Emotional burnout: symptoms, diagnosis, prevention

2024 Author: Curtis Blomfield | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 20:44

Burnout at work affects primarily people in "helping professions", those who work in society. The term was first introduced by H. J. Freudenberger in 1974 to characterize people who have to constantly work with clients.

Definition

Burnout is considered by many experts as the result of uncontrolled stress. As a rule, it is caused by intense interpersonal communications in the workplace. And not only the success and profitability of the business, but also the degree of employee satisfaction with the work performed depends on how well the workflow is organized.

B. V. Boyko gives the following definition of professional emotional burnout: it is a mechanism developed in the process of evolution that allows you to reduce or eliminate in principleemotional response of a person to stress factors. Thus, burnout allows a person to optimize the expenditure of their internal emotional resources. However, at the same time, it has an extremely negative impact on the employee's performance of their work duties, and can also lead to psychosomatic illnesses.

Example

Consider an example of emotional burnout. The woman has been working for a company that sells lawn mower components for three years. Sales are going well, but she has to work in difficult conditions. Ten more sales managers like her work in the same room. Constant noise and din distracts from business. Recently, cases of claims from customers have become more frequent. For two years the woman has not been on vacation. Every day, she listens to management's comments about what could have done better. She sleeps badly at night thinking about work situations. Relations with many colleagues cannot be called productive. A woman cannot work for pleasure, however, dismissal for her means that she will be left without a penny of money to exist. As a result of a visit to a psychologist, it turned out that the employee was suffering from professional emotional burnout.

Relevance of the problem

In our time, you can meet a large number of people who are exhausted from their work. And every working day turns into real torment and violence against one's own psyche and body. The reason for this is the conditions under whicha person has to work; At the same time, not only physical factors are important, but also psychological ones. This is uneven workload, exorbitant (and unjustified) high demands on the professional level of employees, instability of the situation, unpredictability. In such conditions, many people are forced to work for years without the slightest hope for a brighter future. Day after day, stress builds up and eventually leads to burnout.

Symptoms

Usually the following signs will let you know there is a problem:

• Dissatisfaction with yourself. Since the employee is unable to influence the traumatic situation in any way, he begins to experience acute dissatisfaction with himself, the profession, as well as the duties that are assigned to him. This happens as a result of "emotional transference."
• Cage symptom. It may not occur in all cases, but it is a logical continuation of a stressful situation. When a person mobilizes all his energy to cope with a situation, but finds no way out, a state of emotional stupor sets in.
• Inadequate emotional response. A person can inadequately “save” on his emotions: “if I want, I will show participation in the affairs of the ward, but if I want, I won’t”; “If I want, I will respond to the needs of the client, and if I don’t have the strength and desire, then I don’t need it.” Such reactions are interpreted by the subjects of communication as a disrespectful attitude - in other words, the question turns intoplane of morality.
• Emotional and moral disorientation. A person not only does not understand that his reactions or their absence in communication are inadequate. He cites a lot of arguments as an excuse for his behavior: “why should I worry about everyone?”, “You can’t show sympathy towards such people,” etc. Such arguments indicate that the morality of a specialist remains on the sidelines. A doctor, teacher, or social worker has no right to divide people into “worthy” or “unworthy.”
• Over time, another symptom appears - emotional detachment. A person completely excludes experiences from the field of his professional activity. He receives full-fledged emotions only in other areas of life. With all his appearance, the employee shows that he “does not give a damn” about other people.
• Psychosomatic disorders. If such an employee has everything in order with the sphere of emotions, but the process of emotional burnout continues, psychosomatic symptoms appear. The mere thought of colleagues or clients can cause cardiovascular reactions, bowel spasms, and headaches. Often there are deviations in the psyche.

Diagnosis

The two most famous tests for the level of emotional burnout are the Boyko questionnaire and the Maslach technique. The Boyko test was created in 1996 and has a complete and modified form. The Maslach technique (in some editions, the Maslach-Jackson questionnaire) was first proposed in 1986. Adapted test N. E. Vodopyanova, and domestic psychologists, he began to apply since 2001.

Boiko's modified questionnaire

Usually, in order to determine the symptoms and phases of this condition in workers, the test "Diagnostics of emotional burnout" by Boyko is used. Consider a modified version of the methodology.

