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Burnout syndrome symptoms. Burnt out at work. What is the danger of burnout syndrome? Symptoms of emotional burnout: physiology and mood

Syndrome emotional burnout(CMEA) – negative reaction body to prolonged stress associated with performing professional responsibilities. It often occurs among managers or employees holding responsible positions, but they are not the only ones at risk. SEV can also develop in a person who, due to professional duties, deals with the troubles of other people (doctors, employees social services etc.). The point here is not so much in specialization, but in a pathologically conscientious attitude towards one’s work. People who constantly strive to do everything “better than everyone else,” who exaggerate their own responsibility for the work of the whole team, and who cannot distract themselves from production problems, sooner or later become victims of burnout.

Constantly feeling tired

One of the main characteristics of a recognized workaholic is the inability to be distracted from work. After working day he continues to replay work moments in his mind, think about them, and look for ways to solve problems that have arisen. As a result good rest It doesn’t work even when a person seems to follow a sleep-wake schedule. Every day he feels more and more tired, his work efficiency decreases, which, despite his responsible attitude to his duties, only increases stress.

In this case, there is only one way to solve the problem: you need to learn to switch your brain and forget about the service for a while. In the most severe cases patients need the help of a psychologist, but there are some things every person can do on their own:

  1. Outside of work, it is necessary to completely eliminate the influence of any factors that could return thoughts to the professional sphere (do not communicate with colleagues, turn off the phone, do not go to the official page Email etc.).
  2. Engage in active recreation related to sports or tourism (working in the country is also suitable).
  3. Try to find a hobby that is attractive enough to take your mind off your work responsibilities. In this sense, the best option is handicraft. Let's explain what was said. Professional activities of the majority modern people is collective. IN ordinary life we are practically deprived of the unusually strong positive emotions that are caused by the creative process itself and the creation of any object with our own hands. The choice of the type of needlework is a purely individual matter. There are many training courses, master classes, and literature that can make it easier to find a hobby and prevent a novice master from getting confused in the abundance of techniques and materials.

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Headache

A person suffering from SEV is afraid of doing something wrong, of losing control of the situation. He is constantly in tension, which provokes headaches. Unpleasant sensations usually occur at the end of the working day and cannot be eliminated with painkillers. Headache reduces the quality of night sleep and increases the feeling of fatigue.

Breathing exercises can help solve the problem. Selection of a specific technique and development individual treatment It is better to entrust the exercises to a doctor: the patient’s lack of awareness in such matters can lead to the fact that breathing practice will not bring the desired relief.

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Back and chest pain

Constant stress negatively affects the condition of the muscles. Burnout syndrome often manifests itself as muscle spasms in the back and chest. Obsessive pain occurs, reducing the quality of life.

In this case, special complexes are recommended to get rid of unpleasant sensations breathing exercises and long-term hiking on fresh air, allowing you to relax and reduce the oppressive feeling of responsibility. Psychotherapy sessions also bring significant relief.

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The appearance of excess weight

The desire to be an eternal excellent student creates constant pressure and negative emotional background. Many people find a way out in “seizing” unpleasant sensations, which leads to an increase in excess weight. Body weight with SEV can increase without overeating. The cause is a metabolic disorder provoked by prolonged stress.

Trying to limit food intake and choose a diet for yourself in this case is useless. It is important to understand what the problem is psychological character, and start solving it.

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Looking for distracting activities

With emotional burnout, a person tries to find an activity that distracts from painful thoughts. Some in such cases prefer shopping, others begin to abuse alcohol, smoke or get involved in gambling.

Remedies of this kind, as a rule, do not bring relief. People suffering from SEV have a high sense of responsibility, and bad habits make them feel guilty. If a person stops enjoying even such a relatively harmless activity as shopping, this is alarming symptom. You need to see a psychologist.

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Problems getting things done

Emotional burnout leads to decreased ability to work and problems with performing usual duties. A person stops striving to receive new information, produce creative ideas, and becomes insufficiently flexible. For people holding leadership positions, such changes are fraught with a decrease in professional and social status. The realization that he has become worse at work brings considerable suffering to the perfectionist.

In such a situation, the help of a psychologist is necessary to change the patient’s value system. It is important to learn not to compare yourself with others, try to relax and stop putting responsibility on your own shoulders for what you cannot do.

