Occupational Burnout

Time to manage burnout and burn brightly✨💫

In recent times, there has been more recognition and acknowledgment of the detrimental impact occupational burnout can have on people's lives. However, occupational burnout still seems to be dismissed or minimised by many people experiencing it as ❌ “just having a few rough weeks at work” ❌ . It can be easy to normalise experiencing significant amounts of work-based stress and you may even believe these feelings are just part of being a member of the workforce. Particularly if it has been happening for a while or if your colleagues are feeling the same. But now is the time to pause and denormalise burnout.

Occupational burnout is a legitimate issue and is classified as an occupational phenomenon (WHO 2019). It can be highly debilitating and it is not something you should try and “push through”. Your health and mental well-being are a priority and you deserve to live in a state of equilibrium equally prioritising your work life and your personal life.

👉 What is occupational burnout? 🧐 Burnout has been defined as a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by long-term involvement in occupational settings that are emotionally demanding (Schaufeli and Green, 2001). Factors such as feeling out of control at work, having unhealthy workplace relationships, heavy workloads, and an unhealthy work-life balance can contribute to developing occupational burnout.

👉 The Three Dimensions of Burnout: 🔷 Feeling exhausted/experiencing energy depletion 🔷 Feeling negative or cynical towards your job role/experiencing increased mental distance from your job role. 🔷 Having a reduced ability/efficacy in the workplace (ICD-11, 2019)

👉 The Consequences of Burnout. There can also be long-term adverse consequences to living through an extended period of occupational burnout. It has been associated with: 🔶 An increased prevalence of depressive disorders 🔶 An increased prevalence of anxiety disorders 🔶 An increased prevalence of alcohol dependence 🔶 Musculoskeletal disorders in females 🔶 Cardiovascular diseases in male (Ahola, 2007)

👉 Burnout Example. John dedicated all of his time to his career, he didn’t allow himself to prioritise anything outside of work. This led to him having no time to focus on his family, relationships, or personal interests and passions. When John was at home he wasn’t able to switch off from work and frequently checked his emails. Most nights, he would stay up late perfecting his work and wasn’t getting enough hours of sleep. John never wanted to use his vacation days and when he did he would continue to keep on top of his work. After a while, this resulted in John experiencing occupational burnout. John no longer found any pleasure in his job and dreaded going to work in the morning. He began to lack motivation and started to believe he no longer had the ability to complete his work tasks. He found himself struggling to concentrate and would procrastinate, this left him feeling he couldn’t do anything well. He became easily annoyed at his work colleagues and felt disconnected in meetings. John also started experiencing a physical toll on his body and was becoming sick with colds more frequently.

Whereas Mary made a conscious effort to make sure she prioritised her career and her personal life, creating a healthy balance between both areas of her life. Mary spoke with her manager for advice when she was concerned additional work outside of her role was being placed upon her. Mary developed and worked to maintain healthy relationships with her work colleagues. She also made sure she spent time with the people important to her outside of work. Mary gave herself some time in the evening away from her electronics to prevent her from sending “one last email”. She planned her vacation days off in advance. Mary also looked after her health, she prepared healthy meals and aimed to be in bed at the same time every night so she could get eight hours of sleep. These behaviours and routines led to Mary avoiding experiencing Occupational burnout. This resulted in Mary feeling happy both at work and in her personal life.

Because Mary made a conscious effort to equally prioritise her work life and her personal life by implementing important, positive behaviours and routines. She was able to avoid becoming burnout. Whereas John focused all of his energy on work and in the long-term, this resulted in him losing the joy he once felt at work.

👉 Reducing Burnout Exercise: Have a careful think about your work-life balance and write down your responses to the following questions: ✍️ What are you prioritising? ✍️ What are you losing out on? 👉 Now take a moment and think about the following questions: ✍️ Do your previous responses align with your values? ✍️ Are you taking care of your mental and physical health? If you answered no to either of these questions, then it may be time to start considering what positive changes you can make in your life to improve your work-life balance and manage/reduce the likelihood of developing occupational burnout. Think about your values and how you can tailor your priorities to be in alignment with your values ✅ ✨

There is no shame in getting help and improving your overall well-being. If you think you might be at risk for developing or possibly already experiencing occupational burnout, there are lots of strategies and techniques you can implement in your own life to help. You are not alone in this and help is available ✨ 🤗