The state when there is no strength, no feelings, no joy in life is the scourge of our time. Fortunately, this can be dealt with - says the famous Austrian psychotherapist, the founder of modern existential analysis Alfried Lenglet.

Emotional burnout is a symptom of our times. This is a state of exhaustion, which leads to paralysis of our strength, feelings and is accompanied by a loss of joy in relation to life. In our time, cases of burnout syndrome are becoming more frequent. This applies not only to social professions, for which the burnout syndrome was typical earlier, but also to other professions, as well as to a person’s personal life. The spread of the burnout syndrome is facilitated by our era - the time of achievements, consumption, new materialism, entertainment and enjoyment of life. This is the time when we exploit ourselves and allow ourselves to be exploited.

Easy burnout

I think that everyone has experienced the symptoms of burnout at some point. We find signs of exhaustion in ourselves if we have experienced a lot of stress, have accomplished something massive. For example, if we were studying 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 a flu epidemic, doctors had to work very hard.
And then there are symptoms such as irritability, lack of desire, sleep disturbance (when a person cannot fall asleep, or, conversely, sleeps for a very long time), a decrease in motivation, a person feels mostly uncomfortable, depressive symptoms may appear. This is a simple version of burnout - burnout at the level of reaction, a physiological and psychological reaction to excessive stress. When the situation ends, the symptoms disappear on their own. In this case, free days off, time for yourself, sleep, vacation, sports can help. If we do not replenish energy through rest, the body goes into energy-saving mode.

In fact, both the body and the psyche are arranged in such a way that great tension is possible - after all, people sometimes have to work hard, achieve some big goals. For example, to get your family out of 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 made on them, they are always preoccupied with something, they experience fear. , constantly vigilant about something, expecting something, this leads to an overstrain of the nervous system, a person tenses muscles, and pain occurs. Some people start grinding their teeth in their sleep - this can be one of the symptoms of overexertion.

Chronic burnout

If tension becomes chronic, then burnout reaches the level of disorder.
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 enthusiasm gradually began to decrease. And eventually they burned out to the state of "a handful of ashes." All of them had similar symptoms: emotional exhaustion, constant fatigue. The mere thought of having to go to work tomorrow made them feel tired. They had various bodily complaints, they were often sick. It was one of the symptom groups.

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. Relations with colleagues also deteriorated, there was a feeling of guilt, a desire to get away from all this. They worked less and did everything according to 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 too much for me. Then automatic defensive reactions begin to operate. Psychologically, this is very reasonable.

As the 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. It was just too much for them. And they felt they weren't getting the recognition they deserved.

Through this study, Freudenberger found that burnout symptoms did not correlate with the number of hours worked. Yes, the more someone works, the more his emotional strength suffers from this. Emotional exhaustion increases in proportion to the number of working hours, 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. It's more than just exhaustion. On this we will stop.

Burnout stages

Freudenberger created a scale consisting of 12 burnout levels. The first step still looks very harmless:

1. At first, burnout patients have an obsessive desire to assert themselves (“I can do something”), perhaps even in competition with others.
2. Then begins a careless attitude to their own needs. A person no longer devotes free time to himself, goes in for sports less, he has less time left for people, for himself, he talks less with someone.
3. At the next stage, a person does not have time to resolve conflicts - and therefore he represses them, and later even ceases to perceive them. He does not see that there are any problems at work, at home, with friends. He backs off. We see something like a flower, which fades more and more.
4. In the future, feelings about themselves are lost. People don't feel like themselves anymore. They are just machines, machine tools and can no longer stop.
5. After a while, they feel an inner emptiness and, if this continues, they become more likely to become depressed.

At the last, twelfth stage, a person is completely broken. He falls ill - physically and mentally, experiences despair, suicidal thoughts are often present.
Once a patient came to me with emotional burnout. He came, sat down in a chair, exhaled and said: "I'm glad I'm here." He looked exhausted. It turned out that he could not even call me to arrange a meeting - his wife dialed the 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 on 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 knew nothing about this - he managed to hide his condition from them. And for a very long time he hid it from his wife. In 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, was he ready to do something. This is how far the burnout syndrome can go. Of course, this is an extreme example.

From enthusiasm to disgust

In order 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.

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

Second phase - this is exhaustion: physical, emotional, bodily weakness.

At the third stagethe first defensive reactions usually begin to act. What does a person do if the demands are constantly excessive? He leaves the relationship, dehumanization occurs. This is a counter reaction as a defense so that the exhaustion does not get worse. Intuitively, a person feels that he needs peace, and to a lesser extent maintains social relationships. Those relationships that must be lived, because they cannot be dispensed with, are aggravated by rejection, repulsion.
That is, in principle, this is the correct reaction. But only the area where this reaction begins to act is not suitable for this. Rather, a person needs to be calmer about the demands that are made to him. But this is exactly what he fails to do - to get away from requests and claims.