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Loss of interest in life

With emotional burnout, a person experiences a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. Mechanism activation psychological protection makes him more indifferent to his work. As a result, he loses interest not only in professional activities, but also in other aspects of life. In this state, the patient may refuse the most attractive ways of relaxation: interesting tourist trips, going to the theater or exhibitions, and even communicating with loved ones.

If a person stops being interested in news (including in the professional field), entertainment, and becomes harsh with his family, he needs immediate help.

To understand what it is professional emotional burnout, or, as it is sometimes called, emotional burnout, imagine the following picture. The man just comes to new job. He is full of enthusiasm, ready to move mountains, give his all, help everyone around him and, of course, make an annual plan in a couple of months. But as time goes by the sparkle in the eyes goes away, the desire to help is replaced by cynicism, indifference and the state “Better leave me alone in a good way.” Of course, such a transformation can be caused for various reasons, however often we're talking about specifically about burnout syndrome. We invite you to talk about what characterizes this state, what factors influence it and what to do if it seems to you that emotional burnout of a person is about you.

What is emotional burnout?

Actually general description We defined emotional burnout above: this is a gradual fading of a positive attitude towards work up to complete disgust, depression and/or other manifestations that significantly reduce the quality of life and can lead, among other things, to somatic diseases. This term was introduced in 1974 by a psychiatrist from the USA Herbert Freudenberger(Herbert Freudenberger): He gave this “transformation” the name Burnout (or Burn-out) and described it as “a state of physical or mental exhaustion caused by professional life."

It is believed that emotional burnout syndrome is primarily characteristic of those who work with people and their problems (doctors, nurses, teachers, consultants, etc.). But actually this condition can affect absolutely anyone, including those who do not seem to be formally working - students, housewives, etc. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on work-related burnout, but the same can apply to your personal, non-work life.

Symptoms of emotional burnout

Professional burnout is characterized by a number of diverse symptoms that can varying degrees manifest itself in different people. The degree of severity depends both on the character of a particular person, on the characteristics of his work, and on the neglect of the condition. This variability and the general non-specificity of symptoms, on the one hand, lead to the fact that some people diagnose themselves with burnout, when they need to work on another problem, while others turn a blind eye to their condition and bring it to very unpleasant stages.

We will describe the most typical symptoms, however, we note that this is far from the only possible options. In any case, it is very important to distinguish psychological emotional burnout from normal fatigue, general unsettlement in life, a feeling of insecurity, a feeling that “everyday has become boring,” etc., although such conditions can actually be found to have something in common with the syndrome in question.

Symptoms of emotional burnout: physiology and mood

The first large group of symptoms of emotional burnout concerns mood and well-being. Those susceptible to this syndrome experience chronic fatigue, apathy, lethargy, and they do not go away even after sufficient sleep.
It's as if the person energy runs out or is significantly reduced, which ceases to be enough not only for work, but also for rest. By the way, sleep disorders(insomnia or, on the contrary, constant drowsiness, very long periods of sleep) are also one of the symptoms. Man with burnout syndrome doesn't want to do anything, nothing makes him happy, etc. Often his only desire is for everyone to leave him alone. Life begins to be perceived in shades of gray and black.

All this can lead to somatic diseases, primarily cardiovascular or nervous. In addition, many note decreased immunity, which is why they easily catch colds, etc. Moreover, the body may deliberately not resist diseases too much, knowing that sick leave will provide rest from work that is currently unloved. Unfortunately, these are far from the only options for how psychological burnout can affect your physical condition.

“Work-emotional” symptoms of professional burnout

If you suspect that the problem of emotional burnout is relevant for you, take questionnaires according to Boyko and Maslach. These tests use different techniques and assess the availability of this syndrome from different sides.

The second group of symptoms of emotional burnout is related to work itself (main activity). On the one side, the desire to do one’s work disappears or decreases to a minimum, even if (especially if) the person really liked her before. It causes self-dissatisfaction, guilt in front of clients, colleagues or management, which worsens other symptoms. Those who work with people who develop the syndrome in question often see for themselves how their attitude towards patients and clients changes etc.: the desire to help gradually develops into rejection, reluctance to communicate, irritability. Such people often display the traits of true misanthropes.

