Burnout: What To Do And Who Is To Blame

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Source: thezis.ru/emotsionalnoe-vyigoranie-chto-delat-i-kto-vinovat.html

On November 27, 2014, a lecture by the famous Austrian psychotherapist, founder of modern existential analysis Alfried Langle took place on the topic “Emotional burnout - ashes after fireworks. Existential-analytical understanding and prevention”

Emotional burn-out is a symptom of our time. This is a state of exhaustion, which leads to paralysis of our strengths, feelings and is accompanied by a loss of joy in relation to life. In our time, cases of burnout syndrome are increasing. This applies not only to social professions, for which the burnout syndrome was characteristic earlier, but also to other professions, as well as a person's personal life. Our era contributes to the spread of burnout syndrome - a time of achievement, consumption, new materialism, entertainment and enjoyment of life. This is the time when we exploit ourselves and allow ourselves to be exploited. This is what I would like to talk about today.

I will first describe burnout syndrome and say a few words about how it can be recognized. Then I will try to explain the background against which this syndrome occurs, and then give a short overview of how to work with burnout syndrome and show how you can prevent it.

EASY BURN OUT

Who doesn't know the symptoms of burnout? I think that every person has ever felt them. We show signs of exhaustion in ourselves if we have experienced great stress, carried out something large-scale. For example, if we were preparing for exams, working on a project, writing a dissertation, or raising two small children. It happens that at work it took a lot of effort, there were some crisis situations, or, for example, during the flu epidemic, doctors had to work very hard.

And then symptoms such as irritability, lack of desires, sleep disorder (when a person cannot fall asleep, or, conversely, sleeps for a very long time), a decrease in motivation, a person feels mostly uncomfortable, and depressive symptoms may appear. This is a simple version of burnout - burnout at the reaction level, a physiological and psychological reaction to excessive stress. When the situation is over, the symptoms disappear on their own. In this case, free weekends, time for yourself, sleep, vacation, sports can help. If we do not replenish energy through rest, the body goes into a mode of energy saving.

In fact, both the body and the psyche are so arranged that great stress is possible - after all, people sometimes have to work hard, achieve some great goals. For example, to save your family from some kind of trouble. The problem is different: if the challenge does not end, that is, if people really cannot rest, they are constantly in a state of tension, if they constantly feel that some demands are being made on them, they are always preoccupied with something, they feel fear, are constantly vigilant in relation to something, expect something, this leads to an overstrain of the nervous system, a person's muscles tense, pain occurs. Some people begin to gnash their teeth in a dream - this can be one of the symptoms of overexertion.

CHRONIC BURN OUT

If stress becomes chronic, then burnout goes to the level of frustration.

In 1974, New York psychiatrist Freudenberger first published an article about volunteers who worked in the social field on behalf of the local church. In this article, he described their situation. These people had symptoms similar to depression. In their anamnesis, he always found the same thing: at first, these people were absolutely delighted with their activities. Then this delight gradually began to diminish. And eventually they burned out to a handful of ash. All of them had similar symptoms: emotional exhaustion, constant fatigue. At the mere thought that they had to go to work tomorrow, they felt tired. They had various bodily complaints and were often sick. This was one of the groups of symptoms.

As for their feelings, they no longer had power. What he called dehumanization happened. Their attitude towards the people they helped changed: at first it was a loving, attentive attitude, then it turned into a cynical, rejecting, negative one. Also, relations with colleagues worsened, there was a feeling of guilt, a desire to get away from all this. They worked less and did everything in a pattern, like robots. That is, these people were no longer able, as before, to enter into relationships and did not strive for this.

This behavior has a certain logic. If I no longer have the strength in my feelings, then I have no strength to love, to listen, and other people become a burden for me. It feels like I can no longer meet them, their demands are excessive for me. Then automatic defensive reactions begin to operate. From a mental point of view, this is very reasonable.

As a third group of symptoms, the author of the article found a decrease in productivity. People were dissatisfied with their work and their achievements. They experienced themselves as powerless, did not feel that they were achieving any success. There was too much for them. And they felt they weren't getting the recognition they deserved.

In doing this research, Freudenberger found that burnout symptoms did not correlate with the number of hours worked. Yes, the more someone works, the more their emotional strength suffers from it. Emotional exhaustion increases in proportion to the number of hours worked, but the other two groups of symptoms - productivity and dehumanization, dehumanization of relationships - are hardly affected. The person continues to be productive for a while. This indicates that burnout has its own dynamics. This is more than just exhaustion. We will dwell on this later.

