Burnout Syndrome (Burnout, Professional Burnout, Mental Burnout, Burnout). How to get rid of burnout syndrome for representatives of the medical profession? Burnout is characterized by

Syndrome burnout at work, the main causes of its occurrence and the clinical picture. Ways to eliminate symptoms and prevention.

The mechanism of development of emotional burnout in humans

Work that is connected with other people, communicating with them, after several years can cause burnout syndrome. This phenomenon was noticed back in the last century, when many able-bodied people turned to psychological help after a solid experience. They argued that sometime a favorite business no longer brings that pleasure, causes unpleasant associations, irritability, a feeling of inability to fulfill their duties.

Most often, these symptoms affect people in those professions that involve helping or serving others. These are doctors, teachers, personnel managers and even students. It is known that over the years of study at school and university, this syndrome can also form.

This pathological process is presented as fatigue stretched over time. Working with people on a daily basis requires proper behavior, emotional restraint, and empathy. It is with this set of characteristics that you can interact with clients, students, staff, students, visitors, patients every day.

After many years of work, the inner resource of personal qualities and tolerance often dries up. For people of some professions this happens faster, for others - later. However, there comes a point when empathy becomes insufficient and the person, despite his professional qualifications, cannot fulfill the duties.

The opposite qualities begin to appear in work - intolerance, irritability, intemperance. First, the relationship with the people with whom the person works is changed. For example, a doctor will be much more cynical about his patients, behave pragmatically and not show empathy. The emotional component of the profession will be absent, and sometimes it will manifest itself as anger, hostility.

Prolonged attempts to work in this mode can negatively affect both human health and his work. That is why timely diagnosis is so crucial.

Causes of burnout

Emotional burnout is a defensive reaction of the body to the excessive expenditure of its energy reserves and capabilities. The human psyche turns off the emotional response when it can harm. You can get tired at work not only physically, but also mentally. Burnout is a sign of overwork of the emotional component.

The reason for emotional burnout is considered to be a limit that limits an individual's ability to empathy, sympathy, and emotional interaction. This line allows you to separate that part of actions and manifestations that excessively consumes energy resources from the norm.

Simply put, an individual cannot listen to a hundred people in one day, sincerely feel and help, even if it is physically possible. That is why a protective stereotypical reaction turns on - blocking of emotional response, and the person feels exhaustion, moral fatigue.

If such a reaction is repeated very often over many years, there is a possibility of the formation of a burnout syndrome, when attempts to evoke an emotional response in a person worsen the symptoms and may even manifest somatic signs.

If every day to face someone else's mood, character, temperament, the individual begins to experience a chronic stressful situation. It has an extremely negative effect on his well-being, mental state and health.

One of the reasons for emotional burnout can be considered the lack of a result or response to one's own empathy and goodwill. Giving is essential in any job, but the human factor reinforces this need. In most cases, in response, an individual with such a job receives either cold indifference, or a negative response, resentment, disputes.

Another reason for professional burnout should be considered the discrepancy between the personal parameters of the profession. Sometimes a person gets to work that does not suit him at all in temperament.

For example, there are performers - workers who solve the tasks set in advance well and on time. They shouldn't be expected to be creative or too fast in the deadline, but you can rely on delivering stable work assignments. There is also another type of people who are able to actively generate new creative ideas, quickly mobilize their strength, but they too often get tired and cannot long time perform this type of activity.

The same can be said for those who consider themselves creative. For them, any obstacles, restrictions impair their professional abilities, therefore, burnout syndrome occurs in such people much more often than in analysts in the composition of the mind.

The main signs of burnout in humans

Burnout symptoms develop gradually. Fatigue, irritability is perceived as side effects hard work. Over time, enthusiasm decreases, the desire to do something disappears.

The manifestations of this syndrome can affect the somatic sphere of the human body, its behavior, as well as the psyche and emotions. Thus, the abundance of symptoms obscures the true cause of the disease.

Somatic manifestations:

• Fatigue... A person constantly complains of feeling tired, even if the duration of work was not long.
• General weakness ... The feeling that there is not enough strength, the feeling of "cotton feet".
• Headaches and dizziness... Frequent complaints of migraines, meteosensitivity, dark circles before the eyes, flies.
• Frequent colds ... There is a decrease in the activity of the body's defenses - immunity.
• Sweating... Increased sweating is common, even when normal temperature external environment.
• Change in diet and regimen... Some have insomnia, others, on the contrary, drowsiness. It's the same with eating. Some have an increased appetite, they gain weight, others lose weight.