Many begin to think about the meaning (or rather, senselessness) of their work. It leads to depressive moods, including a depressive perception of life in general, which we discussed above. At the same time, some are struck by the thought (sometimes quite justified) that they could be much more useful elsewhere, they would have more interesting responsibilities, higher wage etc. Nevertheless, the decision to change companies, which is quite logical in such a situation, is not made by everyone. It’s not always easy to come to him anyway, but in this case we are dealing with a person who is tired of everything and doesn’t want anything.

Causes of emotional burnout

As a rule, professional emotional burnout is defensive reaction our psyche on certain unfavorable factors. Approximately according to the same model, over time, doctors turn out to be notorious cynics - it simply doesn’t work out differently. The main difference here is that you can continue to work quite successfully with cynicism, but emotional burnout of employees becomes a significant problem both for the employees themselves and for the enterprise. Moreover if you do not pay any attention to this condition, it can lead to sad results, for example, to depression or neurosis.

If we talk about the most common causes of emotional burnout, then first we will divide them into two conditional groups: psychological and physiological level. It should be noted that these groups are interconnected, and the main role in the formation of professional combustion is played by psychological reasons(and this is logical, otherwise we would only talk about physical exhaustion).

Reasons at the physiological level

De facto, in many cases, the main cause of this condition is chronic stress from the series “We didn’t have time to help one person, but we didn’t have time to help another.” Constant rush jobs and working to the limit often lead to the body trying to protect itself from such stress. Most of us can overcome various difficulties along our journey (personal or work).
For example, work two shifts and/or seven days a week for some time. We are able to strain ourselves in order to achieve a certain goal, after which the body definitely needs time to relax, recover, and rest.

One of the key factors in this case is the presence of a goal. When there is no achievable goal, you have to constantly work at the limit of your strength, and there is no end in sight to this regime, the situation changes radically. Using all available physical and mental strength, the body does not have time to recover, loses reserves, switches to resource saving mode and looks for ways to protect itself. The consequence of all this can be emotional burnout.

Of course, everyone’s energy reserves are different, and what one person succeeds without problems is absolutely not suitable for another. For example, someone may adapt to a difficult schedule and go out with friends after a 24-hour shift; others feel a complete breakdown after 8-9 hours of work. This is all completely normal. There is a theory that the body produces as much energy as is needed to cover our needs, and a little more. However, this does not happen in the case of emotional burnout. Why? The answer must be sought in psychological reasons.

Reasons at the psychological level


Preventing emotional burnout

Formally, enterprises themselves are not least interested in preventing emotional burnout, because employees susceptible to this condition are less effective, which is reflected in the results of their work. However, as we said, in reality this approach is not always found, so the principle becomes more effective: “The rescue of drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves.”
So what can you do to prevent burnout?

First of all, don't forget have a good rest:

  • remember, that we won't make up for sleep. Let us repeat a simple truth: getting enough sleep is very important, no matter how utopian it may seem. Relaxing rest, meditation, etc. are also good.
  • In most cases, rest from work does not mean sitting in prostration in front of the TV or browser. Hobby, alternative views activities(courses, master classes, etc.), meetings with friends, walks, leisure, going to museums/theaters and much more that brings you positive emotions and allows you to take your mind off your current tasks.
  • No matter how much you love your profession, company and/or money, do not take overtime or extra work, if you feel that it is too hard for you. As we said, everyone has their own reserves and energy reserves. If you have the opportunity not to work through force, do not take advantage of this opportunity.

In addition, prevention of burnout syndrome includes workflow adjustments. If you are experiencing the first symptoms of this syndrome, it is better to re-evaluate your activities and your routine before burnout develops. For example, agree to overtime only in extreme cases- when there is really a need for it. Help your colleagues only when you have time for it. If you are still fulfilling the tasks of a colleague who left a year ago, hint to your manager that it is time to look for a replacement.

Sometimes what leads to burnout is that some people simply don't know how to rest and, when they come home, they continue to finish or think about work tasks. If it makes you happy, that’s one thing, but if such behavior becomes bad habit, which interferes with rest and spoils your mood, you should get rid of it (including with the help of a qualified specialist). This should also be considered as one of the preventive measures against the syndrome in question.

