Burnout

Sadly, Burnout* due to the work environment has become much more common in recent years and an increasing number of clients are approaching me for psychological support.
Hence, I have seen many times how Burnout can affect your life quality and mar the enjoyment of your life – so I am passionate about supporting you on your way of recovery.
It is important to address the stress, anxiety and sense of helplessness that come with it.

More on what strategies to help you to come out of Burn-out below.

What are common signs of Burn-out?

Common features include:

  • Becoming more critical or cynical at work, including becoming impatient or irritable with colleagues or customers, developing a mental distance to your job

  • Dreading going to work on a daily basis (and markedly after your holidays)

  • Finding it hard to keep up with the workload, finding it difficult to motivate yourself to start or to complete tasks

  • Feeling tired/exhausted and lacking energy most of the time

  • Losing confidence in yourself, making errors you would not usually have made

  • Feeling defeated, alone or hopeless

  • Feeling anxious and stressed

  • Insomnia

  • Unexplained head-aches, stomach-panes etc.

This is not an exhaustive list – and it is noteworthy that many of these symptoms could be due to Depression or an Anxiety Disorder as well, hence it might be helpful if we assess it together.


What might cause Burn-out?

A number of factors can contribute to Burn-out, but the most common and troubling I have seen include:

  • Bullying and/or Mobbing at work

  • Unclear leadership and job expectations, leading to confusion on how to achieve work goals – or what is expected of you

  • Expectations that people should be available at all hours, including during the evenings, week-ends and holidays

  • Poor communication strategies

  • Overwork (long hours and/or an unrealistic workload)

  • Isolation due to working from home

  • Work/life imbalance – work becoming so exhausting you neglect your personal relationships, hobbies and self-care.

There are many more points we could list, but the common feature is a sense of lack of control in the workplace for the individual with regards to schedule, assignments, available resources, emotional (and physical) safety and time off to recuperate.


How to get out of Burn-out?

Here it is important to clearly assess the situation of the individual in detail: Are you concerned regarding your job security? Are there people to turn to (e.g. it is often recommended to speak to one’s manager, however, is this particular manager part of the problem or part of the solution)? Together we can find strategies, including:

  • Who you can turn to at your work-place for support?

  • Role-playing different scenarios regarding how best to ask for support

  • Developing effective communication skills

  • Do you need time out to recover, first of all?

  • If possible, what else can one do in order to reduce stress and anxiety, for example regular exercise

  • Mindfulness

  • Addressing sleep problems

  • Developing Coping Skills

  • If some of what you are facing is triggering past traumas, we address these together, so over time you can become more resilient

  • Setting boundaries, learning to say “No”.

*On a final note, please be aware “Burn-out” is not a medical diagnosis.
While it is widely culturally acknowledged as significantly affecting mental health, it is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, (DSM-5 for short), the standard manual for mental health professionals.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) does acknowledge Burnout (Quote):

Burn-out is included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon. It is not classified as a medical condition.

It is described in the chapter: ‘Factors influencing health status or contact with health services’ – which includes reasons for which people contact health services but that are not classed as illnesses or health conditions. […] Burn-out is defined in ICD-11 as follows:

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.

(Quote from: the WHO website: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases).

Many health practitioners have argued that Burn-out is generally related to Depression and Anxiety Disorders, while this might be the case, as a society we are now taking Burn-out as a specific phenomenon related to a person’s work-life seriously. This is really important, as often people with Burn-out symptoms have felt stigmatised by other labels. Here at Counselling Riviera we to radically acknowledge that the work environment can have a negative impact on people’s well-being and provide tailor-made support for you.

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