The behavior of a person with burnout syndrome also changes. This manifests itself not only at work, but also in communication with friends. Most often, the symptoms are aggravated, however, when performing job duties... Let's list them:

1. Insulation... A person tries to retire, avoids unnecessary contacts with other people.
2. Failure to comply... Work no longer brings satisfaction, moreover, it causes unpleasant sensations, so the individual shies away from the responsibility that is laid on him.
3. Irritability... In this state, he can easily break down on someone from the environment, accuse everyone in a row.
4. Envy... Looking for deceptive ways to get what you want, feeling uncomfortable that someone is doing well.
5. General pessimistic attitude... A person sees only negative traits in everything, constantly complains about poor working conditions.

The psycho-emotional signs of burnout are very often the first to appear. Feelings of loneliness and helplessness exacerbate clinical picture... The main symptoms are:

• Indifference... There is very little interest in what is happening around, work becomes something distant and completely unimportant.
• Loss of your own ideals... A person is disappointed in what he always believed in. The sanctity of the profession, its exclusiveness is understated.
• Loss of professional interest... There is no point in doing any more work that no one needs. Motivational factors that should be triggered do not return the desire to return to professional activity.
• General discontent... A person constantly expresses complaints about his own life, its insignificance and insignificance.

Important! In this state, people can often get involved in drinking, smoking, drugs in order to muffle the inner emptiness.

Ways to deal with burnout

There are many tests that offer to determine the presence of symptoms of burnout, so if signs or suspicions of this disorder arise, you should be tested. Only then can you take any action in relation to yourself. For the treatment of burnout, a variety of psychotherapeutic techniques are most often used. The effect is also given by group therapy in the form of trainings, where people learn how to properly interact with each other.

Training

In many professions, advanced training courses are planned, the role of which is not only to familiarize with new knowledge and skills, but also to increase the motivational level. When retraining, a reminder of the importance and relevance of the chosen profession occurs, the person again finds why he chose this path in choosing a career.

For these purposes, seminars, trainings are often organized, and upon completion they are usually handed out certificates, diplomas, and certificates. This is a kind of proof of the importance of the whole process and the role of one person in the overall system. It should be understood that a well-coordinated mechanism is the work of every detail. Communication with other people from the same profession who are not part of the usual team can show a different point of view.

This is how one can realize the most important principles their qualifications, to understand how much is being done so that everyone's work is not a waste of time. There are even special trainings that teach you how to deal with burnout.

Assessment

In educational institutions, knowledge assessment has been introduced as an additional incentive to achieve the final result - obtaining a diploma, certificate, or certificate. It is very difficult for adolescents and young people to find those motivational reasons for continuing their studies, so a point system was introduced. In this way, you will be able to improve your professional qualities.

If the work is directly judged fairly, each small victory will be rewarded, a person will acquire new goals and meaning for his activities. Today this incentive is salary. If the amount directly depends on the quality of the work, the pace of its completion, as well as reputation, the person will try to maintain them in the norm.

Moreover, in such situations, healthy competition arises - a method of screening that will determine those who are worthy of the given profession. Thus, everyone will try to achieve better results and treat your duties much more responsible.

Novelty

If a person constantly feels discomfort from the conditions of his professional activity, it is best to change them. This does not mean that you need to change your job or specialization. Sometimes companies practice the rotation method, when employees are changed positions or places.

The acquisition of knowledge, new technology, and the method of carrying out one's activities will be of great importance. If a person learns something new, he quickly reaches his competence, and the freshness of the methods gives professional strength.

If you can't change your place of work, you should go to a conference or presentation, which is, in fact, related to work. Several days in the company of the luminaries of their profession contribute to the restoration of vitality.

Features of prevention of emotional burnout

If the profession is associated with an increased risk of emotional burnout, you should take care of preventive actions in relation to it. Since this syndrome causes both physical and psychological manifestations, therefore, all the measures taken can also be divided into two parts.