If it’s too late to talk about prevention and it’s time to think about how to deal with emotional burnout, refer to our next material.

Concept burnout syndrome(CMEA) appeared not so long ago, in the 70s of the 20th century. Since then, more and more more people become susceptible to this unpleasant and dangerous syndrome. It leads to fatigue, decreased performance, and depression. The result is a decrease in income, conflicts at work, even turning to alcohol and drugs. What is the cause of emotional exhaustion and how to deal with it? Let's figure it out.

Reasons for the development of burnout syndrome

When a person performs work, he invests emotions (or nervous energy) in the results of his work. Psychologically, he wants to receive a return, compensation for this energy. Compensation can be expressed in different ways and is different for everyone. For some it is money, for others it is moral satisfaction from work, and for others it is necessary good reaction their clients. There may be a combination of these, as well as other factors, in different proportions.

Burnout syndrome is a common problem of our time.

If an employee does not receive a return for his expenditure of emotions and nerves, then our burnout syndrome. It can last for a long time. Starting with a slight decrease in performance and motivation, after a few years it can lead to drug use and even suicide!

Risk groups exposed to CMEA

Most of susceptible to the syndrome burnout are specialists who work with people. The first people to discover it were psychologists and psychotherapists. It is also found in teachers, sales managers, and to a lesser extent in the police. However, even if your job does not involve frequent interaction with people, you may still experience the unpleasant effects of this symptom.

If your activities are boring or monotonous, if you or a large number of stressful situations at work, you are welcome to the emotional burnout club. The risk of acquiring the syndrome of an unclear zone of responsibility in a team sharply increases, when you do not understand what exactly you are responsible for and what the other person is responsible for.

Burnout syndrome often develops in idealistic, romantic, sensitive natures. They expect, even dream, of high appreciation of their work, which will lead them to fulfillment. positive emotions. The lack of recognition of their merits is the cause of negative emotions. Employee to get rid of it unpleasant sensation, involves suppressing emotions. This leads to a feeling of meaningless work.

A hostile attitude towards people appears, the person stops communicating with colleagues. The desire to engage in professional growth, to be interested in something new, to improve something, to achieve something else disappears. The employee no longer considers himself worthy qualified specialist. A person begins to save emotions. Hatred towards work appears.

How to get rid of the manifestations of SEV

  1. If you start to notice symptoms of SEV, the first thing you need to do is contact a psychologist. The fact is that overexpenditure of emotions occurs due to a misunderstanding of how much of these very emotions you should spend at work, as well as due to exaggerated expectations of the return from work. Other means of restoring emotional balance (yoga, qigong, fitness) without a psychologist will not give you complete solution Problems. They will simply delay the development of CMEA and push back the final stages in time.
  2. First of all, you should work with a psychologist on self-love and respect. Learn to love yourself in any situation, no matter what happens. This will help you avoid expecting praise for your work from your boss or colleagues. After this, you should ask a psychologist to help you develop a new strategy for “spending emotions” at work, without unnecessary waste.
  3. Having resolved the issue with a psychologist, it is advisable to choose a hobby that will relieve you of emotional fatigue and restore mental energy. It is advisable that your hobby differs significantly from your main job. After all, it has long been known that best vacation, this is not idleness, but a change of activity.
  4. You can enroll in a section of yoga, qigong or other eastern practices. Such activities will not only lead you to health and relaxation of the whole body, but will also help you calm your mind through meditation. There are a great variety of yoga sections now; you can choose the one that suits you based on location, cost, trainer and team. The advantage of Eastern practices also lies in the fact that they are practiced by people who will accept you for who you are, without judgment. This will restore your emotional immunity. It is better to sign up for a studio that is located near your work. This will save you 2 hours on the road.
  5. Fitness is a good stress reliever. Now, as in the case of yoga, there are a huge number of centers. Please note that in addition to regular fitness, there are also brutal bodybuilding and powerlifting, fashionable CrossFit, “daring” arm wrestling, as well as kettlebell lifting. Depending on your temperament, you can choose the training style for yourself. Pay attention to sports dances. They perfectly relieve stress, teach you to feel and, most importantly, relax your body, and develop informal communication skills.