Fourth stage is an amplification of what happens in the third stage, the terminal stage of burnout. Burish calls this "disgust syndrome." This is a concept that means that a person no longer carries any joy in himself. Everything is disgusted. For example, if I ate rotten fish, I vomited, and the next day I smell fish, I get disgusted. That is, this protective feeling after poisoning.

Causes of burnout

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



More dramatic demands are, for example, extended working hours. Today, a person overworks and does not get paid 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, Russia also live.

So, we have identified two groups of reasons. With the first one, we can work in the psychological aspect, within the framework of counseling, and in the second case, something needs to be changed 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 there is mobbing (bullying), 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 bought

We confine ourselves to considering a group of psychological causes. In existential analysis, we empirically established that the cause of emotional burnout is an existential vacuum. Emotional burnout can be understood as a special form of existential vacuum. Viktor Frankl described the existential vacuum as suffering from a sense of emptiness and meaninglessness.

A study conducted in Austria, during which 271 doctors were tested, showed the following results. They found that those doctors who led meaningful lives and did not suffer from an existential vacuum experienced almost no burnout, even if they worked for many hours. The same doctors who were found to have a relatively high level of existential vacuum in their work showed high rates of burnout even if they worked fewer hours.

From this we can conclude that 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.

The burnout syndrome poses the question: Do I really experience meaning in what I do? 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 of energy and causes stress. And as a result, we have a performance deficit. Then we experience devastation - even when we relax.

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

Summarizing, we can say the following: burnout is the final state that occurs as a result of the continued creation of something without experiencing in the aspect of fulfillment. That is, if what I am doing makes sense, 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 there is no burnout. But these feelings should not be confused with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is not necessarily related to performance - it is more hidden from others, more modest thing.

What do I give myself to

Another aspect that the topic of burnout brings us to is motivation. Why am I doing something? And to what extent am I drawn to it? If I can't give my heart to what I'm doing, if I'm not interested in it, I'm doing it for some other reason, then we're lying in a way.
It's like I'm 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 for this there. It's not about money. Yes, of course, I can earn 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 can not refuse and somehow resist it. Thus, we may be tempted to make some choice that will lead us to burnout. If it only happens once, then maybe it's not so bad. But if this continues for many years, then I just pass by my life. What am I giving myself to?
And here, by the way, it can be extremely important that I have a burnout syndrome. Because, probably, I cannot stop the direction of my movement myself. I need that wall that I'm going to hit, some kind of push from the inside so that I just can't keep moving and rethink my actions.

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

Or, for example, I definitely need confidence. I experienced 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 experience this again.

I have known people who have become very rich. Many of them have reached the burnout syndrome. Because for them it was the primary motive - in any case, to prevent a state of poverty, so as not to become poor again. From a human point of view, this is understandable. But this can lead to excessive demands that never end.
In order for people to be ready to follow such a seemingly false motivation for a long time, there must be a lack of something, a mentally felt deficit, some kind of trouble behind their behavior. This deficiency leads man to self-exploitation.

The value of life

This deficit can be not only a subjectively felt need, but also an attitude towards life, which, ultimately, can lead to burnout.

How do I understand my life? Based on this, I can develop my goals, according to 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 outlines for himself the goals that he wants to follow.

This is completely normal. Who among us doesn't have goals in life? But if goals become the content of life, if they become too great values, then they lead to rigid, rigid behavior. Then we put all our efforts to achieve our goal. And everything we do becomes a means to an end. And this does not carry its own value, but is only a useful value.

"It's good that I'll play the violin!" It is the living of one's own value. But if I want to be the first violin in a concert, then when I play a piece, I will constantly compare myself with others. I know that I still need to practice, play and play in order to achieve the goal. That is, I have a goal orientation at the expense of a value orientation. Thus, there is a lack of internal relation. I do something, but there is no inner life in what I do. And then my life loses its vital value. I myself destroy the inner contents in order to achieve goals.

And when a person thus neglects the intrinsic value of things, pays insufficient attention to it, there is an underestimation of the value of one's own life. 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 loss of relationships and to inconsistency with oneself. And with such an inattentive attitude to internal values ​​​​and the value of one's own life, stress arises.

Everything we have just talked about can be summarized as follows. The stress that leads to burnout is due to the fact that we do something for too long without a sense of inner harmony, 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 just for the sake of it. For example, I cook dinner, only to have it ready as soon as possible. And then I'm glad when it's already behind, done. But if we rejoice in the fact that something has already passed, this is an indicator that we have not seen value in what we are doing. 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 essentially glad that life is passing us by. Thus we like death, annihilation. If I'm just doing something, it's not life, it's functioning. And we should not, we do not have the right to function too much - we must ensure that in everything we do, we live, feel life. So that she doesn't pass us by.
Burnout is such a mental account that we are given for a long alienated relationship with life. This is the life that is not truly mine.

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

Burnout Prevention

How can you work with burnout syndrome and how can you prevent it? Much is solved by itself if a person understands what the burnout syndrome is connected with. If you understand this about yourself or about your friends, then you can begin to solve this problem, talk to yourself or your friends about it. Should I continue to live this way?

