder to diagnose.
It is also important to note that although the World Health Organization states that burnout is an occupational phenomenon, the impact can be wide-reaching. It will probably also affect your home and social life, because you can’t simply switch off your stress when you get home. It may also lead to short- or long-term health effects such as increasing vulnerability to minor illnesses, or frequent headaches.
Causes of Burnout
The main cause of burnout is generally agreed to be excessive stress.
Factors that have been linked to burnout include:
Working very long hours, or having a very heavy workload;
Not having the work–life balance that you want;
Feeling that you do not have much control over your work; and
Working in a caring profession where you have to ‘give’ a lot to other people on a regular basis.
Our page on Workplace Stress explains that there is growing evidence that some level of pressure is productive, and even necessary to many people to provide motivation. However, when you are placed under too much pressure, this can lead to stress. This is not good for you, especially over a prolonged period of time.
There are physiological reasons for that. When you are under stress, your body produces stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline, the ‘fight, fright or flight’ hormone. These hormones prepare your body for swift and immediate action, whether that is to run away or to fight something.
These hormones evolved, over millions of years, to cause a reaction. They lead to genuine physiological changes: increased heart rate, movement of blood to crucial parts of your body, loss of appetite. Having them constantly present in your bloodstream is therefore going to have some pretty ‘interesting’ effects on your long-term well-being.
You are going to be jumpy, nervous, and often over-emotional, and it’s very wearing on your body.
No wonder people suffering from long-term stress are tired and can become unwell.
Burnout vs. stress
Burnout is usually the result of excessive stress, but the two are not the same. People under excessive stress often remain optimistic that things can be sorted. However, people with burnout tend to believe that everything is hopeless.
One way of thinking about it is to consider the metaphors used for the two conditions.
- People under excessive stress tend to describe themselves as ‘drowning’ under the work, or ‘sinking under the strain’.
- People with burnout, however, tend to feel ‘dried out’ or as if they have ‘nothing left’.
One website, helpguide.org, describes stress as being about ‘too much’, and burnout being about ‘not enough’.
Burnout may have similar symptoms to the debilitating condition ME/CFS (see box). The two can also both be triggered by stress, and there is some evidence that burnout can actually contribute to ME/CFS.
ME or CFS?
ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy) and CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) are names for a debilitating illness that affects millions of people worldwide.
People with ME/CFS can experience the feelings of burnout over prolonged periods of time. Symptoms include reduced concentration and poor memory, as well as physical effects such as aching muscles and severe headaches.
If you think that you, or someone you know, may have ME or CFS then it's important to seek medical help and be properly diagnosed. Although there is no cure, there are treatments that may help.
For more information see: The ME Association (UK)
Avoiding Burnout
The first thing to remember is that once you are suffering from burnout, the nature of the condition means that it is very hard to do anything about it.
Part of the problem is that you are too tired to care about anything.
You are therefore really going to find it challenging to make the necessary changes to improve your life.
There is no doubt that there are individuals who are much more prone to burnout than others. However, even the most capable will eventually begin to struggle under conditions of excessive stress.
The Three Rs of Managing Burnout
The management of burnout can be summed up as ‘Three Rs’:
- Recognise the warning signs of burnout, and be alert for situations that may lead to problems;
- Reverse the damage by asking for help and support, managing your stress, and if necessary, removing yourself from the situation; and
- Building your resilience to stress and burnout by looking after yourself physically and mentally.
This can also be considered as a series of lessons:
Lesson #1 Prevention is better than cure
Learn to recognise early on when you’re suffering from stress, and when that stress is starting to get a bit too much for you, and get yourself out of the situation.
Ask trusted friends and colleagues to help you to identify your ‘tells’, the ways that you can tell that you’re stressed. Some people snap and get irritable; others go quiet. Work out your tendency, make sure that you notice when it happens, and then do something about it.
Lesson #2 It’s up to you
Evidence suggests that the most stressful situations are those in which you feel that you are not in control. The answer to that is to try to take control of your own life, at least in small ways.
For example, try to work out what situations make you stressed and avoid them. You probably should not try to avoid them altogether, because a little pressure, and being out of your ‘comfort zone’, is good for you. However, it might be best not to take a job where those situations will make up the bulk of your working day. If you do end up in a job like that, and you start to find it very stressful, see if you can negotiate your way to an alternative.
If you can’t, you may need to look for another job.
Nobody else is going to do this for you because nobody else knows what it is that is making you stressed.
Lesson #3 Try to develop a good work-life balance
One very good way to avoid stress is to have a good work-life balance (and see our page on Work-Life Balance for more on this). If you take positive steps to spend less time at work, and more time with your family, or on personal interests, you will almost by definition become less stressed.
Work expands to fit the time.
Reduce the time, and you may well find that you still get the work done.
Case study: Going canoeing
Julie was the leader of a very busy team in a government department. They had a lot of urgent work, often coming in late in the afternoon, and long-hours working was quite normal. The whole team, however, agreed that it was not a good thing to do, and all wanted to reduce the hours that they worked in line with departmental policy.
Julie was trying to leave at 5pm two days each week to go canoeing. She was struggling to do that, and usually only managed one.
After a chat with her manager, she decided to increase the number of days she was trying to leave early to three, instead of two. Although she and her manager agreed that this was counterintuitive, in fact, it had a very positive result.
She started leaving at 5pm at least twice a week. Her work did not suffer, and she was better able to cope with the pressure because she was both physically fitter and calmer.
Lesson #4 Look after yourself physically
Taking exercise is a very good way to reduce the risk of burnout. First, those who are physically fit are better able to cope with job demands anyway and, secondly, exercise releases endorphins, which help us to feel good. However, it is important not to launch straight into a vigorous exercise routine. Instead, build up slowly and listen to your body.
See our pages The Importance of Exercise and How to Exercise Safely and Effectively for more information.
It is also important to eat healthily (and there is more about how to do this in our page on Stress, Nutrition and Diet, and our other pages on Food, Diet and Nutrition).
Lesson #5 Ask for help
It is often hard to manage stressful situations by yourself. It is particularly hard if you think you are already sliding down the slippery slope towards burnout.
The key is to ask for help. In particular, you should talk to your manager or your HR department.
In the UK at least, employers have a duty of care, and this includes reducing workplace stress. Your manager is therefore obliged to take steps to reduce your stress and help you to cope. If your manager won’t help, the Human Resources department is likely to be interested, because this could have a direct impact on the organisation’s reputation.
A Final Thought...
Asking for help is perhaps the most important point if you think that you, or someone you know, may be experiencing burnout.
It may feel like nothing is ever going to improve, but asking for help is the first step to getting it. You shouldn't feel embarrassed or ashamed to talk to your doctor and/or manager about how you feel.
Don’t feel helpless, ask for help.