Stress is inevitable. Burnout is not.
High levels of work-related well-being are imperative to ensure financial stability, competitiveness and sustainability in the complex, fast paced ever changing world we live in. Employee well-being and flexible leadership play a fundamental role to enhance work engagement and to decrease burnout.
Leaders need to be flexible in the way they lead, and their thoughts and behaviour need to be adaptable to bring the best out in every individual employee. Rigid routines to manage complex environments lead to burnout, anxiety, depression, addictions and suicide, diseases that do not only affect individual lives but also have a negative economic impact on society and organisational performance.
Stress is usually experienced as feeling anxious and having a sense of urgency while burnout is more commonly experienced as helplessness, hopelessness, or apathy. An individual’s ability to cope with the demands upon him/her and their perceived ability to meet those demands are key to his/her experience of stress. Stress is an unavoidable human response, and it is unrealistic for an individual to aim towards a stress-free life. When used at the right time, stress increases an individualist awareness and improves physical performance in short bursts. Repetitive exposure to the stress response on a body is proven to lead to long-lasting psychological and physical health issues; these include cardiovascular disease, diabetes and burnout. Stress is inevitable. Burnout is not. While not considered a mental illness, burnout can be considered a mental health issue. The negative effects of burnout can increase significantly before anyone recognizes or addresses the problem and unaddressed burnout can increase the chance of developing mental illness.
Burnout is more likely when individuals:
• Expect too much of themselves.
• Never feel that the work they are doing is good enough.
• Feel inadequate or incompetent.
• Feel unappreciated for their work efforts.
• Have unreasonable demands placed upon them.
• Are in roles that are not a good job fit.
Some of the signs and symptoms that an individual experiencing burnout may exhibit include:
• Reduced efficiency and energy
• Lowered levels of motivation
• Increased errors
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Irritability
• Increased frustration
• Suspiciousness
• More time spent working with less being accomplished
Severe burnout can also result in:
• Self-medication with alcohol and other substances
• Sarcasm and negativity
• Debilitating self-doubt
Left unaddressed, burnout may result in a number of outcomes including:
• Poor physical health
• Clinical depression
• Drug, alcohol or gambling addiction
• Reduced job satisfaction
• Decreased productivity
• Increased absenteeism
• Increased risk of accidents
• Poor workplace morale
• Communication breakdown
• Increased turnover
Some individuals who have recovered from burnout shared what they called “the lies we told ourselves” related to denying the signs of burnout, even when loved ones pointed it out to them. These included:
• I am fine
• It is your nagging at me that is stressful
• I love my job
• I am happy to take more on
• I am just tired
• You don’t understand, no one else can do this
• People are depending on me
• I really want to be helpful
• I will be fine once this is done
• This too will pass
• I need to get back to the top of my game
• I’ll take a vacation and then be okay
• If people just let me do my job, I would be fine
• It’s not me, it is everyone and everything else
Most actually believed these statements to be true and to a certain extent, many of them were. The “lie” was in denying that their current situation was damaging their health and well-being and that changes were necessary. This denial eventually led to burnout.