BURN-OUT STAGES

Freudenberger created a scale of 12 burnup steps. The first stage still looks very harmless: at first, patients with burnout have an obsessive desire to assert themselves (“I can do something”), maybe even in competition with others.

Then a careless attitude towards their own needs begins. A person no longer devotes free time to himself, does less sports, he has less time for people, for himself, he talks less with someone.

At the next stage, a person does not have time to resolve conflicts - and therefore he displaces them, and later even ceases to perceive them. He does not see that there are any problems at work, at home, with friends. He steps back. We see something like a flower that is fading more and more.

In the future, feelings about oneself are lost. People no longer feel themselves. They are just machines, machines and can no longer stop. After a while, they feel an inner emptiness and, if this continues, they often become depressed. At the last, twelfth stage, the person is completely broken. He falls ill - physically and mentally, experiences despair, suicidal thoughts are often present.

One day a burnout patient came to me. Came, sat down in a chair, exhaled and said: "I'm glad I'm here." He looked emaciated. It turned out that he could not even call me to make an appointment - his wife dialed a phone number. I asked him then on the phone how urgent it was. He replied that it was urgent. And then I agreed with him about the first meeting on Monday. On the day of the meeting, he admitted: “All two days off, I could not guarantee that I would not jump out of the window. My condition was so unbearable."

He was a very successful businessman. His employees did not know anything about this - he managed to hide his condition from them. And for a very long time he hid it from his wife. At the eleventh stage, his wife noticed this. He still continued to deny his problem. And only when he could no longer live, already under pressure from outside, he was ready to do something. This is how far burnout can take. Of course, this is an extreme example.

FROM ENTHUSIASM TO DISTRESS

To describe in simpler terms how emotional burnout manifests itself, one can resort to the description of the German psychologist Matthias Burisch. He described four stages.

The first stage looks completely harmless: it's really not quite burnout yet. This is the stage where you need to be careful. It was then that a person is driven by idealism, some ideas, some enthusiasm. But the demands that he constantly makes in relation to himself are excessive. He demands too much of himself for weeks and months.

The second stage is exhaustion: physical, emotional, bodily weakness.

In the third stage, the first defensive reactions usually begin to operate. What does a person do if the demands are constantly excessive? He leaves the relationship, dehumanization occurs. It is a reaction of counteraction as a defense, so that exhaustion does not get stronger. Intuitively, a person feels that he needs peace, and to a lesser extent maintains social relations. Those relationships that must be lived, because one cannot do without them, are burdened by rejection, repulsion.

That is, in principle, this is the correct reaction. But just the area where this reaction starts to work is not suitable for this. Rather, a person needs to be calmer about the requirements that are presented to him. But this is precisely what they fail to do - to get away from requests and claims.

The fourth stage is the amplification of what happens in the third stage, the terminal burnout stage. Burish calls this "disgust syndrome." This is a concept that means that a person no longer carries any joy in himself. Disgust arises in relation to everything. For example, if I ate rotten fish, I vomit, and the next day I hear the smell of fish, I get disgusted. That is, it is a protective feeling after poisoning.

BURN-OUT CAUSES

When it comes to causes, there are generally three areas. This is an individual psychological area, when a person has a strong desire to surrender to this stress. The second sphere - socio-psychological, or social - is pressure from the outside: various fashion trends, some kind of social norms, demands at work, the spirit of the times. For example, it is believed that every year you need to go on a journey - and if I cannot, then I do not correspond to the people living at this time, their way of life. This pressure can be latent and can result in burnout.

More dramatic requirements are, for example, extended working hours. Today, a person is overworking and does not receive payment for it, and if he does not, he is fired. Constant overwork is a cost inherent in the capitalist era, within which Austria, Germany and probably also Russia live.

So, we have identified two groups of reasons. With the first, we can work in the psychological aspect, within the framework of consulting, and in the second case, we need to change something at the political level, at the level of trade unions.

But there is also a third reason, which is related to the organization of systems. If the system gives the individual too little freedom, too little responsibility, if mobbing (bullying) occurs, then people are exposed to a lot of stress. And then, of course, the system needs to be restructured. It is necessary to develop the organization in a different way, to introduce coaching.

MEANING CANNOT BE BUY

We will confine ourselves to considering a group of psychological causes. In existential analysis, we have empirically established that burnout is caused by an existential vacuum. Burnout can be understood as a special form of existential vacuum. Viktor Frankl described the existential vacuum as suffering from a feeling of emptiness and lack of meaning.

A study conducted in Austria, during which 271 doctors were tested, showed the following results. It was found that those doctors who led a meaningful life and did not suffer from an existential vacuum almost did not experience burnout, even if they worked for many hours. The same doctors who showed relatively high levels of existential vacuum in their work showed high rates of burnout, even if they worked fewer hours.

From this we can conclude: meaning cannot be bought. Making money does nothing if I suffer from emptiness and lack of meaning in my work. We cannot compensate for this.

Burnout syndrome poses the question: Do I really experience meaning in what I do? The meaning depends on whether we feel personal value in what we do or not. If we follow the apparent meaning: career, social recognition, the love of others, then this is a false or apparent meaning. It costs us a lot and is stressful. And as a result, we have a deficit of fulfillment. Then we experience devastation - even when we relax.

At the other extreme is the way of life where we experience fulfillment - even when we get tired. Being full, despite fatigue, does not lead to burnout.

In summary, we can say the following: burnout is a final state that occurs as a result of continuing to create something without an experience in the aspect of fulfillment. That is, if I experience meaning in what I do, if I feel that what I am doing is good, interesting and important, if I am happy about it and want to do it, then burnout does not happen. But these feelings should not be confused with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is not necessarily associated with fulfillment - it is more hidden from others, more modest thing.

WHAT DO I GIVE MYSELF TO?

Another aspect that burnout brings us to is motivation. Why am I doing something? And to what extent am I drawn to this? If I cannot give my heart to what I am doing, if I am not interested in it, I do it for some other reason, then in a sense we are lying.

It is as if I was listening to someone but thinking about something else. That is, then I am not present. But if I am not present at work, in my life, then I cannot receive remuneration there. It's not about money. Yes, of course I can make money, but I personally do not receive remuneration. If I am not present with my heart in some business, but use what I am doing as a means to achieve goals, then I am abusing the situation.

For example, I can start a project because it promises me a lot of money. And I almost cannot refuse and somehow resist it. Thus, we can be tempted by some choices, which then lead us to burnout. If it only happens once, then maybe it's not so bad. But if it goes on for years, then I just pass my life by. What do I give myself to?

And here, by the way, it can be extremely important that I have burnout syndrome. Because, probably, I myself cannot stop the direction of my movement. I need the wall that I will collide with, some kind of push from the inside, so that I just cannot continue to move and reconsider my actions.

The example with money is probably the most superficial. The motives can go much deeper. For example, I may want recognition. I need praise from another. If these narcissistic needs are not met, then I become restless. From the outside, it is not at all visible - only people who are close to this person can feel it. But I probably won't even talk about it with them. Or I myself am not aware that I have such needs.

Or, for example, I definitely need confidence. I learned about poverty as a child, I had to wear old clothes. For this I was ridiculed, and I was ashamed. Maybe even my family was starving. I would never want to go through this again.

I have known people who have become very rich. Many of them have reached burnout syndrome. Because for them it was the primary motive - in any case, to prevent the state of poverty, so as not to become poor again. Humanly, this is understandable. But this can lead to excessive demands that never run out.

In order for people to be ready for a long time to follow such seeming, false motivation, there must be a lack of something behind their behavior, a mentally felt deficit, some kind of misfortune. This deficiency leads a person to self-exploitation.

THE VALUE OF LIFE

This deficiency can be not only a subjectively felt need, but also an attitude towards life, which, in the long run, can lead to burnout.

How do I understand my life? Based on this, I can develop my goals by which I live. These attitudes can be from parents, or a person develops them in himself. For example: I want to achieve something. Or: I want to have three children. Become a psychologist, doctor or politician. Thus, a person for himself outlines goals that he wants to follow.

This is completely normal. Which one of us has no goals in life? But if goals become the content of life, if they become too great values, then they lead to rigid, frozen behavior. Then we put all our efforts to achieve the set goal. And everything we do becomes a means to an end. And this does not carry its own value, but only represents a useful value.

"It's so good that I will play the violin!" is the living of its own worth. But if I want to be the first violin in a concert, then, while playing a piece, I will constantly compare myself with others. I know I still need to practice, play and play to get things done. That is, I have a predominantly goal orientation due to the value orientation. Thus, there is a deficit of internal attitude. I am doing something, but there is no inner life in what I am doing. And then my life loses its vital value. I myself destroy internal contents for the sake of achieving goals.

And when a person thus neglects the intrinsic value of things, pays insufficient attention to this, an underestimation of the value of his own life arises. That is, it turns out that I use the time of my life for the goal that I have set for myself. This leads to a loss of relationship and to a mismatch with oneself. And with such an inattentive attitude to inner values and the value of one's own life, stress arises.

Everything that we have just talked about can be summarized as follows. The stress that leads to burnout is associated with the fact that we do something for too long, without a sense of inner consent, without a sense of the value of things and ourselves. Thus, we come to a state of pre-depression.

It also happens when we do too much, and just for the sake of doing. For example, I only cook dinner so that it is ready as soon as possible. And then I am glad when it is already over, done. But if we are glad that something has already passed, it is an indicator that we did not see value in what we do. And if it has no value, then I cannot say that I like doing it, that it is important to me.

If we have too many of these elements in our lives, then we are, in fact, happy that life is passing by. In this way we like death, annihilation. If I am just doing something, it’s not life - it’s functioning. And we must not, we have no right to function too much - we must make sure that in everything we do, we live, feel life. So that she does not pass us by.

Burnout is the kind of mental bill we get for a long, alienated relationship with life. This is a life that is not truly mine.

Anyone who is more than half of the time busy with things that he does reluctantly, does not give his heart to this, does not feel joy at the same time, he must sooner or later expect to survive the burnout syndrome. Then I am in danger. Wherever in my heart I feel an inner agreement about what I am doing, and I feel myself, there I am protected from burnout.

BURN-OUT PREVENTION

How can you deal with burnout and how can you prevent it? A lot is decided by itself if a person understands what the burnout syndrome is associated with. If you understand this about yourself or about your friends, then you can start solving this problem, talk to yourself or your friends about it. Should I continue to live this way?

I felt this way myself two years ago. I had set out to write a book during the summer. With all the papers I went to my dacha. I came, looked around, went for a walk, talked with neighbors. The next day I did the same: I called my friends, we met. On the third day again. I thought that, generally speaking, I should already start. But I did not feel a special desire in myself. I tried to remind you what is needed, what awaits the publishing house - that was already pressure.

Then I remembered about the burnout syndrome. And I said to myself: I probably need more time, and my desire will surely return. And I allowed myself to watch. After all, the desire came every year. But that year it didn’t come, and until the end of the summer I didn’t even open this folder. I haven't written a single line. Instead, I was resting and doing wonderful things. Then I began to hesitate, how should I treat this - how bad or how good? It turns out that I could not, it was a failure. Then I told myself that it was reasonable and good that I did so. The fact is that I was a little exhausted, because there were a lot of things to do before the summer, the whole academic year was very busy.

Here, of course, I had an internal struggle. I really thought and reflected on what is important in my life. As a result, I doubted that the book I wrote was such an important thing in my life. It is much more important to live something, to be here, to live a valuable relationship - if possible, to experience joy and not to postpone it all the time. We don't know how much time we have left.

In general, work with burnout syndrome begins with unloading. You can reduce time pressure, delegate something, share responsibility, set realistic goals, and critically consider the expectations you have. This is a big topic for discussion. Here we really run into very deep structures of existence. Here we are talking about our position in relation to life, so that our attitudes are authentic, correspond to us.

If the burnout syndrome is already much more pronounced, you need to get sick leave, physically rest, consult a doctor, for milder disorders, treatment in a sanatorium is useful. Or just make a good time for yourself, live in a state of unloading.

But the problem is that many people with burnout cannot deal with it. Or a person goes on sick leave, but continues to make excessive demands on himself - thus he cannot get out of stress. People suffer from remorse. And in a state of illness, burnout increases.

Medication can help for a short time, but it is not a solution to the problem. Bodily health is the foundation. But you also need to work on your own needs, an internal deficit of something, on attitudes and expectations in relation to life. You need to think about how to reduce the pressure of society, how you can protect yourself. Sometimes you even think about changing jobs. In the most difficult case that I have seen in my practice, it took a person 4-5 months to be released from work. And after going to work - a new style of work - otherwise, after a couple of months, people burn out again. Of course, if a person has been working hard for 30 years, then it is difficult for him to readjust, but it is necessary.

You can prevent burnout by asking yourself two simple questions:

1) Why am I doing this? Why am I studying at the institute, why am I writing a book? What's the point of this? Is it a value to me?

2) Do I like doing what I am doing? Do I love doing this? Do I feel like it's good? Is it so good that I do it willingly? Does what I do bring me joy? Maybe this will not always be the case, but the feeling of joy and satisfaction should prevail.

Ultimately I may ask a different, broader question: Do I want to live for this? If I lie on my deathbed and look back, do I want it to be, that I lived for this? I, that it was that I lived for this?