I felt the same way two years ago. I intended to write a book during the summer. With all the papers, I went to my dacha. He came, looked around, went for a walk, talked with the 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 didn't feel any particular desire. I tried to remind what was needed, what the publishing house was waiting for - this was already pressure.

Then I remembered 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 did not come, and until the end of the summer I did not even open this folder. I didn't write a single line. Instead, I rested and did wonderful things. Then I began to hesitate, how should I relate to this - as bad or as good? It turns out that I could not, it was a failure. Then I said to myself that it was reasonable and good that I did this. The fact is that I was a little exhausted, because before the summer there were a lot of things to do, the whole academic year was very busy.

Here, of course, I had an internal struggle. I really thought and comprehended what is important in my life. As a result, I doubted that the written book 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 constantly put it off for later. 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, critically consider the expectations that 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, about our attitudes being authentic, corresponding to us.

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

But the problem is that many people who have burnout syndrome cannot resolve this for themselves. Or a person goes on sick leave, but continues to make excessive demands on himself - in this way he cannot get out of stress. People suffer from remorse. And in a state of illness, burnout increases.
Medications may help in the short term, but they are not the solution to the problem. Physical health is the foundation. But you also need to work on your own needs, on 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 even think about changing jobs. In the most severe case that I have seen in my practice, a person needed 4-5 months off 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 works for wear and tear for 30 years, then it is difficult for him to readjust, but it is necessary.

You can prevent burnout syndrome 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 of value to me?
2. Do I enjoy doing what I do? Do I love doing it? Do I feel it's good? So good that I do it willingly? Does what I do bring me joy? This may not always be the case, but the feeling of joy and satisfaction should prevail.

Ultimately, I can ask another, larger 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 it?

About such a psychological problem as emotional burnout, mankind has learned quite recently. Although today many people tend to consider such a problem as “inflammation of cunning”, doctors admit that modern people are increasingly exposed to professional stress, in other words, “burning” at work. Considering that more and more people are facing such a problem lately, the question arises: is this disease really a serious problem, and if so, how to deal with it?

Medical history

For the first time, humanity learned about the syndrome of "emotional burnout" in the 70s of the XX century. Doctors drew attention to people who increasingly turned to psychologists with complaints about their work. It turned out that they experienced weakness and malaise, sleep problems and frequent headaches, and all because of the hated work. When communicating, it turned out that the work ceased to bring them satisfaction, began to annoy, and the team began to disgust. Patients with this syndrome felt helpless and incompetent, their motivation began to disappear, which ultimately led to a decrease in professional achievements.

Interestingly, this state was not similar to depression. It was not accompanied by depression and guilt, on the contrary, patients often expressed aggression and increased emotional arousal. Moreover, the methods of psychotherapy in this case practically did not work. All this was the reason for a close study of the anomaly, which was later called the syndrome of "emotional burnout".

Why Emotional Burnout Occurs

It's funny, but at the dawn of the 20th century, economists predicted financial well-being and consumer abundance for mankind. Moreover, the problem of excess leisure among future generations was quite seriously discussed. True, the reality turned out to be more severe than analysts predicted. What is the statistics, according to which in Russia 85% of the full-time employed population is constantly working.

The not so rosy economic situation is forcing people to work long hours, work weekends and forego vacations, all against the backdrop of economic instability and ever-increasing unemployment. In such conditions, it is extremely difficult not to become a victim of work stress.

Who is subject to "emotional burnout"

Many people are interested to know in what professions people are most often subjected to "emotional" burnout? Initially, scientists came to the conclusion that, first of all, people whose profession involves close communication with others are exposed to stress in the workplace. The risk group included doctors and teachers, psychologists and journalists, managers and artists. Doctors explained it this way: “The more you communicate with people, sympathize, help, ask, answer, argue, swear, or listen to tearful stories, the sooner you begin to hate others and dislike your work.”

However, to date, it has been established that almost any specialist can undergo “emotional burnout”. And this can bring huge losses to society. For example, an experienced pilot who suddenly begins to be afraid of flying and doubt the correctness of his own actions can “burn out” at work. This situation threatens a catastrophe in which innocent people can suffer.

But even if a “burnt out” person manages to avoid extremes, over time he will begin to develop a real prolonged stress, accompanied by a weakened immune system, stomach ulcers, neuroses and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, a person develops indifference, and even aversion to the work in which he is engaged. Psychologists call this condition "professional cynicism." A person in this state has resentment, a desire to scold others, the government, or complain about fate. But a special dislike appears towards clients, work colleagues, patients or students. Such “burnout” in the professional environment is called “poisoning by people”.

Why "burnout" occurs

Initially, let's say that each person has a certain limit on communication, i.e. in a day, a specialist, without harm to himself, can help a certain number of people. When their number increases, the nervous system is gradually depleted. A person reaches a similar limit in solving problems. The limit is different for everyone and depends on the stability of the nervous system. And let's not forget that in addition to professional activities, our nerves are tested for strength by everyday and personal problems, as well as the lack of proper sleep.

