What is burnout?
Would you recognise the warning signs of burnout?
Do you find yourself distancing yourself from your colleagues at work, when previously they were central to your working life?
Do you feel a sense of dread about the working day ahead, when you used to feel passion and motivation about your work?
Do you feel like all your energy is depleted and you constantly feel exhausted?
If you do, then these are just some of the warning signs that you could be heading for a burnout.
Burnout is a chronic state of stress most commonly associated with workplace stress. It doesn’t just happen, it builds over time, exacerbated by hectic lives, long working hours and a heavy workload. For those of who put additional internal pressure on themselves to perform and excel, the risk becomes even higher.
If you hit burnout, you are no longer able to function professionally or personally. It all becomes just too difficult.
According to a study by the Mental Health foundation in 2018, 74% of people said that in the last year they had felt so stressed that they described feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope. That is a lot of people heading towards burnout.
In 2019, the World Health Organisation recognised burnout a medical condition.
Symptoms can include:
Exhaustion
Insomnia
Lack of focus and forgetfulness
Physical effects such as dizziness, fainting, headaches, stomach-ache
Increased bouts of illness such as regular sore throats or infections
Loss of or increased appetite
Loss of enjoyment
Isolation of yourself away from colleagues and social activities
Increased levels or irritability
Reduction in productivity and performance
Feelings of hopelessness
These are just some of the more common symptoms but there are others and you do not need to be experiencing all of them to reach burn out. Incidentally, these symptoms are all also connected with depression.
The good news is that you can stop burnout from happening simply by acknowledging your own symptoms and putting measures in place to reverse the effects they are having on you. Admitting to yourself that you may be heading for a burn out is the first step to stopping it.
Making even the smallest changes in your life can make all the difference but remember there is no magic wand and things won’t simply change overnight – you need to assess the level of stress in your life and find ways to reduce or eliminate it before it’s too late.