How to overcome professional burnout. How do you know when it's time to quit? Emotional burnout at work Emotional burnout solution

Who among us at least once in our lives has not felt that tired of my job?

It often happens that a person simply burns out and can no longer be productive.

To him it's getting harder get up in the morning and go to work, and he does not understand why this is necessary at all.

This condition may mean the presence of emotional burnout. This condition carries a certain danger both for the person himself and for his professional activity.

What is it: a concept in psychology

Burnout Syndrome- this is a condition in which a person feels a sharp decline in strength, constant fatigue and exhaustion (moral and physical).

It can occur as a consequence of chronic and, as a rule, most often occurs in the workplace. But housewives are also susceptible to SEV.

After all, every day they have to do one and tighter routine work, which subsequently leads to the fact that they are simply disappointed in themselves and in life, and do not know what to do next.

People suffering from BS, gradually change for the worse. It seems to them that they are simply exhausted and can no longer do anything new and useful.

This condition is quite dangerous and often resembles the symptoms. You can not let everything take its course, it is important to detect the problem in time and try to solve it.

Causes

Emotional burnout can happen to anyone, because in fact, there is enough reasons to which we usually do not pay attention.

Most often, personality burnout syndrome occurs in people with these types:

• maximalists who tend to have everything perfect and correct;
• very responsible people and those who tend to put the public interest above their own;
• dreamers who tend to believe that they are perfect and they succeed, although sometimes this is not entirely true.

Also, emotional burnout is prone to those people who have bad habits(alcohol, cigarettes, drugs).

Factors

Most often, people of certain professions suffer from EBS.:

• health workers;
• teachers;
• psychologists;
• social workers;
• law enforcement officials;
• service workers;
• people of creative professions.

There are usually three factors that influence the formation of the SEA:

1. personal- shows how much a person is prone to and experiences.
2. role-playing- shows whether a person can be held responsible for his actions.
3. Organizational- Responsible for the organization of work in the team.

For healthcare workers, doctors

Medical staff are included in the category of professions that most susceptible to CMEA. Every day they deal with sick patients who require attention and care.

Medical staff see all this and to some extent take on all the negativity and hopelessness. Scientists say that female medical workers most often suffer from the syndrome.

They realize that are responsible for life and health patients, and it is very difficult to feel such a load, therefore it is not surprising that burnout occurs sooner or later.

Teachers

SEV is also very common among teachers.

The teacher also bears a huge responsibility.

He must be an example of imitation, he must educate and admonish children, give them knowledge, and also be able to behave perfectly not only among students, but also among his colleagues.

To teachers usually very high requirements. It's no secret that this work is very emotional. Children are different and are also a very problematic category, you need to be able to find an approach to them and win them over.

Therefore, the teacher a huge amount of work falls in every sense of the word. It is also worth considering that teachers often have to take work home and work overtime, not to mention the crush from the authorities.

How to recognize an emotional vampire and protect yourself from him? Learn about it from ours.

stages

Now there is a very large number of variations of the stages of CMEA. But among all of them, four main ones can be distinguished:

1. tension- there are two options for the emergence of tension: the first is the case when the employee does not have enough skills or abilities, the second is that the desired one did not live up to expectations.

   In this case, tension begins to arise and grow between a person and the environment in which he works and gives impetus to the emergence of CMEA.

2. Stress- then a person can either find a way out of the current situation, or it will worsen and become chronic.
3. Physical and behavioral changes The person has physical, behavioral and emotional symptoms.
4. exhaustion- a person begins to feel emptiness and exhaustion, as if he is slowly fading away.

Symptoms

Emotional burnout has quite long incubation period it doesn't happen in one day. Although sometimes it may seem that yesterday productivity was at its best, but today everything is getting worse.

But this is not so, it's just that most people try not to notice the symptoms that they have had for a very long time.

At first, a person feels that he has significantly decreased enthusiasm for work, I want to do everything as quickly as possible, but it turns out just the opposite.

This means that it becomes more difficult to concentrate, because he is no longer interested.

All symptoms can be divided into three groups:

Physical:

• constant chronic fatigue;
• lethargy throughout the day;
• feeling of lack of sleep;
• headache;
• feeling of weakness in the body;
• pain in the muscles;
• insomnia;
• heavy sweating;
• high blood pressure;
• joint and back pain;
• dizziness;
• weight change (may be excessive gluttony or vice versa, lack of appetite).

Behavioral changes:

• decreased desire to communicate with people, the desire to be alone with yourself as often as possible;
• unwillingness to perform any specific action, evasion of duties;
• shifting responsibility to others;
• undeserved accusations against others, attempts to blame them for all troubles and failures;
• excessive anger and, a manifestation of envy;
• constant complaints to others (for life, for poor work);
• negative and pessimistic thinking.

Psychological and emotional:

• apathy;
• indifference to everything that happens;
• self-disappointment;
• loss of faith in yourself and in your own strength;
• irascibility;
• outburst of anger at others;
• constant dissatisfaction;
• grouchiness;
• Bad mood.

It is worth noting that the symptoms of burnout are often similar to those of depression. And as we know, a depressive state is quite dangerous and requires immediate treatment.

But the upside is that Burnout is much easier to get rid of than depression..

Diagnostics

Methods are applied:

How do you know if you've been the victim of emotional blackmail? find out right now.

Treatment

How to fight, how to get rid of emotional burnout?

Basically, SES is treated with herbal preparations. First of all, drugs are prescribed based on valerian. It should be taken for 1 month, one capsule 2 times a day.

You can also take: ginseng, eleutherococcus, lemongrass and others. It is worth paying attention to homeopathy, which is quite popular and effective.

The complex also treats depression, sleep disorders and mood swings. Therefore, the doctor may prescribe tranquilizers.

It could be Sedariston, Nervochel and others. If the syndrome is in advanced form, then potent drugs with a synthetic composition are prescribed.

Do not forget about vitamins, biological additives, natural phytotonics.

How to cope on your own?

Usually people ignore all the symptoms of SEB.

This attitude can lead burnout to a chronic form, which will border on a real depression.

If a person starts having problems with the work in which he spends most of his life, then everything becomes gray and meaningless.

The first thing to do is take a vacation. Rest will help you really “reboot”, think carefully about your problems and finally decide what you need to change in your life and work.

Do something, find interesting hobby, spend more time with your family and friends. Reconsider your attitude to work, perhaps it's time for you to change or at least put forward some requirements and ask for better conditions.

It will be best if you contact a psychologist. It will help you cope with your problem, because it can be quite difficult to deal with CMEA alone.

Try to take a piece of paper and write down all the pros and cons of the job you are currently working on. Perhaps there will be much more cons and it’s really time for you to just change your job.

But if you are completely confused and do not know what to do, then it's better to ask for help.

Prevention

To avoid SEV, you need to take preventive measures seriously. After all, proper prevention will help strengthen both physical and mental health.

Prevention of physical health:

• adhere to a proper and balanced diet, eat as many vitamins as possible, limit yourself to fats, special attention should be paid to vegetable fiber;
• go in for sports, you can do light physical education or at least exercise, if not possible, then at least be sure to walk in the fresh air;
• healthy sleep is very important for health, so you should sleep at least 8 hours;
• You need to make a daily routine for yourself and try to stick to it.

Prevention of mental health:

All psychologists say that you need to learn to cope with losses, to survive them. In this case, the SEV will not bother you.

Also It's important not to chase what you can't catch. You should try to do only what you really want and what is really important to you.

Burnout can be quite dangerous and often results in to a very negative consequences . It is very important to pay attention to the presence of such a problem in time and try with all your might to establish your work activity.

Emotional burnout How to get your energy back

Have you ever heard the expression "burned out at work"? Probably heard. This psychological state is especially relevant for citizens of metropolitan areas. Meanwhile, it's not just popular expression, which characterizes the situation when a person has worked so hard that he was completely exhausted. It's very real psychological problem called burnout syndrome. The burnout syndrome is typical for those who, due to their excessive work and only work, are so exhausted physically and mentally that they undermine their health and lose interest in life in general. How not to burn out at work? Professional burnout: concept, causes, stages, prevention.

Imagine you are working tirelessly. At first, your body will not resist it. But when the excessive return to work crosses a certain limit, the situation will become stressful, and then completely turn into chronic stress. Naturally, your body simply does not want to tolerate such an attitude towards itself and will show you in every possible way that it is impossible to work like this. You will constantly feel tired, which will become chronic over time, you will lose interest in work, and in your favorite activities, and in friends and family. All of these symptoms are similar to those of depression.

Psychologists combined all these signs and identified them as a state of "burnout" in the second half of the 20th century. In 1974, psychiatrist J. Freudenberg first described the symptoms of "professional burnout" in his writings. He cited the following as signs of burnout:

• nervous exhaustion;
• loss of any motivation;
• decreased concentration;
• apathy.

Burnout syndrome does not develop immediately, it takes a decent amount of time. But for different people, the period of development of the syndrome varies: someone “burns out” in 5 years, someone’s body fights longer, someone less. For some, even with hard work, burnout syndrome does not manifest itself at all, since a person perfectly combines both work and good rest.

Ways to recognize burnout

Each of us is psychologically individual, so the symptoms of burnout vary from person to person. For example, this process occurs differently in men and women, because the latter are more emotional. How to recognize the symptoms of burnout? How to understand that psychological overload is approaching a critical point? Here are the general criteria for this condition:

• you feel emotionally exhausted;
• you are indifferent to what is happening around;
• you become irritable, aggressively treat your colleagues;
• you often “go into yourself” and do not want to communicate with others;
• you have lost faith in your strengths: you doubt yourself, your talent, your abilities;
• your productivity has dropped, you cannot concentrate;
• you are constantly in a sleepy state;
• you constantly put off things for later;
• you constantly feel tired and depressed (even during rest).

All these criteria are the body's reaction to your condition. Your body is signaling danger to you! And only you yourself can make a “reset”: for this you need to correlate your requests and opportunities and try to bring them to a balance.

As I have already noted, burnout syndrome can manifest itself in different ways. In general, experts divide its signs into three groups:

1. Psychophysical symptoms:
   • Fatigue at any time of the day;
   • Emotional and physical exhaustion;
   • Lack of curiosity for something new;
   • Lack of fear in dangerous circumstances;
   • General asthenization (decreased activity, weakness, deterioration of hormonal parameters);
   • Sudden changes in body weight (both a sharp weight loss and a sharp increase);
   • Complete / partial insomnia;
   • Causeless headache, permanent disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;
   • Inhibited state and constant desire to sleep;
   • The appearance of shortness of breath;
   • Decreased perception of the surrounding world through the senses (impaired vision, hearing, smell, etc.).
2. Socio-psychological symptoms:
   • Feeling of depression, indifference, passivity;
   • state of depression;
   • High level of irritability;
   • Constant nervous breakdowns;
   • Constant negativity (feelings of resentment, guilt, suspicion);
   • Increased anxiety, constant anxiety;
   • Feeling of hyper-responsibility and, accordingly, fear of not coping with something;
   • Negative attitude towards future prospects in life.
3. Behavioral symptoms:
   • You begin to think that your job is getting harder and soon you won't be able to do it at all;
   • You yourself change your mode of work (for example, you start to arrive early and leave late);
   • You constantly take work home (even if it's not necessary) and don't do it;
   • you refuse to accept professional solutions looking for reasons for explanations;
   • You feel useless;
   • You do not believe in improvement and are indifferent to the results of work;
   • You are not completing important tasks by slowing down on small details.

This list of signs is not complete, it is simply impossible to compile a complete list, since each person is individual. But, if you notice the manifestation of any of the listed symptoms behind you, it is worth considering: are you not burning out at work without noticing it yourself?

Causes of burnout syndrome

The cause of burnout syndrome at work lies in the fact that a person cannot find a balance between work and other areas of life, such as work and leisure, work and family. For those who, due to their work, constantly interact with other people, the body itself produces a certain reaction: it itself psychologically protects you from stress. The same J. Freideberg, when describing professional burnout, used the example of his colleagues - doctors.

Imagine that at work you often communicate with other people. And you, as a good worker, naturally, get involved in their problems and experiences, try to help them as much as possible. You can do this both consciously and unconsciously. It turns out that you pass through yourself the problem of each of your clients. But you also have your own problems and worries. As a result, all this accumulates, and the reserves of your psyche are not at all endless.

It turns out that the further a person plunges into his work, the faster the burnout syndrome develops. Ultimately, this will lead to the fact that you stop enjoying work, leisure, and life in general: one day you will break down and not feel the strength to move on.

As an example of a burnout syndrome, one can describe the activities of doctors. They are constantly in the process of active communication with patients (among whom there are those who are negative), they are constantly faced with unforeseen circumstances, their working conditions are very changeable. This is all common causes burnout , which, in principle, are capable of causing the syndrome in representatives of other professions.

But there is also specific causes of burnout : low salary, lack of necessary equipment and medicines, inability to help a person in some severe cases, the presence of deaths among patients, forcing the situation by the patients themselves and their relatives.

Not all people succumb to burnout at work. Many manage to cope with it thanks to:

• ability to change under stressful conditions;
• high self-esteem;
• self-confidence;
• confidence in their knowledge and professional qualities;
• the ability to maintain a positive attitude towards oneself and others.

Thanks to self-confidence and positive attitudes, a person can cope with a stressful situation and not succumb to burnout syndrome, despite the prevailing conditions around.

Burnout stages

The process of professional burnout is studied by many specialists in the field of psychology. Almost each of them offers his own division of this process into stages. In general, there are five stages of burnout:

1. The first stage is the "honeymoon": the employee is satisfied with his duties, he is enthusiastic, shows excessive activity, even refuses needs that are not related to work. Then he begins to experience the first work stresses, which are getting stronger. Because of this, the work no longer brings as much pleasure as before, the energy of the worker begins to decline.
2. The second stage - "lack of fuel": there is a constant feeling of fatigue, insomnia begins to disturb. The employee loses interest in his duties, the productivity of his activity decreases. The level of the employee's own participation in relation to colleagues, the rest of those around him decreases. Labor discipline begins to suffer, the employee evades his duties. There are signs of depression and aggression. Under the condition of high motivation, the employee will continue to burn at the expense of internal resources, which in the end will still lead to the next stage.
3. The third stage is "chronic": during this period, chronic irritability, exhaustion, a feeling of depression, and a constant feeling of lack of time begin to appear. At this stage, the employee develops health problems - headaches, gastrointestinal disorders, pressure surges, sexual problems, tachycardia. Dependence on nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol may develop.
4. The fourth stage is the "crisis": the employee develops chronic diseases, he loses his ability to work. The feeling of dissatisfaction with one's life sharply intensifies.
5. Fifth stage - "breaking through the wall": health and mental problems lead to dangerous diseases that threaten a person's life. He begins to feel a sense of helplessness, the meaninglessness of his life, full of despair.

Consequences of burnout at work

The consequences of the burnout syndrome are primarily health problems and psychological state. A “burnt out at work” person gets himself so many all sorts of “sores”, and already in the chronic stage, which will be problematic to cure.

Physiological "sores"

These are problems with the work of the heart and gastrointestinal tract, problems with the spine, a sharp decrease or increase in weight, poisoning the body with nicotine and alcohol, low level immunity.

Psychological "sores"

Due to the burnout syndrome, chronic depression can develop, which will lead to a constant feeling of depression and depression, increased irritability, and sleep disturbances. If you do not turn to a specialist with such a depressive state in time, then depression will soon lead to serious somatic problems.

Prevention of burnout at work

What to do if you feel that you are "burning at work"? So that your condition does not go into a critical phase, it is necessary to follow the following recommendations of psychologists at the first signs of the syndrome:

• Switch! Your life consists not only of work, you have family, friends, favorite hobby. Meetings with family and friends, as well as activities that give positive emotions, are the best ways of psychotherapy.
• Go in for sports and give up bad habits!
• Evenly distribute work throughout the day, do not forget to take breaks! At the end of the day, forget about work and get distracted by more enjoyable activities!
• If you have the opportunity to refuse to work on the weekend - refuse!
• After a day at work, when you come home, go to the shower and imagine that you are washing everything off yourself. negative emotions- such psychological reception it helps a lot to unwind.
• Take it easy on problems, you can't be better everywhere and in everything - this is quite normal!
• Use pleasant tricks to improve performance:
  • Place on the desktop a photo of relatives or just a picture depicting a place that you like;
  • Try to go out into the fresh air a couple of times during the day;
  • Use the smell of citrus fruits - an aromatic sachet or a couple of drops of essential oil on your wrists will also be useful for Have a good mood, and for health.
• Don't forget your vacation! Timeouts are a must!
• Make plans for the future, do not break away from other areas of life;
• Develop and improve yourself, share experience with colleagues.

