In May 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recognized burn out as an “occupational phenomenon.” Their decision came after years of hearing people talk about it, trying understand why it affected them, and attempting to identify what they could have done to cope with it. Recently, a Gallup study of around 7,500 full time workers found that 23% were often in “burn out mode.” About 44% “sometimes” entered a burn out mode.
Although the WHO do not yet recognize burn out as a medical condition, some researchers call it “an occupational disease.” This is due not only to the high number of people — all across the globe — who report experiencing it, but also due to its important impact on well-being and quality of life. According to the same researchers, some of the occupations most at risk of burn out are linked to professions that encounter high levels of stress, including healthcare, social work, police work, teaching, and customer services. Other professionals who have reported high levels of burn out include lawyers and academics.
So, what is burn out, and how is it different from other forms of occupational stress? If a person does experience burn out, how can they cope with it in the moment, and how can they learn to overcome it with time? Based on WHO 2019 “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.” Now let’s talk about the difference between stress and burn out. Burn out may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. Stress, by and large, involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and mentally. However, stressed people can still imagine that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel better.
Burn out, on the other hand, is about not enough. Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burn out often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations. If excessive stress feels like you’re drowning in responsibilities, burn out is a sense of being all dried up. And while you’re usually aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always notice burn out when it happens.
| Stress | Burn out |
| Characterized by over-engagement | Characterized by disengagement |
| Emotions are overreactive | Emotions are blunted |
| Produces urgency and hyperactivity | Produces helplessness and hopelessness |
| Loss of energy | Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope |
| Leads to anxiety disorders | Leads to detachment and depression |
| Primary damage is physical | Primary damage is emotional |
| May kill you prematurely | May make life seem not worth living |
So many factors can be the causes of Burn out. Here we try to give you some factors that may leads you into burn out situation. Burn out often stems from your job. But anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burn out, from the hardworking office worker who hasn’t had a vacation in years, to the frazzled stay-at-home mom tending to kids, housework, and an aging parent.
But burn out is not caused solely by stressful work or too many responsibilities. Other factors contribute to burn out, including your lifestyle and personality traits. In fact, what you do in your downtime and how you look at the world can play just as big of a role in causing overwhelming stress as work or home demands.
Work-related causes of burn out
- Feeling like you have little or no control over your work
- Lack of recognition or reward for good work
- Unclear or overly demanding job expectations
- Doing work that’s monotonous or unchallenging
- Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment
Lifestyle causes of burn out
- Working too much, without enough time for socializing or relaxing
- Lack of close, supportive relationships
- Taking on too many responsibilities, without enough help from others
- Not getting enough sleep
Personality traits can contribute to burn out
- Perfectionistic tendencies; nothing is ever good enough
- Pessimistic view of yourself and the world
- The need to be in control; reluctance to delegate to others
- High-achieving, Type A personality
Now let’s we take a closer look to sign and symptom of burn out situation. Most of us have days when we feel helpless, overloaded, or unappreciated—when dragging ourselves out of bed requires the determination of Hercules. If you feel like this most of the time, however, you may be burned out.
Burn out is a gradual process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it can creep up on you. The signs and symptoms are subtle at first, but become worse as time goes on. Think of the early symptoms as red flags that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. If you pay attention and actively reduce your stress, you can prevent a major breakdown. If you ignore them, you’ll eventually burn out.
Physical signs and symptoms of burn out
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Emotional signs and symptoms of burn out
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Behavioral signs and symptoms of burn out
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After all of the explanation that we already gave you, now the questions that must come up in your mind are how to deal and how to cope with burn out right? Here, we will give you some ways to freshen up your mind and getting rid of burn out situation. When you’re on the road to burn out, you can feel helpless. But you have a lot more control over stress than you may think. There are positive steps you can take to deal with overwhelming stress and get your life back into balance. One of the most effective is to reach out to others.
Social contact is nature’s antidote to stress and talking face to face with a good listener is one of the fastest ways to calm your nervous system and relieve stress. The person you talk to doesn’t have to be able to “fix” your stressors; they just have to be a good listener, someone who’ll listen attentively without becoming distracted or expressing judgment.
Reach out to those closest to you, such as your partner, family, and friends. Opening up won’t make you a burden to others. In fact, most friends and loved ones will be flattered that you trust them enough to confide in them, and it will only strengthen your friendship. Try not to think about what’s burning you out and make the time you spend with loved ones positive and enjoyable.
Be more sociable with your coworkers. Developing friendships with people you work with can help buffer you from job burn out. When you take a break, for example, instead of directing your attention to your smart phone, try engaging your colleagues. Or schedule social events together after work.
Limit your contact with negative people. Hanging out with negative-minded people who do nothing but complain will only drag down your mood and outlook. If you have to work with a negative person, try to limit the amount of time you spend together.
Connect with a cause or a community group that is personally meaningful to you. Joining a religious, social, or support group can give you a place to talk to like-minded people about how to deal with daily stress—and to make new friends. If your line of work has a professional association, you can attend meetings and interact with others coping with the same workplace demands.
Find new friends. If you don’t feel that you have anyone to turn to, it’s never too late to build new friendships and expand your social network.
Other ways, you can also reframe the way you look at work. Whether you have a job that leaves you rushed off your feet or one that is monotonous and unfulfilling, the most effective way to combat job burn out is to quit and find a job you love instead. Of course, for many of us changing job or career is far from being a practical solution, we’re grateful just to have work that pays the bills. Whatever your situation, though, there are still steps you can take to improve your state of mind.
Try to find some value in your work. Even in some mundane jobs, you can often focus on how your role helps others, for example, or provides a much-needed product or service. Focus on aspects of the job that you do enjoy, even if it’s just chatting with your coworkers at lunch. Changing your attitude towards your job can help you regain a sense of purpose and control.
Find balance in your life. If you hate your job, look for meaning and satisfaction elsewhere in your life: in your family, friends, hobbies, or voluntary work. Focus on the parts of your life that bring you joy.
Make friends at work. Having strong ties in the workplace can help reduce monotony and counter the effects of burn out. Having friends to chat and joke with during the day can help relieve stress from an unfulfilling or demanding job, improve your job performance, or simply get you through a rough day.
Take time off. If burn out seems inevitable, try to take a complete break from work. Go on vacation, use up your sick days, ask for a temporary leave-of-absence, anything to remove yourself from the situation. Use the time away to recharge your batteries and pursue other methods of recovery.
Also, the last one you can support your mood by taking a healthy meal and taking some vitamins. Because what you put inside your body will give the huge impact towards your mood.
Minimize sugar and refined carbs. You may crave sugary snacks or comfort foods such as pasta or French fries, but these high-carbohydrate foods quickly lead to a crash in mood and energy.
Reduce your high intake of foods that can adversely affect your mood, such as caffeine, trans fats, and foods with chemical preservatives or hormones.
Eat more Omega-3 fatty acids to give your mood a boost. The best sources are fatty fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines), seaweed, flaxseed, and walnuts.
Avoid nicotine. Smoking when you’re feeling stressed may seem calming, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant, leading to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety.
Drink alcohol in moderation. Alcohol temporarily reduces worry, but too much can cause anxiety as it wears off.
Don’t forget to exercise. Aim to exercise for 30 minutes or more per day or break that up into short, 10-minute bursts of activity. A 10-minute walk can improve your mood for two hours. To maximize stress relief, instead of continuing to focus on your thoughts, focus on your body and how it feels as you move: the sensation of your feet hitting the ground, for example, or the wind on your skin.
Take a Vitamin daily. If you need a shot for your burn out situation while you are in Bali, you can visit hydro medical clinic to seeking the right IV vitamin for your body, in there you will be handled by a professional health care, and they will make sure that you will get the best treatment for your health. Even you can try to using your insurance too, they will be happy to help you to check whether your insurance will be work or not. Hydro Medical Clinic also can provide the on call service for you, where they can go to your stayed place as long as its reachable for the team.
