burnout at work

• work burnout, burnout, exhaustion... It is classified as a syndrome and recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a disease

The first time the term appears burnout It is in the book "Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement", by Herbert Freudenberger, in 1974.

Concept

This syndrome is a serious disorder resulting from chronic work stress that generates, among other things, emotional exhaustion and changes in attitude on certain occasions. There is also a decrease in communication skills.

The inclusion of burnout in the WHO classification, professional burnout is recognized as a mental health problem and a psychic pathology.

symptoms of burnout

The most common symptoms of job burnout are:

• Any issue or work situation involves stress and frustration, leading to cynical behavior and emotional distancing.
• Chronic stress is physically somatized and can generate psychosomatic alterations.
• This exhaustion causes the worker to feel overwhelmed, tired or unable to cope with work situations. Anxiety, depression or insomnia may also appear.
• The burnout It can be disabling for common tasks at work, and even at home, with a lack of concentration and increased demotivation.
• the person who suffers burnout You have changes in your behavior. An attitude of indifference, detachment or minimal commitment towards work is quite common.

Occupational profiles with higher risk

There are certain workers with a higher risk of suffering from it, by meeting some of these characteristics:

• They identify strongly with work, with an imbalance with personal life.
• They take on more tasks and functions than are recommended.
• They develop jobs that link them to direct contact with customers.
• They assume they have little control over their work.
• They also carry out especially monotonous tasks.

Causes

The causes of the syndrome burnout They can be diverse, although they are grouped into two large areas.

Personal risk factors:

• Low tolerance to frustration.
• Difficulty managing stress.
• stressful or worrying personal circumstances; an emotional overload.
• Imbalance between work and private life.

Factors linked to the organization:

• Overload in functions and responsibilities.
• Deteriorated work environment, along with long working hours.
• Failures in organizational leadership.
• Lack of solutions, resources and job expectations.

Face it

With this syndrome it is important to keep in mind certain preventive measures, which would be similar to those necessary for managing situations of work stress.

It will also be important to identify and modify the working conditions that may be the cause, together with psychological counseling if necessary.

Lastly, the burnout It is acquiring a relevant social dimension due to the high economic and personal cost it presents.