An excellent relaxation and means of recovery will be going out into nature. Our consciousness perceives very poorly straight lines of roads and houses, limited space in rooms and man-made noise. On the contrary, natural landscapes, sounds and smells have a beneficial effect on our psyche. After spending a day or two in nature, you will restore the very expended emotional energy.

One of the most best actions What you can do outside the city is fishing. Meditation on water, communication with water is very powerful exercise for recovery from stress.

Perhaps, in addition to a psychologist, you should contact a professional coach. Do not work in an organization where they demand more from you than you can handle, while the return and compensation are minimal. A person strives for pleasure in life - this is our natural instinct, and nothing can be done about it. Therefore, if you do not enjoy your work, sooner or later it will lead you to SEV.

If you suddenly feel tired, feel helpless and frustrated, and feel like you're completely out of control, it's possible that you're experiencing burnout. This condition leads to a feeling of powerlessness, so it is very difficult to solve the problem. The detachment and indifference that comes with burnout can cause problems with work, jeopardize normal communication and even physical health. Therefore, you should never let the situation take its course, you need to fight and look for a way out.

What is burnout syndrome?

EWS or emotional burnout syndrome is a condition that is characterized by mental, emotional and physical exhaustion due to chronic stress, which in most cases is caused by work. Most often, representatives of professions associated with constant communication suffer: for example, teachers, doctors, social workers and employees of large companies with a large staff and high requirements for personnel.

Doctors often suffer from SEV

Due to severe overvoltage a person gradually simply loses interest in everything. SEV leads to a decrease in productivity and energy, because of this there is a feeling of helplessness, resentment and hopelessness. The victim feels that he does not have enough strength for anything, and is doomed to meaningless and boring work.

One of effective ways prevent SEV - put work problems aside at work. As you walk out the door, you can even symbolically wipe your feet so as not to drag the burden of problems home with you.

Of course, such symptoms are not uncommon with banal fatigue or bad mood. If our work is not appreciated or we are overworked, we too may feel this way. Therefore, SEW should not be confused with depression or fatigue.

How to find out CMEA?

In order not to confuse burnout syndrome with other similar conditions, you need to know its three main differences:

  • A person feels emotional exhaustion and devastation, he is not happy with the work that he used to like, nothing brings him pleasure, colleagues and all the people around him are annoying. This results in poorly completed tasks, constant quarrels, and a reluctance to go out and communicate with anyone.
  • A feeling of meaninglessness of work appears, the desire to work well disappears, since “no one appreciates it anyway.” Gradually, this feeling can spread to other areas - for example, a person will stop taking care of himself, since he still won’t get better.
  • Unlike fatigue, SEV does not go away after rest. After the weekend, a “burnt out” person will remain just as unhappy and lethargic, while a tired person returns full of energy.
  • Unlike depression, which is always based on fear and guilt, burnout is based on anger and irritability. A person does not think that he works poorly or is rude to others; it seems to him that the whole world is against him.

Teachers often burn out emotionally

Although on initial stage Burnout may seem harmless, but over time it often leads to psychosomatic diseases, deterioration of memory and concentration. A “burnt out” person can not only lose his job, as his value as an employee will drop sharply, but also his family, which will have to live under the yoke of his negativity.

Development of burnout

To simplify the diagnosis of emotional burnout, New York psychiatrist Herbert Freudenberger created a special scale. The first stages look quite harmless, but it is better to start treatment already at this stage - the further you go, the more difficult it will be to return a normal emotional background.

At first there is an obsessive desire for self-affirmation, perhaps an attempt to prove something to others, rivalry. Then comes a careless attitude towards one’s own needs, refusal of communication, sports, and entertainment. Then there is a refusal to resolve conflicts, which leads to their prolongation. Over time, a person simply stops responding to problems in communicating with family and/or friends. And then there comes a loss of the sense of oneself as a person and an individual, the person continues to act mechanically, without making any effort and without thinking about the future.

Constant fatigue is one of the main signs of burnout.

After some time, a person notices that he has lost himself, feels an inner emptiness and, most often, depression sets in after this. Gradually developing, emotional burnout leads to the fact that he breaks down, becomes physically and mentally ill, and often tends to suicidal thoughts.

Don't be afraid to change jobs. Some psychologists believe that this should be done once every 4-5 years. This brings freshness and novelty to life and prevents you from “burning out.”

The peculiarity of CMEA is that it is easy to hide. A person can go to work, look the same as always, and even communicate more or less normally, attributing failures to fatigue or illness. Often relatives find out about the problem already at late stages when a person is almost ready to say goodbye to life.

Reasons for the development of CMEA (Video)

Many modern psychologists They believe that emotional burnout is a protective mechanism in conditions of strong psychotraumatic influences. In such a situation, the body simply “turns off”, preserving itself. SEV allows you to minimize energy costs and save some body systems from unnecessary work: for example, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular. But over time, this “preservation mode” becomes too economical and does not allow a person to work normally and communicate with others.

To understand the reasons for the development of burnout, we must remember that our nervous system has a limit on the execution of certain processes: for example, communication, problem solving, etc. Determining this limit is not easy, since it is not only individual for each person, but also depends on many indicators, for example, on the quality of nutrition and sleep, state of health and time of year, and the situation in the patient’s family. But if a person exceeds it, exhaustion sets in, which eventually leads to burnout.

Often the symptoms of SEV are complicated by pessimistic people and lazy people around. You need to let them know that you don't have to listen to them and help them.

The second reason is the lack of tangible results. Most often this happens to teachers. They can do their best, but they won’t change anything; children will still come or not come to school, get bad or good grades, skip lessons and slack. A similar situation can happen to people in other professions if their successes are not appreciated and encouraged. This leads to a devaluation of work, and later to a loss of interest in it.

CMEA greatly reduces the quality of work

It is also worth remembering that a person’s personal qualities play a big role in the development of burnout syndrome. There are people who do not get tired when they have to do monotonous routine work for a long time, but cannot be activated to complete an urgent project. But it happens the other way around - a person can work successfully and fruitfully only for a short period of time, but at the same time he gives his all, and later simply “runs out of steam.” There are workers who are not capable of creative tasks, but they are efficient. And there are creators who need a feeling of freedom. If a job doesn't match a person's personality, it will very soon lead to burnout.

In most cases, CMEA is a consequence of improper organization of work, management errors and staff unpreparedness for their duties.

How to prevent burnout?

CMEA is a problem that is easier to prevent than to solve. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor your condition and, at the first signs of emotional burnout, take measures to prevent it.

What to do?

  • Try to start the day with relaxing rituals: for example, meditate or do exercises.
  • Go to proper nutrition, workout. This will give you strength and energy to solve problems.
  • Set boundaries. If something is annoying or stressful, you need to try not to do it, refuse unwanted requests and do what is really important.
  • Take a break from it every day modern technologies. For a while you need to turn off your phone and computer and just sit in silence.
  • Get creative, find a hobby, or attend events more often that have nothing to do with work.
  • Learning to manage stress will help combat burnout.

If the situation has not yet started, then it is quite possible to cope without the help of specialists, but you need to realize that there is a problem and you will have to seriously work on solving it.

How to recover on your own

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to prevent burnout. Most often, a person understands what happened when CMEA is already destroying his life. If this has already happened, then you need to concentrate on returning the normal emotional background.

Sometimes you have to quit the race to recover

There are three steps to treating the effects of burnout:

  • Step one: slow down. Needs to be reduced to a minimum professional activity– for example, take a vacation. In your free time you need to rest, relax, forget about work and problems.
  • Step two: getting support. When burning out, a person usually withdraws into himself and reduces communication to a minimum. This normal reaction– he tries to save the remaining energy. But you need to overcome yourself and tell your loved ones what is happening. Even the act of talking can bring relief, and support dear people will definitely help cope with stress.
  • Step three: reviewing goals and priorities. If emotional burnout has occurred, this is a serious sign that something is wrong in life. We need to analyze everything and understand why this happened. Perhaps you should change your job or your attitude towards it, or even completely redraw everything.

But you should not expect that immediately after recognizing the problem, a solution will come. This may take time, because burnout did not happen in a day. But if you try to follow this simple tips– sooner or later health will return.

Recently, more and more often in the media you can find references to burnout syndrome. This is nothing more than emotional exhaustion resulting from prolonged exposure to professional stress. The syndrome is registered among people in communicative professions: teachers, social workers, psychologists, doctors, sales agents, customer service managers.

Causes

Every person is susceptible to emotional burnout.

The development of emotional overstrain is influenced by both objective external circumstances of the work environment and a person’s personal characteristics.

Factors related to a person’s personal characteristics include:

  • Professional experience;
  • Workaholism;
  • Result-oriented;
  • The desire to control everything;
  • Idealized expectations from work and life in general;
  • Characteristics (anxiety, rigidity, neuroticism, emotional lability).

TO external factors should include:

  • Excessive amount of work;
  • Monotonous work activity;
  • Responsibility for the results of the work performed;
  • Irregular schedule;
  • Interpersonal conflicts;
  • Lack of proper moral and material remuneration for performing work;
  • The need to work with a heavy contingent of clients (patients, students);
  • Emotional involvement in the problems of clients (patients, students);
  • Unsatisfactory position in the team and society;
  • Lack of time to rest;
  • High competition;
  • Constant criticism, etc.

Stress, including professional stress, develops in three stages:


Symptoms

There are three fundamental components in the structure of CMEA: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduction of professional achievements.

Emotional exhaustion expressed by a feeling of fatigue, devastation. Emotions become faded, a person feels that he is not able to feel the same range of feelings as before. In general, in the professional sphere (and then in the personal sphere) prevail negative emotions: irritability, depression.

Depersonalization characterized by the perception of people not as individuals, but as objects, communication with which occurs without emotional involvement. The attitude towards clients (patients, students) becomes soulless and cynical. Contacts become formal and impersonal.

professional achievements is characterized by the fact that a person begins to doubt his professionalism. Achievements and successes at work seem insignificant, and career prospects seem unrealistic. Indifference to work appears.

Burnout syndrome invariably affects not only a person’s professionalism, but also mental and physical health.

Thus, it is customary to distinguish several groups of symptoms characteristic of SEV:

  • Physical symptoms- fatigue, dizziness, sweating, muscle tremors, sleep disorders, dyspeptic disorders, fluctuations blood pressure, weight change, shortness of breath, weather sensitivity.
  • Emotional symptoms- pessimism, cynicism, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, anxiety, depressed mood, irritability, feelings of loneliness, guilt.
  • Changes in the intellectual sphere- loss of interest in receiving new information, loss of interest in life, lack of desire to diversify your leisure time.
  • Behavioral symptoms- long work week, fatigue when performing work duties, the need to do frequent breaks at work, indifference to food, addiction to alcohol, nicotine, impulsive actions.
  • Social symptoms- lack of desire to take part in public life, poor communication with colleagues and family, isolation, a feeling of misunderstanding by other people, a feeling of lack of moral support.

Why is so much attention paid to this syndrome? The whole point is that CMEA entails serious consequences, such as:


In general, SEV can be perceived as a kind of psychological defense mechanism. Complete or partial shutdown of emotions in response to a stressor allows you to economically use available energy resources.

Diagnostics

To identify emotional burnout syndrome and its severity, various questionnaires are used.

The main methods used to study SEV:

  • Diagnosis of emotional burnout Boyko V.V. (“Diagnostics of the level of emotional burnout”);
  • Methodology A.A. Rukavishnikova “Definition of mental burnout”;
  • Methodology “Assessing your own burnout potential”;
  • Methodology by K. Maslach and S. Jackson “Professional (emotional) burnout (MBI).”

Treatment

There is no universal panacea for burnout syndrome. But the problem should not be underestimated; it can lead to a deterioration in health and quality of life in general.

If you notice signs of SEV, try to implement the following recommendations:


If emotional burnout syndrome is severe, you should consult a psychotherapist. The doctor may use the following approaches:

  • Psychotherapy(cognitive-behavioral, client-centered, training in relaxation techniques, conducting training in communication skills, increasing emotional intelligence, self-confidence);
  • Drug therapy(prescription of antidepressants, anxiolytics, sleeping pills, beta-blockers, nootropics).

It is important to provide the person with an opportunity to discuss emotions after a critical event. This can be done both in individual meetings with a psychologist and in joint meetings with colleagues.

Discussing an event allows a person to express his emotions, experiences, and aggression. In addition, this approach will help a person realize his stereotypes of actions, see their ineffectiveness, and develop adequate ways to respond to all kinds of stressful situations, learn to resolve conflicts and build productive relationships with colleagues.