As much as we would love to be part of the candle-wick Olympics and burn it on both ends, we have our limits. In modern society it is all too common to forget about ourselves as we rush around in madness, trying to keep above the rising tide of daily changes and struggles. That is why I find it imperative to shed light on these matters, understanding what they entail, why they occur, and how we can combat them effectively.  This article will provide insight into the phenomenon of burnout, its various forms, contributing factors, and most importantly, strategies to prevent it.

Without further delay, we delve into defining burnout.

What is burnout?

We could chalk burnout to feeling physical and mental exhaustion, but we need to expand on this a little further so that we understand the concept properly. A  person can experience a somewhat serious (when referring to economically active individuals who can no longer contribute) but not life-threatening problem known as burnout due to long-term exposure to high levels of stress, which can take months or even years to develop, by which time when the person experiences burnout they become debilitated (V, Van Deventer & M, Mojapelo-Batka, 2013: 332).

Expanding on the above, it is important to note that the World Health Organisation, only in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), started classifying burnout as an occupational phenomenon rather than a medical condition.

To better help us understand burnout, we will need to expand on the various types you can experience. There are three types of burnout identified by (Montero-Marín & Garcı́a-Campayo, 2010):

• Frenetic burnout: Individuals within this classification are highly applied and committed to their work and tend to invest considerable time and dedication to work. There is a tendency for greater effort when facing difficulties and a strong sense of ambition and need for achievement.
• Under-challenged burnout: These individuals have no interest in their work and complete their tasks in a superficial manner, as they lack challenges, motivation, or desire for engagement. We can characterise these individuals by indifference and dissatisfaction around their talents that go unacknowledged until other opportunities arise. Work is boring, routine, and monotonous.
• Worn-out burnout: These individuals have very little involvement in their work, to the extent that they disregard their job responsibilities. We can observe neglect due to a lack of involvement as a result of giving up when difficulty arises. There is also a lack of acknowledgement and control.

Symptoms of burnout

Now that we understand what burnout is, we can look closer at the symptoms you are likely to experience, which are extensive and can vary from person to person.

The symptoms that usually accompany burnout are feeling emotionally drained, empty, and even alienated from the people around you. You can feel a loss of hope and aspirations concerning your work due to a sense of unreality, which comes about due to the alienation you experience during burnout (V, Van Deventer & M, Mojapelo-Batka, 2013: 332). Because of the fact that you can feel inadequacy in having achieved nothing and that no matter what, you cannot do anything about it, you can begin to see a decline in performance levels which produces yet more stress, and thus burnout is experienced once again (V, Van Deventer & M, Mojapelo-Batka, 2013: 332).

Further to the above, we can identify three more characteristics of burnout laid out by (World Health Organization: WHO, 2019):

• Feeling an energy depletion or exhaustion;
• An increased mental distance from your job, or having negative/cynical feelings toward your job; and
• A reduction in professional efficacy (ability to produce a desired or intended result).
  

Several other symptoms are listed that will be useful to take note of (Darling Downs Health, 2023):

• You can experience physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches, fatigue, frequent illness, changes in appetite, and sleeping patterns;
• You can experience emotional symptoms such as helplessness, cynicism, a sense of failure, a decrease in satisfaction, feelings of detachment, and loss of motivation; and
• Finally, you can experience behavioural symptoms such as a decrease in performance in everyday tasks, isolation, procrastination, outbursts, and the use of substances to cope.

The stats around burnout

For the sake of brevity, I have elected to stick to three separate reports/surveys, which will help give you a better idea of the prevalence of burnout globally.

In a report by (Mental Health UK, 2024), they revealed that 9 in 10 adults in the UK have experienced high to extreme levels of stress in the past year, and 1 in 5 adults need to take time off of work due to poor mental health due to stress. Stress is a critical factor because stress, especially when exposed to a great deal of stress over a long period of time, can lead to burnout.

The McKinsey Health Institute (Addressing Employee Burnout: Are You Solving the Right Problem? 2022) conducted a global survey of nearly 15,000 employees and 1,000 HR decision-makers in 15 countries and found that a quarter (25%) of employees have experienced burnout symptoms.

As mentioned by the American Psychological Association in their Work and Well-being Survey conducted in 2021 (“The American Workforce Faces Compounding Pressure” n.d.) 3 in 5 workers report that work-related stress has impacted their mental and physical health negatively.

What are the contributing factors of burnout?