It is generally accepted that communication with a person always gives a reciprocal result, i.e. we are answered with attention with attention, and with a gesture of respect, with a similar gesture. But not all patients or students are capable of such a return. Usually, for their efforts, a person is “rewarded” with indifference, indifference, or even completely, neglect and hostility. All this only aggravates the emotional state, reducing self-esteem and professional motivation.

Finally, emotional burnout develops due to the lack of a tangible result in work. Take, for example, the work of a teacher. You can try your best, you can work “in a slipshod manner”, no one will notice the result visually: the kids will still go to school and get grades. All this makes a person look for motivation in work, and not every teacher, doctor or manager finds this motivation.

There are extremely many reasons for stress at work, but even without a long enumeration, everyone is well aware that uninteresting, monotonous work is exhausting much more than solving an emergency, difficult, but interesting task.

The influence of personality traits

It is also worth adding that the nature of the worker affects the development of work stress. For example, there are “sprinters” workers who rush to do the job at breakneck speed, but very quickly “slow down”. These individuals react painfully to criticism in their direction. There are stayers who are ideal for performing routine work over a long period of time. There are people with high diligence, but lack of imagination, and there are incredibly creative individuals who have huge problems with diligence. And if the tasks assigned to a person do not suit his character, the process of “burnout” develops faster and causes more damage to a person.

What personality traits contribute most to professional burnout? Let's list them:

1. extremes of perception. A person tends to perceive what is happening in black and white;
2. integrity. Excessively inflexible, rigid and principled position;
3. perfectionism. The desire to do everything flawlessly, the desire for excellence, excessive demands on oneself;
4. exceptional performance;
5. excessively high level of self-discipline, self-control and responsibility;
6. propensity to self-sacrifice;
7. stay in the world of illusions. Romanticism, enthusiasm, lack of real perception of events;
8. extreme intolerance, the presence of fanatical ideas;
9. reduced self-esteem.

In order to prevent emotional and professional burnout, it is important to work on yourself, soberly and sensibly assessing your psychological attitude and your own character traits.

How to prevent burnout

Realizing the problem, a completely legitimate question arises, how to deal with "emotional burnout"? Psychologists say that there are many methods of dealing with stress in the workplace. True, some of them are very negative.

Negative ways to deal with burnout

For example, as a teacher, you can keep children at a distance, avoid touching, and not delve into their experiences and life problems. This approach helps not to absorb the problems of other people, thereby protecting your state of mind. But is it possible to give knowledge to children without feeling attached to them?

Other people, in order not to "spend themselves" have to resort to ritualization. To do this, when communicating with wards, they adhere to a certain routine and require strict adherence to instructions from their opponents. In this case, the interaction occurs without any emotional outbursts (they met, worked, parted).

Individuals avoid stress helps "energy vampirism." They themselves provoke awkward situations, use moments of failure, or even humiliate another person in order to rise at his expense. Such a scheme motivates the "vampire", allowing him to feel satisfaction and avoid stress, although, at its core, it is destructive.

For some, in order to avoid “burnout”, it is necessary to constantly emphasize their importance and indispensability. For example, in each team there is a person responsible for material values ​​or documents, without whose permission it is impossible to resolve the issue. Such a person feels absolutely irreplaceable, and even if this is just an illusion, the belief that without him the world will collapse allows you not to “burn out” at work.

Other ways to get rid of stress include taking psychotropic drugs. In the United States and European countries, various tranquilizers are used for this purpose, while in our country cigarettes and alcoholic beverages are used.

The right way to deal with burnout

In order to smooth out or prevent aversion and indifference to work, without participating in conflicts and without engaging in bullying of other people, positive methods recommended by psychologists are used.

First of all, it is training. If a person constantly strives to expand his horizons and acquire new knowledge in order not only to get a higher position, but also to test himself, he will never “burn out”. Moreover, it is very important that in memory of the transition to each new step, a person has some kind of symbol - a prize, a diploma or any other award. And in itself, participation in various trainings, personal growth courses, is a good way to diversify the routine and prevent stress. In addition, such events make it possible to get rid of the "professional deformation of the personality" - a phenomenon in which the teacher initially sees in his ward - a would-be student, and a lawyer - a delinquent.

Constructive evaluation is another incentive to develop and prevent "burnout". Regardless of gender, age or position, every person needs someone to appreciate his work. A person who sees the objective as well as the subjective result of his work (reviews from management, colleagues, clients and students) is reliably protected from psychological problems associated with professional activities.

Another way not to "burn out" at work is novelty. In this regard, the use of new technologies, the use of technical innovations or a change in activities helps to avoid stress at work. By the way, in developed countries, staff rotation is common. For example, in Japan, the director of an enterprise after 5 years in a managerial position is obliged to work for a year as an ordinary worker. This allows you to look at the production process from the very bottom, understand the problems of workers, and besides, this is a great way to temporarily change the type of activity and avoid "burnout".

