Everyone has mild stress and it encourages performance. Things change as work pressure continues and your body remains in the highest state of readiness without relaxing. If you continue to ignore the signs and symptoms of stress and overload, your body and mind will become out of balance and you risk burnout: Your body is exhausted and your energy is gone. To restore balance, rest and reflection is needed to make the necessary choices. It often means that things have to change course.
Numbers burnout
Approximately fourteen percent of Dutch people (status: CBS 2014) report at some point each year that they have suffered from burnout or symptoms of stress (slight increase in the diagnosis of burnout since 2007 and a decrease in the diagnosis of stress). Every year, psychological complaints such as stress, overstrain, burnout and depression account for approximately thirty percent of the total inflow into the WAO. This concerns a number of almost thirty thousand people per year. TNO estimates the annual costs of increasing work pressure and the resulting symptoms and illness at approximately four billion euros. These are shocking figures.
One must of course take into account that some diagnoses of ‘overstrain’ and ‘burnout’ are essentially nothing more than a label on a situation that can also be called a dip or simply falls under normal stress. The terms stress , stress and burnout are used inappropriately and various criteria apply in countries for the phenomena mentioned. Sometimes it is not even clear at all what is wrong with someone. On the other hand, there are certainly people around who are on the verge of burnout, but will continue to deny it. However, the figures do give an impression of the scale of the problem.
Differences between stress and tension
Stress is tension, usually due to a specific reason. The carrying capacity is different for everyone and can also vary depending on circumstances. Short-term stress is very common: You have to meet a deadline, or you strive for something that doesn’t work out or doesn’t work out on time. The computer freezes, customers are difficult, an argument with a colleague… Too many tasks are coming your way at the same time, or the tasks prove to be too difficult. Apparently simple tasks can also require too much of someone if the person is busy with other things in their mind. Stress is actually healthy, as long as the demands that are made or that someone sets for themselves do not exceed what they can handle.
When does stress become anxiety? That boundary line cannot be drawn accurately. The difference between ‘healthy’ stress and stress lies in the fact that stress is a long-term phase of stress. Stress symptoms of a temporary nature, lasting from a few minutes or hours to several days, can be considered normal. The energy level is higher than normal, which is reflected in hyperactive and hasty behavior. When people work under high pressure for a long time and the stress level caused by the work remains high, a loss of order and overview occurs. The person becomes permanently restless and overstressed. There is an unhealthy burden on the mind of a long-lasting nature.
Differences between stress and burnout
The difference between stress (overworked) and burnout is characterized by the fact that stress is reversible. This means that if the cause of the tension is removed, the person can function normally again. This is not the case with burnout. In burnout, the energy level is affected and reduced, as a response to long-term, usually years-long tensions. Sometimes the relationship between work and complaints can no longer be established. Body and mind feel burned out, or ‘broken’. In short, it is pleasant to work under mild stress, when you are stressed you enter the danger zone, and with burnout your body tells you that it is over. You can’t anymore.
The emotional and physical exhaustion gives an ‘empty’ feeling. Involvement in work and colleagues decreases, detachment and cynicism increase and the feeling of no longer being able to function leads to a negative self-image. If the cause of the burnt out feeling is removed, the person will not recover immediately. It may take many months before equilibrium is found again. Burnout occurs more often in idealistic, dutiful and perfectionistic people with a high sense of responsibility. This is because they are more likely to be bothered by sudden changes, incorrect outcomes or setbacks. People who do not actually enjoy their work are also a risk group.
Differences between burnout and depression
The main difference between burnout and stress on the one hand and depression on the other hand is that depression is a mood disorder and burnout is an energy disorder. In addition, depression affects all areas of life and burnout and stress is a phenomenon that is often related to work. Severe depression can lead to suicidal thoughts, but burnout cannot. Some people naturally tend to develop depression and experience it more frequently, while burnout and stress symptoms are usually temporary phases. In practice, it is not always possible to draw a dividing line between burnout and depression.
Symptoms overlap, and there is a danger that a burnout is in fact a depression, with all the associated risks. It is true that burnout and the realization that the limit has been reached can lead to depression. That is why alertness to this is very important. Characteristic of this, for example, is that in addition to the loss of energy, there are also changes in the general mood. Everyday things suddenly become a problem. You start to dread making a phone call, vacuuming, ironing, tidying up, etc. If your mind is in chaos, you will automatically create chaos in your environment. Depression lurks when you no longer see the point of things: ,What am I doing it for?,.
Warning symptoms of burnout
First of all, it is important to recognize that there is excessive stress at work. Do you still take breaks and laugh with colleagues? If the danger zone is ignored, complaints increase. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol control your body and prepare it for action. But what action actually? Look critically at what you do and why. When the situation continues for a long time, the body remains in this ‘state of readiness’ and things go wrong at various levels. Burnout is the end stage of long-term overexploitation of body and mind.
Signals of overstress that, if not intervened, can lead to burnout are: Concentration problems, feeling stressed, sleeping problems, headache, hyperventilation, palpitations, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, forgetfulness, mood swings, indecisiveness, periods of indifference or working more slowly (they just look at it !), making more mistakes, worrying, sudden fits of crying, being easily irritated or angry, being unable to be flexible, neglecting hobbies and social contacts and extreme susceptibility to flu and colds. In addition, the person may start smoking more, drinking and resorting to pills to cope.
What to do about burnout
If someone has ‘collapsed’ mentally and can no longer afford to work, rest is needed. The risk factors at work must first be inventoried. This could be, for example, that people generally have to work too hard, that there is a lack of clarity about the work and responsibilities, that they work overtime or that the working atmosphere is unpleasant. An unpleasant working atmosphere is a strong source of tension. It can be caused by a bad relationship with the boss, poor management in general, a bullying colleague or financial problems. In addition, problems in the private sphere can strengthen the case: Divorce, loss of loved ones, inability to combine work/life or health care concerns. Burnout does not always have to be related to the situation.
Personality also plays a major role. How strongly do you feel involved in your work, how much do you demand of yourself, how do you express your frustrations? Do you keep an eye on the boundaries, in other words, can and dare you say no to the boss or colleagues? Do you ask them for support? Is the amount of motivation in proportion to what you get in return? Preventing or treating burnout means that you finally start taking care of yourself. In that sense, a burnout does not have to be a useless period. The long sitting at home that used to happen often led to complete incapacity for work and is therefore better to avoid. The current practice is that a burnout is followed by a career change. The burnout forces the person to reflect and self-reflect. What do you REALLY want? And then all too often it turns out that the chosen work no longer suits the person. Other work is then the solution.
Causes of stress, tension and burn-out
Health
- The death of the partner, close family member or good friend
- The death of a pet
- Serious injury or illness to yourself or a loved one
- Surviving disaster
- Involvement in a (car) accident
- Pregnancy of yourself or a loved one
- Unwanted pregnancy
- Miscarriage
- Infertility
- Addictions and discovering addiction
Work
- To get fired
- Long-term unemployment
- Demotion and transfer at work
- Changing jobs or careers
- Start or stop training
- Partner starts or stops working outside the home
- Loss of benefits or reduction in benefits
- Expiration of loan or mortgage/unable to obtain a mortgage
- Having financial problems, bankruptcy
- Fraud
- Retirement
- Change responsibilities
- Unexpectedly win a large sum of money
- Discrimination at work
- Harassment at work
- Problems with boss or employee
Law
- Arrest of yourself or family member
- Ticket for breaking the law
- Stuck in jail
- Released from prison
- Being a victim of a crime
At home
- To move house
- Getting married or remarried
- Birth of child
- Divorce
- Infidelity
- Break or reconciliation with partner
- Leaving the child home
- Disagreement over custody
- Parenting a child with learning difficulties
- Problem finding daycare for child
- Adolescent problems
- Violence or abuse at home
- Stalking
- Becoming a single parent
- Withdrawal of child from parents or vice versa
- Responsibility for a sick parent or other loved one
Regain the balance
A burnout is an imbalance between carrying load and carrying capacity, which causes reserves to be used up. In addition to taking rest and reflection, continued work must also be done on achieving a better balance so that burnout can be prevented in the future. This means that you have to consciously schedule hours in which you do nothing. During that time, don’t nervously zap or work through a pile of mail, but consciously do nothing. The old-fashioned boredom that you used to do as a child should be rediscovered during burnout. In addition, it is important to realize that consciously planning fun things helps to cope with work that is occasionally stressful. So always put something fun in your agenda so that you have something to look forward to.
Avoid doing too many things at once, rather do only half of what you wanted to do, but do it well and with attention. This is to avoid a feeling of rushing around and chasing after the facts. In practice, eliminating the imbalance also means that concessions have to be made, i.e. making choices. You cannot want everything, do everything and demand everything. Resolutely ban things from your life that add nothing but are time- and/or energy-consuming. You can also reduce stress hormones in your blood by lowering the bar much, so that you no longer stand at a red traffic light feeling stressed and then collapse on the couch looking bewildered with a takeaway pizza on your lap and a remote control and mobile phone in your hand. Finding balance simply means realizing that things must be different in the future. Better.
‘Hard work has never killed anyone. Not enough relaxation.’