As you will find, there are many factors that can contribute to burnout and what is listed here is subjectively experienced, as respondents felt that it could contribute to their burnout and not necessarily that it does beyond all reasonable doubt. What you will gather from this is that each person will experience burnout differently, and the causes for their burnout will also differ between individuals.

There are eight factors that are listed by (Mental Health UK, 2024) contributing to burnout:

• Money worries
• Working arrangements
• Worries about job security
• Isolation
• Physical health
• Sleep (not getting enough)
• Relationships
• Caring for others

Harvard Business Review (Saunders, 2021) mention several other factors, such as the following:

• Too great of a workload
• Perceived lack of control over the decisions that impact your personal life
• Both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards for your job/work do not match up to the time and effort you put in them
• A lack of fairness concerning the treatment towards you
• When you and your company’s values do not align

With the above factors, you should have a better idea of the contributing factors to burnout.

How to prevent burnout?

Now that we know what can contribute to burnout, it is essential for us to consider strategies that will help us prevent it. If you catch your symptoms early enough, you can implement the following strategies before you start burning out. After all, prevention is better than the cure.

There are several methods listed by Eastern Washington University (Preventing Burnout, n.d.) that a person can employ to help prevent them from burning out:

• Recognising the early signs of burnout/burning out
• Self-reflection
• Regular exercise
• A healthy diet
• Enough quality sleep
• Downtime/timeouts such as a hobby and other activities you might enjoy for fun
• Making use of your support network (family members, friends, mentors, coaches, therapists and so on)
• Fostering resilience

Additionally, to the above mentioned, we have several strategies recommended on Medical News Today by (Akers, 2023) to help prevent a person burning out:

• Setting boundaries: Communicating what you find is acceptable and appropriate and what you are comfortable with is essential to prevent yourself from becoming inundated with workloads you cannot cope with.
• A work-life balance: The key is to manage your personal and work life so that you do not sacrifice either. With proper balance comes increased productivity and job satisfaction, as people feel a greater sense of motivation and energy when they involve themselves in activities outside of work.
• Exercise for body and mind: When you engage in physical and mental exercise, you help reduce stress and anxiety and find yourself with higher energy levels. Physical exercise includes running, weight training, and so on. Mental exercise includes meditation and practising mindfulness (deepening the awareness of your own thoughts).
• Taking regular breaks: Ensuring you take breaks throughout your day can help you relax and recharge, which includes longer breaks throughout the year.

From the extensive list above, we can determine that each person will find particular methods that work for them, as each person is different. It is critical to experiment until you find a method that works for you, and the employment of several might work best for you. What we have laid out here is to give you an idea about the many methods available to you that can prove rather useful.

It can be difficult to look after ourselves, especially considering the stress and worry we put ourselves through daily. However, try to look after yourself to prevent burning out or succumbing to other ailments due to stress and various other factors. By being at your best and most healthy, you can perform to the best of your ability and enjoy life to its fullest.

References

Addressing employee burnout: Are you solving the right problem? (2022, May 27). McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/addressing-employee-burnout-are-you-solving-the-right-problem

Akers, A. S. (2023, August 3). 7 strategies to help prevent burnout. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/preventing-burnout

Darling Downs Health. (2023, September 17). Signs you might be experiencing a burnout and how to regain balance in your life. https://www.darlingdowns.health.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-stories/feature-articles/signs-you-might-be-experiencing-a-burnout-and-how-to-regain-balance-in-your-life

Mental Health UK. (2024, January 23). Burnout – Mental Health UK. https://mentalhealth-uk.org/burnout/

Montero-Marín, J., & Garcı́a-Campayo, J. (2010). A newer and broader definition of burnout: Validation of the “Burnout Clinical Subtype Questionnaire (BCSQ-36).” BMC Public Health, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-10-302

Preventing burnout. (n.d.). https://inside.ewu.edu/calelearning/psychological-skills/preventing-burnout/

Saunders, E. G. (2021, August 27). 6 Causes of burnout, and how to avoid them. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/07/6-causes-of-burnout-and-how-to-avoid-them

Taylor, H. (2023, July 18). 50+ Burnout Statistics That Will Shock You into Action. Runn. https://www.runn.io/blog/burnout-statistics

The American workforce faces compounding pressure. (n.d.). In https://www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-well-being/compounding-pressure-2021

World Health Organization: WHO. (2019, May 28). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/. Retrieved May 4, 2024, from https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases