Burnout is a set of symptoms people may experience due to stress related to work. CISMS/UNDSS distributed an educational document on burnout which contains the following:

What is Burnout?

• In the CIM-11: “Burnout, or professional exhaustion, is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic work stress that has not been properly managed”.
• According to American Psychoanalyst Herbert J. Freudenberger burnout is defined as: “a depletion of an individual’s internal resources and a decrease in energy, vitality, and ability to

function, which results from a sustained effort by that individual to achieve an unachievable goal in a work context. »

• A high workload,
• A lack of autonomy
• Little or no encouragement nor compliments,
• Feelings of “being treated badly”,
• Insufficient communication

Who is prone to Burnout?

• People approaching their work with excessive enthusiasm and drive;
• People who are very demanding with themselves;
• The perfectionists

How do we get to burnout?

1.
Performance at the top
2.
Giving too much
3.
Getting more and more involved
4.
The image of yourself is declining and you no longer
know how to give anything
5.
There is no more fuel
6.
Your body says “stop”

1. Top Performance

• Full of enthusiasm
• High goals
• Fairly frequent overtime
• Lots of energy at work

2.  Giving too much

• Starting to get tired
• Neglecting social contacts and distractions
• Having more and more difficulty falling asleep

3. More involvement

• 
• Notice our limits but working harder and harder
• Notice that sometimes we do stupid things
• Experience physical ailments
• Our contacts seem unpleasant and difficult to you

4. Declining Self-Image

• Your self-image is declining
• Nothing is going anymore
• Everything takes energy from you, and you don’t have any left.
• You suffer from physical ailments that interfere with your proper functioning

5. No more fuel

• Life has no more meaning
• Nothing amuses you anymore
• You can barely get out of your bed
• Depression is at your doorstep
• In addition to physical pain, you are seized with moments of panic and anxiety

6.Your body says “stop”

• So one fine day, your body reacts and refuses to go any further.
• If You do not treat yourself, then your body decides to stop.

DIAGNOSIS OF BURNOUT

• The tripod of burnout:
• Emotional exhaustion,
• Dehumanization or cynicism
• Failure of personal achievement

• Chronic fatigue and mental exhaustion
• Distancing from work
• Restricted cognitive performance
• Emotional signs of burnout
• Physical disorders of burnout Behavioral changes

Chronic fatigue and mental exhaustion

Does not disappear even after a recess period

Distancing from work

• Loss of inner engagement with work
• Decreasing need for success in work,
• Pejorative and cynical thoughts relating to work,

•  Desire to change jobs.

Restricted cognitive performance

• Concentration Difficulties
• Difficulties decision making,
• memory problems
• self-doubts
• Awareness of lack of performance

Emotional signs of burnout

• General weariness affecting hobbies, family, partner,
• Increased irritability,
• excess of anger,
• feeling of emptiness,
• Lack of enthusiasm,
• ‘Inappropriate’ crying

Physical disorders of burnout

• Insomnia,
• Headaches,
• muscle contractions,
• Increased susceptibility to multiple infections,
• blood pressure instability,
• State of exhaustion over a prolonged period

Behavioral changes

• Withdrawal into oneself
• Abandonment of recreational activities
• Consumption of substances at high risk of dependence (medicines, alcohol, drugs)

What can be done to avoid burnout?

1. Turn your back on the myth of Atlas.

We don’t have to carry the weight of the world alone.

• Avoid giving more than we can really do.

We don’t have to bleed ourselves to help others.

• Share your emotions from the start : COMMUNICATE

Individual prevention:

       1- Keep the motivation

• While working we need to keep the motivation (enthusiasm) while settling  boundaries.
• How to do it ?           
• Aging: we are generally more idealistic at 20 than at 40.
• Know oneself better
• Take care of ourself
• But also set realistic challenges

 Know how to communicate/share disappointments and joys

2.  Interpersonal relationships

• In many professions, a large part of the successful actions depends on his/her relational capacities, but not only.
• How to do it?
• Develop our (technical) skills
• Do not believe that we are alone to carry the weight of the world
• Maintain social and family life
• Learn to communicate

3. The stress

If possible, remove the cause or at least: Increase your abilities Increase support from hierarchy and colleagues Eliminate unnecessary stress Develop coping mechanisms

• Share your emotions,
• Use your sense of humor
• Set limits
• Ask for help
• Know how to withdraw

And above all, HAVE PLEASURE

4. Have realistic goals

• How to do it?

▪Set limits

Having realistic goals

See the glass half full rather than  half empty means on the one hand

_{Increase your skills}

continuing to have goals,

• Do not be alone in wanting to achieve these goals, but set them together, as a team => share the same goals

Treatment of Burnout

• Protecting ourself: Take distance from the problem (and may be days)
• There are no drugs against Burnout
• The only treatments are:
• Psychotherapy
• Lifestyle change

Often, after treatment, professional reorientation or transfer. Their former colleagues don’t trust them anymore (they have been manipulated and show their indifference rejection)

WARNING!

• Burnout syndrome can be contagious!
• One is hit, he is absent, he increases everyone’s load, a second collapses, etc…
• Burnout syndrome is a threat not only for the individual but for the institution!