professional burnout. How not to lose interest in your work? Psychotherapy

Burnout is not yet recognized as a clinical diagnosis distinct from ordinary stress. A number of researchers claim that only 7% of professionals suffer from burnout, but others say about 50% in the field of medicine and 85% in finance. A 2013 ComPsych study of more than 5,100 US employees found that 62% of people complain about high level stress, loss of control over the situation and severe fatigue. Scientists have proven the connection between burnout and many diseases, including mental ones, such as coronary insufficiency, hypertension, sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and drug addiction. Burnout is known to create feelings of emptiness and alienation, interfere with relationships, and ruin careers.

Consider the case of Barbara, the CEO of a PR firm serving high-tech clients. In 2001, during the collapse of the dot-coms, her workload increased significantly: she had to keep the business afloat. Immersed in the "endless bustle", she stopped taking care of her health, lost her bearings in life and confidence in own forces. Cheryl, a partner in the Philadelphia office of an international law firm, found herself in a similar situation, agreeing to take on several leadership roles in addition to her extensive practice. “I felt like I was living on adrenaline—like a sprint was a marathon,” she recalls. But even this did not prompt her to at least sometimes psychologically disconnect from work. Another senior executive, Ari, a consultant at a small firm, likened his job to a trap. The unhealthy atmosphere in the organization and the methods of interacting with customers did not align with his values ​​​​and corroded from the inside, until he found that he did not understand how to break free.

I have been doing research, coaching and teaching for over 15 years. During that time, I have taught thousands of clients, students, and executive trainees how to manage burnout stress to advance their careers. I showed them that it is necessary to recognize the symptoms, recognize their existence, study the causes of their occurrence and develop preventive strategies to destroy the mechanism of burnout.

Three components

Thanks to research by psychologist Christina Maslach and her colleagues, we know that burnout syndrome has three components - exhaustion, cynicism, and decreased performance - and occurs in response to regular exposure to stressors.

Most of us believe that burnout is about someone else. I myself thought the same. At the word “burnout”, I mentally imagined an empty aluminum sleeve from under a tea candle, and in it, on the bottom, the remnant of a burnt wick. No, it's definitely not about me. It seems to us that such things happen only to those who work day and night for wear and tear, literally burning at work. We habitually explain our own state of being by fatigue, but this is the quiet insidiousness of burnout - it creeps up imperceptibly.

At some point, you realize that only that burnt wick remained from the warm flame inside. When did I notice the symptoms of burnout in myself? Probably, when positive emotions disappeared, and slight irritation took their place. “Is this really it? Can't be! I'm a psychologist!

I was convinced of the correctness of my suspicions later, when I myself came to psychotherapy. Remember the old anecdote about fake Christmas decorations, which are all right, but they "do not please"? That's what I had as well. It’s not that they didn’t please me, but I didn’t want to get involved in the New Year’s fuss at all, put up a Christmas tree, decorate the house, and run after gifts. And after the New Year holidays, nothing has changed. Then it became clear that it was time to change something.

In my case, not all of the “candle” burned out. The word burnout very accurately speaks of what is happening inside a person - he feels exactly burned out. At first, this may not be particularly noticeable: well, a person has no mood. Well, no strength, no emotions. Just think, it happens to everyone, everyone gets tired, and in general life is a difficult thing.

In order not to be so painful, the psyche turns off emotions, protecting itself. The body begins to work in energy saving mode

But if you missed the first calls, then over time, the thin sound of a warning bell turns into a deafening ring. There is a feeling of anxiety, dissatisfaction with everything and everyone. I do not want to communicate even with relatives. Work that used to be a joy is no longer pleasant. What brought joy and pleasure, begins to annoy more and more. Gradually, irritation towards colleagues and relatives grows, self-esteem falls. There are bouts of despair.

In this state, it becomes increasingly difficult to communicate with people. The world is drawn in black and gray colors. Everything is perceived sharply, painfully. And in order not to be so painful, the psyche turns off emotions, protecting itself. The body begins to work in energy-saving mode, spending energy only on the most necessary. To ensure vital processes. And then comes indifference to everything. This is the deafening sound.

