The New Health Condition To Know Now: Burnout

The term ‘burnout’ has been applied to everything from tiredness at the weekend to being on the verge of depression…

Most recently, burnout has been closely associated with the millennial generation. While some may argue that the term is becoming an excuse for laziness, burnout has now been officially recognised by the World Health organisation as a health condition. This new classification has massively helped people who need medical assistance to manage their burnout. 

Symptoms include feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion…

As well as an increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativity or cynicism related to one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy. Your job plays a lead role in the condition as so much of the strain is stress-related. Whatever the cause, feeling burnt out can affect both your physical and mental health. Fatigue can cause a vast range of other physical, mental and emotional symptoms including: chronic tiredness and headaches.

You know you suffer from burn-out when...

• You have a lack of control. An inability to influence decisions that affect your job — such as your schedule, assignments or workload — could lead to job burnout. So could a lack of the resources you need to do your work.

• There are unclear job expectations. If you're unclear about the degree of authority you have or what your supervisor or others expect from you, you're not likely to feel comfortable at work.

• There are dysfunctional workplace dynamics. Perhaps you work with challenging colleagues, or you feel undermined by colleagues or your boss micromanages your work. 

• There are extremes of activity. When a job is monotonous or chaotic, you need constant energy to remain focused — which can lead to fatigue and job burnout.

• You have a lack of social support. If you feel isolated at work and in your personal life, you might feel more stressed.

• You have a work-life imbalance. If your work takes up so much of your time and effort that you don't have the energy to spend time with your family and friends, you might burn out quickly.  

Burnout may not be a medical condition per se, but it has serious health consequences if it’s ignored or unaddressed…

Including excessive stress, fatigue, insomnia, sadness, anger or irritability, alcohol or substance misuse, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and vulnerability to illness, because of your low immunity. However, if you regularly experience negative feelings — or experience them for a prolonged period of time — this can cause depression and an overall feeling of negativity in everything that you do. 

There’s a difference between stress and burnout…

Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as having too much stress. Stress, by and large, involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and mentally. However, stressed people can still imagine that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel better. Burnout, on the other hand, is about not enough. Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations. If excessive stress feels like you’re drowning in responsibilities, burnout is a sense of being all dried up. And while you’re usually aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always notice burnout when it happens.