Physical methods for preventing burnout:

1. Diet. Food should contain everything essential vitamins, organic matter and energetic material.
2. Exercises. Sports activities help to strengthen the immune system, mobilize the body's defenses.
3. Mode. It is important to observe the correct scheme of work and rest, proper sleep restores the functions of the nervous system.

Psychological methods for preventing burnout:

• Recreation. Occupational hygiene should be followed to ensure the right to a day off. On this day, you should not engage in professional activities.
• Introspection. A psychologist will help you figure out your own disturbing thoughts, or you can do it yourself with a sheet of paper and a pen.
• A priority. So that personal relationships do not suffer because of professional problems, it is necessary to set clear boundaries between these areas of activity.
• Meditation. Any practice that involves deepening self-awareness will help identify important professional levers of influence on your own feelings.

How to deal with emotional burnout - watch the video:

Burnout is already called the epidemic of the 21st century, as its prevalence is actively increasing. To prevent a decline in the quality of work, managers should engage in prevention of this syndrome, rotate employees on time, ensure timely professional development and travel to conferences.

professional emotional social combustion

Emotional burnout syndrome (SES) is caused by disorders and difficulties that arise in the human body in the course of his professional activity. This is the body's response to a situation that causes constant, prolonged stress.

SES is characterized as a state of mental fatigue and disappointment and most often occurs in people of the so-called helping (helper) professions. This condition is accompanied by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased performance.

Symptoms accompanying the syndrome of emotional burnout can be conditionally divided into three groups: associated with the physical condition of a person, associated with his social relations, intrapersonal experiences of a person.

Symptoms associated with a physical condition indicate that certain processes occur in the human body that can cause a deterioration in health. These symptoms include:

Increased fatigue, apathy;

Physical discomfort, frequent colds, nausea, headache;

Heart pain, high or low blood pressure;

Pain in the abdomen, impaired appetite and diet;

Choking attacks, asthmatic symptoms;

Increased sweating;

Tingling sensation behind the breastbone, muscle pain;

Sleep disturbances, insomnia.

Symptoms associated with social relationships are manifested when a person contacts others: colleagues, clients, loved ones and relatives. These include:

The appearance of anxiety in those situations where it did not arise before;

Irritability and aggressiveness in communicating with others; a cynical attitude towards clients, towards ideas of a common cause, towards their work;

Unwillingness to work, shifting responsibility;

Lack of contact with clients and / or unwillingness to improve the quality of work;

Formalism in work, stereotyped behavior, resistance to change, active rejection of any creative principle;

Aversion to food or overeating;

Abuse chemicalsthat alter consciousness (alcohol, smoking, pills, etc.);

Involvement in gambling (casino, slot machines).

Intrapersonal symptoms relate to the processes taking place inside a person and due to a change in his attitude towards himself, his actions, thoughts and feelings. These include:

Increased feelings of self-pity;

Feeling of own lack of demand;

Guilt;

Anxiety, fear, feeling of being depressed;

Low self-esteem;

Feeling of own oppression and meaninglessness of everything that happens, pessimism;

Destructive self-reflection, replaying situations in the head associated with strong negative emotions;

Mental exhaustion;

Doubt about work efficiency.

In each person, combustion syndrome occurs with varying degrees of severity of symptoms. The initial assumption that people who have worked in helping professions for many years are the most vulnerable to emotional burnout is not always correct, as it turned out, over time, many of them adapt to the profession and develop their own ways to prevent burnout. Much more cases of SES occur among young professionals.

The most common model of professional burnout syndrome is a three-component model, according to which the professional burnout syndrome includes three components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduction of personal achievements.

The development of the emotional burnout syndrome is preceded by a period of increased activity, when a person is completely absorbed in work, to the detriment of his needs in other areas of life. This leads to the development of the first sign of burnout syndrome-emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion is expressed in the appearance of emotional exhaustion and a feeling of fatigue caused by work. Fatigue doesn't go away after a night's sleep. After a period of rest (weekend, vacation), it becomes smaller, but upon returning to the usual work situation it resumes with the same force. Emotional overloads and the inability to replenish energy lead to an attempt at self-preservation through detachment and alienation. A person is no longer able to do his work with the same energy. The work is done mostly on a formal basis. Emotional exhaustion is the main sign of burnout.

In the social sphere, depersonalization presupposes an insensitive, inhuman and cynical attitude towards a client seeking treatment, counseling, educational and other services. The client is perceived as a kind of impersonal object. The consultant may have the illusion that all the problems and troubles of the client are for his good. A negative attitude is reflected in the expectation of the worst, unwillingness to communicate, ignoring the client. In the circle of his colleagues, the “burning” specialist talks about him with dislike and disdain. At first, he can still partially restrain his feelings, but gradually it becomes more and more difficult for him to do this, and in the end they begin to literally spill out. The victim of a negative attitude is an innocent person who turned to a professional for help and hoped, first of all, for a humane attitude.

Reduction or belittling of personal achievements is accompanied by a decrease in the counselor's self-esteem. The main manifestations of this symptom are:

A tendency to negatively assess oneself, one's professional achievements and successes;

Negativism in relation to official duties, a decrease in professional motivation, shifting responsibility to others.

The consultant loses his vision of the prospects of his professional activity, gets less satisfaction from work, loses faith in his own professional capabilities, and as a result, he has a sense of incompetence and doom to fail.

In this case, we can already talk about the complete combustion of a specialist. A person still retains a certain aplomb and outward respectability, but if you look closely, his “empty look” and “cold heart” become obvious: as if the whole world had become indifferent to him.

Paradoxically, but the combustion syndrome is a defense mechanism of our body, because it forces us to dose and economically use energy resources. At the same time, this statement turns out to be true only when it comes to the very beginning of the formation of a given state. In the later stages, “burnout” negatively affects the performance of professional duties and relationships with others. The "burner" may not be aware of the reasons for the processes occurring in him. To protect himself, he stops perceiving his own feelings related to work. Formalism, harsh intonations and cold looks, to which we are almost used to in clinics, schools, and other administrative organizations, in most cases are manifestations of the syndrome of emotional burnout.

There are two main groups of reasons that play a key role in the formation and development of the syndrome of professional combustion: the causes of internal and external character.

Internal reasons - associated with the individual characteristics of a person: age, high expectations, self-criticism, dedication, readiness for hard work, the need to prove one's worth.

External reasons - associated with the characteristics of professional activities: "difficult" contingent, emotionally intense activity, difficult working conditions, increased exactingness of the leadership, unfavorable psychological atmosphere in the team.

Professional activity is undergoing significant changes in particularly unfavorable and extreme working conditions. Social workers, by the nature of their activities, involved in long-term intense communication with other people, are typical, like other specialists of the "person - person" system, occupational Illnesscalled burnout syndrome. This is due to the fact that in his activities a social worker, in addition to professional knowledge, skills and abilities, largely uses his personality, being a kind of "emotional donor", which also refers to the factors of professional risk.

The term - "emotional burnout" was introduced by one of the American psychiatrists in 1974 to characterize the psychological state healthy peoplewho are in intensive and close communication with clients, patients in an emotionally charged atmosphere while providing professional assistance. At first, this term meant a state of exhaustion, exhaustion, coupled with a feeling of one's own uselessness. The essence of this disease has been studied by many scientists.

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

Causes

Every person is subject to emotional burnout.

The development of emotional overstrain is influenced by both the objective external circumstances of the working environment and the personality traits of a person.

Factors related to personality traits a person should be attributed:

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

TO external factors should include:

• Excessive workload;
• Monotony of work;
• Responsibility for the results of the work performed;
• Irregular schedule;
• Interpersonal conflicts;
• Lack of proper moral and material remuneration for the performance of 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

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

Emotional exhaustion expressed by a feeling of tiredness, 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) negative emotions prevail: 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, cynical. Contacts become formal and impersonal.

professional achievements are characterized by the fact that a person begins to doubt his professionalism. Achievements and successes in the labor field 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.

So, it is customary to distinguish several groups of symptoms characteristic of CMEA:

• Physical symptoms - fatigue, dizziness, sweating, muscle tremors, sleep disturbances, dyspeptic disorders, fluctuations blood pressure, weight change, shortness of breath, meteosensitivity.
• Emotional symptoms - pessimism, cynicism, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, anxiety, depressed mood, irritability, feelings of loneliness, guilt.
• Intellectual changes - loss of interest in receiving new information, loss of interest in life, lack of desire to diversify their leisure.
• Behavioral symptoms - a long working week, fatigue while performing work duties, the need to take frequent breaks from 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 relatives, isolation, a feeling of misunderstanding by other people, a feeling of lack of moral support.

Why is this syndrome given so much attention? The thing is that CMEA entails serious consequences, such as:

On the whole, CMEA can be perceived as a kind of psychological defense mechanism. Complete or partial shutdown of emotions in response to the action of a stressor factor allows you to economically spend available energy resources.

Diagnostics

To identify the syndrome of emotional burnout, the degree of its severity, various questionnaires are used.

The main methods used to study CMEA:

• Diagnostics of emotional burnout Boyko V.V. ("Diagnostics of the level of emotional burnout");
• A.A. Rukavishnikova "Determination of mental burnout";
• Methodology "Assessment of own burnout potential";
• Methodology K. Maslach and S. Jackson "Professional (emotional) burnout (MBI)".

Treatment

There is no universal panacea for burnout. But you should not underestimate the problem, it can lead to a deterioration in health and quality of life in general.

If you notice signs of COMECON in yourself, try to implement the following recommendations:

With severe burnout syndrome, you should consult a psychotherapist. The doctor can use the following approaches:

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

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

Discussions of an event allow a person to express their emotions, experiences, aggression. In addition, such an approach will help a person to become aware of their stereotypes of actions, to see their inefficiency, to develop adequate ways of responding to all kinds of stressful situations, learn to resolve conflicts and build productive relationships with colleagues.

Doctors say that this is a condition in which a person feels mentally, mentally and physically exhausted. It is very difficult for him to get up in the morning, work, it is difficult to concentrate on his duties and fulfill them on time. We have to lengthen the working day, as a result, the usual rhythm of life is disrupted and the situation worsens even more. Moreover, people tend to blame everything on blues and depression, especially if it happens in the fall. Doctors say that it is very important to recognize the "bells" and signals of the body in order to quickly cope with the problem and not bring oneself to a nervous breakdown.

The essence of the phenomenon

Burnout syndrome is called a kind of psychological defense mechanism against stress, which occurs mainly in the labor sphere. The first mention of "burnout" (literally - "burnout" in the translation from English.) Can be found in sources for 1974. Such a diagnosis was made to people who were forced to constantly be in an emotionally “loaded” atmosphere during work. As a result of such loading, they lost most physical and emotional energy, experienced dissatisfaction with themselves and dissatisfaction, deprived of a sense of understanding and sympathy for those people whom, according to their duty, they should help.

Most often, this problem is faced by educators, health workers, business leaders, sales representatives, social workers, etc. The main reasons leading to emotional problems are routine, a difficult schedule, low wages, the desire to be the best in their profession, and other exhausting factors also take place.

How to recognize

Signs of emotional burnout should be studied in detail in order to recognize the problem in time and get rid of it faster. Burnout is often confused with stress, although it is clinical manifestations are somewhat different.

The burnout pattern is represented by three groups of symptoms: physical, behavioral and psychological. In the first case, a person has:

• Syndrome chronic fatigue
• Headaches
• External violations digestive system
• Weight fluctuations
• Sleep disturbances
• Nausea
• Shortness of breath, etc.

With regard to psychological and behavioral symptoms, these include:

• Loss of interest in their own work
• Unmotivated worry and anxiety
• Guilt
• Boredom and apathy
• Diffidence
• Suspicion
• Increased irritability
• Distance from colleagues and loved ones
• Feeling lonely, etc.

Also, a person prone to emotional burnout changes their behavior. Almost completely absent in his life physical exercise, he increases his working time, often he has bad habits.

Slow down and exhale

You should not try to overcome yourself, strain and try to speed up the process of doing things, even very important ones. On the contrary, doctors believe that in the presence of burnout syndrome, a person needs to slow down his pace. This does not mean that you should give up doing your job, you just need to reconsider your approach to organizing the working day, adding more rest to it. If you can't manage to rebuild the regime, you should ask for an extra vacation or even take a sick leave for several weeks. This will allow you to analyze the situation, look at yourself from the outside and relax a little.

Planning with an analysis of the reasons is also a great help. For example, if it is difficult to perform some tasks, it is worth specifying in a conversation with the authorities what exactly is required of the employee; if not happy with the size wages, you need to talk to the management about the increase or try to look for another employment option. Such measures will allow you to learn how to prioritize, make it possible to understand who can help, and will be an excellent tool to avoid new disruptions.