It is worth saying that personal resentment, conflict with management or with a work colleague, as well as collective “bullying” can strike a blow to a person’s performance. In this case, to prevent stress, it will be necessary to neutralize this negative process (by punitive measures, persuasion, encouragement, or other tricks). True, for this you need to know the methods of avoiding psychological conflicts.

You can write about methods of avoiding conflicts for a long time. Especially in this regard, Western teachers have advanced, who surprise with their emphasized benevolence and ability to avoid conflicts. For example, giving a student a deuce, as a review, they can write the following: “Pretty interesting work! It can be seen that the analysis was carried out and the facts were selected. True, the answer is somewhat incomplete and delivered out of time. We have no doubt that the author will be successful in his future activities!”. Yes, there is insincerity here. But it is useful, as it is an element of mental hygiene, aimed at avoiding conflict and aiming to motivate the student to further progress. And here is a reverse example. The teacher puts a three, with such a review “Amazing, the work was written without errors. Apparently wrote off. However, the presence of blots, a crumpled notebook, and the general level of knowledge do not allow me to give a higher rating.

An element of hygiene is a person's attitude to positive, the ability to find 90% of the pluses and point out 10% of the mistakes. And it is a pity that teachers and representatives of other professions who are subject to "burnout" develop "professional deformation of the personality" - a desire to look for mistakes and flaws in their clients and wards. This harms the student's mood, but even more harms the teacher himself, who gradually “burns out” emotionally. To prevent this from happening, it is better to evaluate a student not by the number of errors found, but by the amount of merit. The person tried, overcame his busyness, and by this alone he "worked out" a good mark. It is better not to kill any desire to work further in him, but to give him tasks from simple to complex. By doing this, you will help the student to find the level of their competence, from which they can build on and grow. By such actions, the specialist allows himself to grow, avoiding "burnout".

Finally, in order to continue to love your work and engage in it with enthusiasm, it is important to learn how to dose it and be able to complete it on time. Starting another life project, we try to make it endless. We are very upset when, after a successful career, a popular musical group breaks up or a fashion magazine closes. In fact, life shows that the duration of successful projects is limited to 7-8 years. Then the inevitable process of “burnout” begins, which means that something needs to be changed. It is not necessary to close the project, you can, for example, continue development in a new format, the main thing is that the people working in it feel a surge of strength, get infected with a new idea and rush to achieve new heights!
Good mental and physical health to you!

Burnout syndrome creeps up unnoticed. Most likely, he will lie in wait for you after a couple of years of working on the same project. It would seem that you know your job inside and out and cope with it perfectly, and this is exactly what you dreamed of doing a few years ago. But why, then, are you so reluctant to get up on an alarm clock and come to work on weekdays? Perhaps you are too tired at work? Fatigue does not equal emotional exhaustion. You won't be able to rest and come back fresh in a week. If this is your case, try to make your life brighter and more fulfilling, increase the emphasis on time outside of work - and try to find new meaning and pleasure in what you do.

Why are you so tired at work

Do you meet Monday morning with a feeling of mortal fatigue and longing? At a meeting, fantasize about how a falling meteorite will rid you of your colleagues forever? Sounds like you've been the victim of emotional burnout. What is it and how to deal with it - we tell together with expert psychologists.

Emotional burnout (or burn-out) is by no means a whim of office bums, but a serious syndrome discovered 40 years ago by the American psychiatrist Herbert Freidenberg: this is how he designated the growing emotional exhaustion in the process of work. For a long time it was believed that the disease affects only those whose profession is associated with close communication - teachers, doctors, social workers. But lately, psychologists have sounded the alarm: burnout syndrome has become a real epidemic and has spread to almost all specialties. “Huge amounts of information, a fast pace of life, fierce competition and the cultivation of success in society - all these factors impose ever higher demands on our work and quality of life, which causes severe mental stress and, as a result, emotional burnout,” comments clinical psychologist Alisa Galati.

Do not confuse it with fatigue, stress or depression; burnout differs from them in some ways:
1. you feel emotional exhaustion (work no longer pleases, there is a feeling of a breakdown) and devastation (nothing brings pleasure), become more cynical (communication with colleagues and clients is annoying and makes you want to be sarcastic);
2. it begins to seem to you that your work does not make any sense, and the authorities will never appreciate all the efforts to improve it;
3. unlike fatigue, burnout syndrome cannot be cured by rest - returning after the weekend, the “burnt out” person will still be burdened by work, and the “tired” one will feel cheerfulness and a surge of strength;
4. Depression is always based on feelings of guilt or fear, while burnout is based on feelings of anger or irritability.

For all its external “harmlessness” (“Just think, you don’t want to go to work!”), This syndrome can lead to unpleasant consequences: depression, psychosomatic illnesses, reduced concentration, and memory impairment. And be sure: gradually dissatisfaction will “creep” from the office to your home and relationships - and who wants to see a whiner next to them?

Why is this happening?

Perhaps because you… love your job too much. “The more a person has a crush on work, the more distorted he perceives reality, and the easier it is for him to be disappointed and lose his distance,” explains another clinical psychologist Olga Krasnova.