It is important to remember that the resources of the mind and body are not infinite. For example, we cannot stay awake for a long time, the body needs sleep. Giving 100% at work every day is also impossible. Each of us has his own limit, and it depends on so many factors. From the way of life of a person, from the situation in which he is now, from the time of year and time of day.

For example, we spend much more energy than usual on communicating with unpleasant people. And if a person regularly crosses this limit, exhaustion begins, followed by burnout.

Depression is rooted in fear; burnout is rooted in anger. The symptoms are so similar that it can be difficult for specialists to tell them apart.

From the point of view of psychosomatics, those who had a bad relationship with a parent of the same sex suffer from burnout in childhood. This situation in the family becomes the foundation of many problems. The child tries with all his might to earn the attention of his parents, to earn their love. And he continues to do so as an adult. For example, he transfers the role of his parent to the boss and tries to earn his love, or at least recognition of his merits. If this does not happen, self-esteem falls, self-confidence evaporates. There is a feeling of futility. "It's like I'm fighting windmills”- with these words one of my clients described this state.

It used to be assumed that burnout could only be caused by work. But now I'm increasingly seeing burnout in the family. It happens when you don't enjoy what you do for the family. When your contribution exceeds the return. Everything you do is taken for granted. Although both work in the family and work in the office have a lot in common. By and large, the family is also work, only without days off.

Many of my clients complain that they do not receive support from loved ones. It seems to a woman that she is doomed to "pull the strap." In the evening you tell your family that you are tired, and in response you hear: “What did you do all day? You are at home!”

After these words, there is a feeling of helplessness, resentment, hopelessness and - most often - anger. It is he who is behind the resentment and helplessness. This is, in my opinion, the main difference between burnout syndrome and depression. Depression is rooted in fear; burnout is rooted in anger. The symptoms are so similar that it can be difficult for specialists to tell them apart.

For most women who have chosen family as their main occupation, burnout has become real. Burnout is also possible in creative people, in those circles where there is fierce competition, for example, in the modeling business.

Usually people with burnout syndrome turn to specialists when they have no strength, no desires, no emotions. In this state, a person ceases to care primarily about himself. But it is through this care that the path to recovery lies.

How to return to the “normal” state, turn from a black wick back into an even and beautiful flame?

1. We help the inner child. How does a parent express love? Basically, through the body: gentle touches, stroking, hugs. And this is the first thing you can do yourself. Pay attention to your body. Do a self-massage. Rubbing the body with a brush from the bottom up has a very good effect on the lymph. Another option is patting along the meridians that go through the arms and legs from top to bottom and from bottom to top. You can simply massage your neck and shoulders at the moment when you feel tired in the middle of a working day.

2. Leave work problems at work. How? With the help of clothes. When you get home from work, change your clothes. Straightaway. Favorite, comfortable and beautiful. The dressing ritual can turn on or off the role that is so energy-consuming for you. If you have changeable shoes at work, then changing shoes at the end of the day can become this very ritual: when you finish work, you take off your “working” shoes, and with it leave all the work problems in the office. Likewise at home. Putting on home clothes, you seem to turn on the role that is needed in this moment: mistress, mother, beloved wife.

3. We meditate. This is a daily practice for clearing the mind. It is the restless mind that creates the tension that draws all our strength. Pay attention to this.

To cope with burnout, you need to consciously take steps towards a healthy, balanced life.

4. We connect physical activity. Try to approach them consciously, feel your body during the exercises. Let your mind focus on the sensations in the body, and not on the working moments that were or will be. In this paragraph, I would include any bodily practices - a bath, massage, walking, running, swimming. Feel your body, every muscle!

5. Practice digital detox and breathe. Daily. For a few minutes, turn off all means of communication, computer, music, movies. Practice mindful breathing during this time. Five minutes of observing how you breathe will be enough for the body to recharge. It's only your five minutes, no one else's.

6. Sleep. Healthy sleep - The best way recover. Try to gradually reduce activity in the evening. To avoid insomnia, you can brew a soothing tea with lemon balm, valerian, motherwort or mint. Get enough sleep! This is my favorite medicine for various diseases, and it really helps.

These are pretty simple tips, and they are within the power of each of us. It is important to understand that burnout will not go away on its own. To cope with it, you need to consciously take steps towards a healthy, balanced life. Even if these steps are very tiny, the main thing is to do them every day.