How to warn

Prevention is also an excellent solution. It is worth remembering that this syndrome usually occurs against the background of a person's physical and mental exhaustion. This means that you should approach prevention in a comprehensive manner. An excellent solution would be a balanced diet with a minimum of fat, including a large amount of vitamins, fiber and minerals. It is also worth adding more physical activity and proper sleep to your life. Of course, you also need to observe the daily routine.

From the point of view of psychological protection, you should arrange for yourself a day off once a week, when you can do whatever you really want. In addition, meditation, auto-training and aromatherapy will be an excellent assistant in restoring peace of mind.

: Reading time:

This article is for those who are "crazy at work" (or somewhere else) and are looking for ways out.

Psychologist Denis Zubov talks about burnout syndrome: what it looks like and how to overcome it.

The correct fight against emotional burnout is not just screwing in a new light bulb, but also replacing it with an energy-saving one.

Burnout is the body's response to chronic stress.

Not all stress is bad. There is stress that allows us to develop: a challenge, a difficult and interesting obstacle. When we overcome it, we learn new things and rejoice at the victory.

There is stress that destroys us: prolonged and / or too strong, which leads to an overload of the body and provokes physical exhaustion. If you live under such stress for a long time, chronic emotional overstrain occurs, followed by psychological burnout.

A key sign of burnout is lingering. Is not bad mood and negative emotions for one day, but an intense, prolonged experience, from which it is difficult to get out. This is the cumulative effect of the fact that we went “in the wrong direction” for a long time and a signal that something needs to be changed urgently.

Here are the phrases that clients come to me with:

• “I feel bad for no reason”;
• “I see no reason to go to work, which I used to love so much”;
• “I feel apathy and melancholy”;
• "Chronic fatigue haunts me";
• “I do and achieve so little, all my achievements are worthless”;
• "There is a blockage at work, and I sit in a daze."

A key sign of burnout is lingering. This is not a bad mood and negative emotions for one day, but an intense, prolonged experience that is difficult to get out of.

"Diagnostics" of emotional burnout is based on very specific markers. Diagnostics in quotation marks, because this is not an official diagnosis from ICD-10 and not a disease, it is a psychological problem.

With burnout, the symptoms and signs are very different:

1. Health problems - fatigue, insomnia or drowsiness, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, sweating, high blood pressure, changes in appetite.
2. Mood problems (emotional symptoms) - feelings of sadness, emptiness, pessimistic assessment of the past and future, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, loss of professional prospects, as well as anxiety, anxiety, cynicism.
3. Difficulty planning and controlling your actions - rash actions, overuse tobacco, alcohol, a constant desire to rest.
4. Loss of interest in new things, boredom, melancholy, apathy, condescending attitude to work.
5. Feelings of isolation, lack of understanding from others, a sense of lack of support from loved ones.

Burnout and depression. Burnout symptoms are similar to depression. Indeed, some of the symptoms are common here - low mood, loss of motivation, negative image of the future, both are chronic syndromes. But depression is a clinical disorder that can be biologically related, for example, to hormonal imbalances or serious illness. Depression has a different recovery mechanism. Rest or accumulation of resources, as a rule, will help little here. And in case of emotional burnout - restoring the balance of “give” and “take”, emotional relief is the most important first step.

Depression and burnout are different and require very different approaches to dealing with and recovering.

How to handle it. Burnout treatment

There are three main factors that trigger burnout:

• a person ignores their own important needs,
• his balance of "give and take" is disturbed,
• a person has a broken social hierarchy and areas of responsibility.

For emotional burnout, “treatment” (again in quotation marks, this is a psychological and psychotherapeutic problem) changes depending on the situation. I will analyze each with an example.

1 If a person ignores their own important needs

A client turned to me - a leader, a bright leader, a generator of ideas and a "perpetual motion machine". Successful career, good financial position, high social status. Many years of continuous upward movement. He sleeps a little, works at home, often stays in the office. The phone never turns off.

What he complains about. Subordinates do not understand and support her little, although earlier this did not interfere and did not stop. The CEO is "taking the company in the wrong place." She began to notice that she was losing interest in leading projects, it scares her. There were several situations when I could not concentrate, I lost attention at the right moment. I went to the clinic to be examined - they did not find anything significant. Periodically he catches himself thinking about the meaninglessness of what he is doing.