Sometimes external conditions are to blame for your burnout: routine, limited personal responsibility, and lack of creativity. Krasnova adds: “In any job there must be a balance of financial rewards, emotional return and effort expended on work. And skewed to one side leads to burnout.

You can also “burn out” when you have lost your reference point in your professional activity. “If a person does not really see the point in what he is doing, then no high salary or social prestige of the work will save him from emotional burnout,” Galatz explains.

What to do?

So, if you feel that soon only ashes will remain from your professionalism, experts recommend urgently taking the following measures:
Learn to fully switch - from work to personal time. This is where visual techniques come in handy. “Imagine that the office door closes and all the problems that worried you during the day are behind it,” recommends Olga Krasnova.
Make your leisure time on weekdays as rich and enjoyable as possible. Go shopping after work, meet friends and family, play sports or hobbies - the anticipation of your favorite business will fuel your interest in work.
Set boundaries in everything - in duties, communication with colleagues. Separate the zone of your personal responsibility and uncontrollable external circumstances, what you can do and what you can delegate. Limit communication with colleagues if it is unpleasant or time-consuming for you.
Fight routine. It could be a new way of arranging papers on your desk, a regular five-minute warm-up, or driving to the office on an unfamiliar route. It is important to constantly keep the brain in good shape.
Surround yourself with bright things. Buy funny stickers for your desktop, bright pens, pencils, a notepad. Agree, when you sit at a meeting with a pen in your hand in the form of a big bear, it will be more difficult for you to get bored.
Allow yourself to be wrong. Perfectionists are prone to burnout, and therefore, allowing yourself to make mistakes in your work, you will notice that work will become much more comfortable.
Record your successes. Make a list of what you know and what you have achieved in the process. Replenish it regularly - say, write down your next achievement once a week.
Improve your skills or learn a foreign language. The learning process gives a surge of energy, creativity and a new look at familiar things.
Think more about motivation. Ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?”, “What does my job give me?”. It is important to formulate exactly the motivation that will be significant for you, and not for your parents or boss.
Set new goals. Think about what you earn money for? Turn just a “must” into something more tangible and enjoyable - buying new boots, relaxing in the Maldives, and more. Then every small step on the way to them will be filled with new meaning.
Learn to relax. Our nervous system has only two states - excitation and inhibition. If we stay in the first for too long, our resources are depleted. Therefore, it is so important to at least artificially transfer your brain to the second mode, the “tumbler” for it is meditation. Learn to slow down the flow of thoughts outside the office, over time it will become a natural way for you to relax emotionally.
Review your diet. Loss of energy and depressed mood can also occur with a lack of vitamins. Add foods rich in magnesium (prunes, seeds, seaweed), B vitamins (cereals, vegetables, nuts) and iron (liver, buckwheat) to your menu - these substances are responsible for good brain function and our energy.

And yet, despite the entire destructive mechanism of emotional burnout, experts are sure that we, like the Phoenix bird, can burn ourselves many times and be reborn again. And every time we overcome burnout, we grow both personally and professionally.

If you suddenly felt tired, feeling helpless and disappointed, and it seems that you are completely out of order, it is quite possible that this is emotional burnout. This condition leads to a feeling of powerlessness, so it is very difficult to solve the problem. The detachment and indifference that comes with burnout can be a source of problems with work, jeopardize normal communication and even physical health. Therefore, you should never let the situation take its course, you need to fight and look for ways out.

What is burnout syndrome?

BS or burnout syndrome is a condition that is characterized by mental, emotional and physical exhaustion against the background of chronic stress, which in most cases is caused by work. Most often, representatives of professions associated with constant communication suffer: for example, teachers, doctors, social workers and employees of large companies with a large staff and high requirements for staff.

Physicians often suffer from SES

Due to a strong overstrain, a person gradually simply loses interest in everything. SEB leads to a decrease in productivity and energy, because of this there is a feeling of helplessness, resentment and hopelessness. It seems to the victim that he does not have enough strength for anything, and he is doomed to meaningless and boring work.

One of the most effective ways to prevent SEB is to leave work problems at work. Walking out the door, you can even symbolically wipe your feet so as not to drag a load of problems home with you.

Of course, such symptoms are not uncommon with banal fatigue or a bad mood. If our work is not appreciated or we have to be heavily overloaded, we can feel the same way. Therefore, SEB should not be confused with depression or fatigue.

How to recognize SEV?

In order not to confuse burnout syndrome with other similar conditions, you need to know its three main differences:

• A person feels emotional exhaustion and devastation, he is not happy with the work that he liked before, nothing brings pleasure, colleagues and all the people around him are annoying. This translates into poorly completed tasks, constant quarrels, unwillingness to go anywhere and communicate with someone.
• There is a feeling of meaninglessness of work, the desire to work well disappears, since “no one appreciates this anyway”. Gradually, this feeling can spread to other areas - for example, a person will stop taking care of himself, because he won’t get better anyway.
• Unlike fatigue, SEB does not disappear after rest. After the weekend, the “burnt out” person will remain just as unhappy and lethargic, while the tired person returns full of energy.
• Unlike depression, which is always based on fear and guilt, burnout is based on anger and irritability. A person does not think that he works badly or is rude to others, it seems to him that the whole world is against him.

