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Burnout Info

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About Burnout

What is Burnout?
Burnout is a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped. It happens when we experience too much emotional, physical, and mental fatigue for too long. In many cases, burnout is related to one’s job. But burnout can also happen in other areas of your life and affect your health.
How can Burnout be caused
Burnout can be caused by stress, but it's not the same. Stress results from too much mental and physical pressure and too many demands on your time and energy. Burnout is about too little. Too little emotion, motivation, or care. Stress can make you feel overwhelmed, but burnout makes you feel depleted and used up.
Burnout vs. depression
Burnout can look like depression. So, it's critical to get a professional diagnosis. A key difference is that you can ease burnout with rest or time off. However, depression, a medical illness, needs to be treated with therapy or medication. Burnout is usually related to one aspect of your life -- your job, caregiving, or some other type of prolonged and stressful activity. Depression, on the other hand, affects every aspect of your life. Not treating burnout may raise your risk for depression.

Types of Burnout/Stages of Burnout

Overload burnout: This happens when you work harder and harder, becoming frantic in your pursuit of success. If you experience this, you may be willing to risk your health and personal life to feel successful.

Neglect burnout: This happens when you feel helpless. If things aren’t going right, you may believe you’re incompetent or unable to keep up with your responsibilities. Such burnout can be closely connected to imposter syndrome, a psychological pattern in which you doubt your abilities, talents, or accomplishments.

Under-challenged burnout: This happens when you feel underappreciated and bored. Maybe your job doesn’t provide learning opportunities or have room for professional growth. If you feel under-challenged, you may distance yourself, become cynical, and avoid responsibilities.

Be mindful: This gets you to focus on yourself internally, and know how you’re feeling in the moment. Mindfulness can help you identify when you’re feeling overwhelmed and let you take stock of your emotional well-being. It can also help you manage the challenges of life and work.

Working harder. You feel the need to do everything yourself and complete tasks as soon as possible.

Depersonalization. You lose your sense of identity, seeing yourself only as the vessel through which work and responsibilities are completed. Your life feels meaningless, and you begin to neglect your health.

Burnout Treatment

Talk with your supervisor: If you are in an environment where this is possible, try to explain how you’re feeling and discuss a more manageable workload. Communication is important for creating a healthy work environment.

Get enough sleep: Sleep is vital for good physical and mental health. If you aren’t getting enough because of anxiety over your job, it’s likely to lead to burnout. Prioritize getting enough sleep.

Be mindful: This gets you to focus on yourself internally, and know how you’re feeling in the moment. Mindfulness can help you identify when you’re feeling overwhelmed and let you take stock of your emotional well-being. It can also help you manage the challenges of life and work.

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