Many years of continuous upward movement. He sleeps a little, works at home, often stays in the office. The phone never turns off.

Family situation. Permanent happy relationship no, periodically meets with men, mainly for sex. Unsuccessful marriage in the past. There is an adult child - a teenager, relations with whom are strained and alienated.

Objectively, the client suffers from burnout, although she does not realize it. For too long she invested only in one side of her life - the professional one. I neglected my own needs for emotional warmth, closeness, affection. For a long time she managed to ignore them, which led to burnout. All signs of exhaustion are on the face.

How to help yourself. How to deal with burnout in such a situation? Take a break. Reconsider your values \u200b\u200band priorities, take a closer look at your needs, body, and allocate resources.

2 If the balance of "give and take" is disturbed

A client who works as a psychologist applied. Good specialist. Loves people and sincerely wants to help them. He is valued in the organization and is well received by customers.

What he complains about. He liked the job, but something gradually went wrong: the client stories became the same, he began to doubt his own effectiveness. "Then they have problems again?", "And how many of those for whom nothing changes." Meanwhile, the boss increases the workload.

Family situation. At home, he begins to break down on loved ones, several times in six months he suffers from a cold, which is not typical for him.

“What do I get from my job?”, “Is the material reward commensurate with the time and effort I spent?”, “When was the last time I took a long vacation?”

This is how burnout begins. In this situation, the client noticed him in time and began to ask himself the right questions: “What do I get from my work?”, “Is the material reward commensurate with my time and effort?”, “When was the last time I took a long vacation?”, “ I know that I love my job, but maybe I can change the sphere a little (switch from children to adults or vice versa), because this is something new, interesting? "

How to help yourself. Carefully evaluate what you give to the world (the results of mental activity, mental strength, material resources) and receive from the world. These two streams must be in balance. Emotional return on those tasks for which we spend a lot of resources is important to all of us. You need to constantly monitor yourself and maintain this balance.

3 If the social hierarchy and areas of responsibility are violated

The client works as an administrator. Doing his job and the work of a colleague, by inertia began to perform the duties of an assistant manager. And all this without changes in status or additional payment. The client felt important in the organization, began to actively express her opinion about the actions of the management and got into a conflict situation. She comes home tired, feels empty.

How to help yourself. Stick to your boundaries and responsibilities, adhere to social hierarchy.

You can do the following exercise to figure out how to get out of burnout.

Take a piece of paper, outline your responsibilities. Look at him. Now draw your circle of influence.

Do these two circles coincide? If so, you are resilient. If the circles don't match, you are at risk.

If the circle of responsibility is larger, you need to avoid unnecessary responsibility. If the circle of influence is larger, you either do not use your potential, or you have taken on something that is not yet your immediate task.

What are the stages of emotional burnout?

You can evaluate how bad everything is from another point of view. There are three stages of burnout:

1. Tension - the psyche resists. Acute experience of problems and conflicts, dissatisfaction with oneself, a feeling of being "caged", anxiety, low mood.
2. Resistance - the psyche begins to give up. A person can break down, scream, cry (inadequate emotional response), many things simply do not cause emotions anymore, more and more work a person does not finish as "optional".
3. Exhaustion - the psyche has given up. These are emotional deficits (emotional exhaustion), detachment, psychosomatic disorders.

Burnout levels will gradually replace each other if nothing is done.

Is it possible to protect yourself. Burnout prevention

Prevention of emotional burnout syndrome is relaxation, any of its methods:

• Take a break and be alone with yourself, in peace, in safety and comfort. You need a safe space to gather strength.
• Strengthen the body and be distracted by physical activity - yoga, sports, walks in nature.
• Praise yourself more for victories and achievements, appreciate yourself more. Apply self-hypnosis autogenous training, meditation.
• Write down your goals in order, focus on the main thing, and discard the rest for a while.
• Spend more time with friends, loved ones, people who support and love you.
• Seek professional help if the condition does not improve.
• Accumulate resources, starting with the little things - a morning cup of coffee, the opportunity to wear what you like, eat, what you want.

Usually, people naturally use burnout prevention methods - we all meet with friends from time to time or change our environment. Sometimes you just need to remember about it. Listen to yourself, trust yourself and be bolder in your desires!