Educators often burn out

While burnout may seem harmless in its initial stages, over time it often leads to psychosomatic illness, memory impairment, and concentration problems. A “burnt out” person can not only lose his job, as his value as an employee will drop sharply, but also his family, which will have to live under the yoke of his negativity.

Development of burnout

To simplify the diagnosis of burnout, New York psychiatrist Herbert Freudenberger created a special scale. The first steps look quite harmless, but it is better to start treatment already at this stage - the further, the more difficult it will be to return the normal emotional background.

At first there is an obsessive desire for self-affirmation, perhaps an effort to prove something to others, rivalry. Then comes a careless attitude to one's own needs, refusal of communication, sports, entertainment. Then - the refusal to resolve conflicts, which leads to their prolongation. Over time, a person simply stops responding to problems in communicating with family and / or friends. And then comes the loss of a sense of himself as a person and personality, a person continues to act mechanically, without making efforts and without thinking about the future.

Constant fatigue is one of the main signs of burnout.

After a while, a person notices that he has lost himself, feels an inner emptiness, and most often after that depression sets in. Gradually developing, emotional burnout leads to the fact that he breaks down, gets sick physically and mentally, often tends to suicidal thoughts.

Don't be afraid to change jobs. Some psychologists believe that this should be done every 4-5 years. This brings freshness and novelty to life and does not allow you to “burn out”.

The peculiarity of the SEV is such that it is easy to hide. A person can go to work, look the same as always, and even communicate more or less normally, attributing failures to fatigue or illness. Often, relatives learn about the problem already in the last stages, when a person is almost ready to say goodbye to life.

Reasons for the development of CMEA (Video)

Many modern psychologists believe that emotional burnout is a protective mechanism in the face of strong psychotraumatic influences. In such a situation, the body simply “turns off”, saving itself. SEV allows you to minimize energy costs and save some body systems from unnecessary work: for example, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular. But over time, such a “saving mode” becomes too economical and does not allow a person to work normally and communicate with others.

To understand the reasons for the development of burnout, we must remember that our nervous system has a limit on the performance of certain processes: for example, communication, problem solving, etc. It is not easy to determine this limit, since it is not only individual for each person, but also depends on many indicators, for example, on the quality of nutrition and sleep, health status and season, and the situation in the patient's family. But if a person exceeds it, exhaustion sets in, which eventually leads to burnout.

Often the symptoms of CMEA are complicated by pessimistic people and lazy people around. You need to let them know that you should not listen to them and help them.

The second reason is the lack of a tangible result.. Most often this happens with teachers. They can go all out, but they won't change anything, the kids will still come or not come to school, get bad or good grades, skip classes and hack. A similar situation can occur with people in other professions if their success is not appreciated and encouraged. This leads to the depreciation of labor, and later to the loss of interest in it.

SEV greatly reduces the quality of work

Separately, it is worth remembering that personal qualities of a person play an important role in the development of burnout syndrome. There are people who do not get tired when they have to do monotonous routine work for a long time, but cannot be activated to complete an urgent project. And it happens the other way around - a person can work successfully and fruitfully only for a short time, but at the same time he gives all his best, and later he simply “runs out of steam”. There are workers who are not capable of creative tasks, but they are efficient. And there are creators who need a sense of freedom. If the job does not match the personality of the person, very soon it will lead to emotional burnout.

In most cases, SEB is the result of improper organization of labor, managerial errors and unpreparedness of personnel for their duties.

How to prevent burnout?

SEB is a problem that is easier to prevent than to solve. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor your condition and, at the first signs of emotional burnout, take measures to prevent it.

What to do?

• Try to start the day with relaxing rituals, such as meditating or exercising.
• Switch to proper nutrition, exercise. This will give strength and energy to solve problems.
• Set boundaries. If something is annoying or stressful, you should try not to do it, refuse unwanted requests and do what is really important.
• Take a daily break from modern technology. Turn off your phone and computer for a while and just sit in silence.
• Engage in creativity, find a hobby, or attend events more often that have nothing to do with work.
• Learning to manage stress can help you fight burnout.

If the situation has not yet started, then it is quite possible to cope without the help of specialists, but you need to realize that there is a problem and you will have to seriously work on its solution.

How to recover on your own

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to prevent burnout. Most often, a person understands what happened when the CMEA is already destroying his life. If this has already happened, then you need to concentrate on returning a normal emotional background.

Sometimes you have to go out of your way to recover

There are three steps to treating the effects of burnout:

• Step one: slow down. It is necessary to reduce professional activities to a minimum - for example, take a vacation. In your free time, you need to relax, relax, forget about work and problems.
• Step two: get support. Burning out, a person usually withdraws into himself and reduces communication to a minimum. This is a normal reaction - he tries to save the rest of the energy. But you need to overpower yourself and tell your loved ones what is happening. Even the fact of talking can bring relief, and the support of loved ones will certainly help to cope with stress.
• Step Three: Review goals and priorities. If emotional burnout has occurred, this is a serious sign that something is wrong in life. We need to analyze everything and understand why this happened. Perhaps you should change your job or your attitude towards it, or even completely redraw everything.

But you should not expect that immediately after realizing the problem, its solution will come. This may take time, because burnout did not happen in a day. But if you try to follow these simple tips, sooner or later health will return.

People of creative and technical specialties are interested in the topic of emotional burnout. Is it possible to protect yourself in the modern world, where there are strict management rules and a constant race to realize your dreams? Is it possible to find means of prevention and protect yourself from the state when work ceases to bring real pleasure, and everyday duties seem meaningless and insipid?

Signs of emotional burnout

Back in 1974, social psychologists came to grips with the study of the emotional component of people in "helping" professions. These include missionaries, philanthropists, psychologists, rescuers. It was then, paying close attention to what happens to professionals in noble deeds, that scientists found three signs that indicate that emotional burnout is “in full swing.” These three signs apply to all people without exception: it does not matter whether you are writing an essay or proving a theorem.

Fatigue

Fatigue is different. In one case, it can be pleasant: when you want to take a breath, relax, go on vacation. Such fatigue is accompanied by a victorious feeling that you have done a great job and coped with all the obstacles with a bang.

The second type of fatigue is accompanied by a feeling that you have been “de-energized”: lack of strength and desire, lethargy, depression. The symptoms of emotional burnout include this type of fatigue, which is exacerbated at the moments of approaching work. A call from the office, an extra letter in the mail, the end of the weekend - all this negatively affects the general condition and revives the feeling of fatigue again.

Discontent and irritation

Dissatisfaction in the case of burnout is directly related to any facets of their own work. People with emotional burnout are annoyed by clients, responsibilities, getting up early, processing - in a word, any stress associated with their type of activity.

Guilt

At some point, an employee with emotional burnout becomes devastated and ceases to cope with their duties. He feels that he is not doing his job, does not enjoy work. As a result, a feeling of guilt and dissatisfaction with oneself is formed, which blocks the desire to look for a new job: there is simply no strength left for this.

How to deal with emotional burnout?

If you want to protect yourself or reverse the situation that has already developed at your work, listen to the recommendations of professionals. You can deal with emotional burnout in the following way.

Find a job where your efforts get noticed

Getting feedback is the most important human need. If you work in a company where the results of your work are treated exclusively formally, after a while you will feel useless, accompanied by a feeling of emptiness. All people want to be liked, feedback is important to them. Even if it's criticism. The only caveat is that criticism should be objective, constructive and inspiring.

If you have already taken a job where you are not being noticed, ask for feedback, ask how you can improve your results. Silence in response? Then there are two options: change jobs or find an additional area where you will receive constructive feedback and real feedback.

Avoid working with maximum control or connivance

Both strict control and complete disregard for what is happening are two serious leadership mistakes that will lead to emotional burnout. In the first case, you will be a chronically dissatisfied person: it is difficult to work in a situation where you are constantly pointed out and not taken into account with your needs. In the second case, you will start to get bored. This boredom will be caused by a lack of attention to your professionalism.

Make your skill unique

In order not to get tired of yourself and work, learn to do what is not given to others. If you are a doctor, psychologist, marketer, designer, writer, it is not difficult to measure your professionalism. It is determined by the position, the stock of skills, regalia, awards, bonuses, earnings, the number of your clients, your personal inventions in your field (even small ones). In this situation, it is important not to stop: you can always improve what you know: take refresher courses, find new information, do something original.

If you have not decided on a vocation and work in a boring administrative position that does not imply unique knowledge, do not despair: do your job better than others, and you will see the result. Even if you work as an administrator in a sports club, you can treat the job in different ways. In the first case, silently give out the key to the personal dressing room box and check the subscription, and in the second, communicate, wish a successful workout, conduct customer surveys, and offer additional services. It is with this approach to work that a career and the treatment of emotional burnout begin.

Replenish the supply of "childish" emotions

You need to be able to take care of the state of your soul. Emotional burnout occurs if you have zeroed the supply of internal warmth. This reserve is made up of children's emotions: immediate surprise, joy, delight, expectation of something good. How long have you felt these emotions? How long have you been in love with the project you are working on? Remember the impressions of the last week, last month or six months that you had at work. It is not the status of the company and not the salary that matters here. What is important here is what you really like in the process of work. Are you fascinated by the topic or material you are working with? This is the antidote to combustion. Do you have it? Can you fall in love with what you do?

Listen for "like" and "dislike" signals

These signals are silent. The 21st century is the century of exploits and workaholics. In the pursuit of success, we can become cold to our inner voice. We feel discomfort and ignore it, suppress our disagreements, put up with incorrect attitudes. Don't start the situation. Strive to correct the situation immediately. Fill your professional and personal life with warm moments while remaining efficient and hardworking.