Instructions for the test. Read the following statements and write a yes or no answer next to each. Keep in mind that if partners are mentioned in the test, this term refers to the subjects of your professional field with whom you have to deal every day. You should answer the questions as sincerely as possible - only in this way the results of this technique will be adequate to the situation. Emotional burnout, according to the test results, can be low, medium or high.

1. Lack of good organization in the workplace is a constant cause of stress.
2. I chose the wrong profession and now I am in the wrong place.
3. I'm worried that my work has become much worse (my efficiency has decreased).
4. When I get home from work, for 2-3 hours I want to be alone, not to communicate with anyone, to move away from a hard day's work.
5. My work makes me insensitive, dulls emotional experiences.
6. I often have trouble falling asleep as I replay unpleasant work situations in my head before bed.
7. If I had the opportunity, I would gladly changeplace of work.
8. Sometimes even the simplest communication in the workplace makes me irritable.
9. Remembering some colleagues, I feel that my mood is spoiled, negative emotions are engulfing.
10. I spend a lot of energy and emotions on resolving conflicts with superiors and colleagues.
11. The work environment seems quite challenging and stressful to me.
12. I am often haunted by unpleasant emotions and forebodings associated with work. I can do something wrong, make a mistake, and then my whole professional life will be destroyed.
13. I am very excited about my job.
14. Thinking about her makes me feel sick: my knees are shaking, my heart is beating faster, my thinking becomes confused, my head starts to hurt.
15. My relationship with my line manager is mediocre (satisfactory).
16. I've been having a lot of bad luck at work lately.
17. Fatigue after a week of work leads to the fact that I have significantly reduced communication with friends, family members, acquaintances.
18. At work, I am constantly exposed to physical and psychological stress.
19. I work hard every day, forcing myself to do my duties.
20. As a rule, I rush the time: I would sooner come to the end of the working day.

Then the test results are interpreted. To do this, you need to calculate the total number of points:

• 20-14 points - high;
• 13-7 points – average;
• 6-0 points - low level.

Diagnosis of the level of emotional burnout can be carried out independently or with a psychologist. Modern tests are designed for both types of work, so their results will be useful in both cases.

Reasons

The main factor that leads to the occurrence of this condition is a long and heavy work load, which is accompanied by tense interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Therefore, many researchers tend to believe that the symptoms of emotional burnout are primarily characteristic of representatives of "helping" professions, who are forced to constantly work with people. At the same time, you can focus on several more factors that provoke the occurrence of such a state:

• Information overload. Huge streams of data pass through a person every day.
• Information uncertainty. The employee does not have enough data to perform specific work tasks.
• Increased responsibility. A person is forced to constantly be responsible for the lives of other people, their he alth; operate with large sums of money, real estate or securities.
• Lack of time. Working under time pressure, having to stay late in the evening to finish the day's tasks.
• Conflictogenicity - constant skirmishes with colleagues or management.
• Intrapersonal conflicts. A person is constantly torn between family and work.
• Multitasking - the need to constantly worksimultaneously over several targets.
• A set of environmental factors - poor lighting, cold or heat, dust, noise, crowds.

Prevention

For people whose burnout level is medium or high, the following preventive measures are necessary:

• Using flexible working hours. Overtime work should be minimized.
• Administrative support for employees, assistance in solving personal problems (for example, obtaining additional education or purchasing housing).
• Developing a high culture in the organization, a he althy atmosphere.
• Career and professional growth.
• Teaching methods of psychological relief.
• Fair system of fines and rewards.
• No discrimination based on sex, age, nationality.

Recommendations from psychologists

What else can you do to avoid the symptoms of burnout at work? Consider a few tips.

• Every day you need to deliberately find sources of joy. Joy and laughter can fill you with vitality, help you overcome difficulties, replenish resources.
• Learn to be aware of feelings. At least 5 times a day, ask yourself the question: “How do I feel?” This will allow you to be more attentive to the dynamics of your mood, to identify those factors that contribute to its improvement.
• In difficult situations it is useful to work with a psychologist individually or in a group. Sometimes it is useful to attend a special training "Emotional Burnout" to understand the features of your condition.
• To discuss problems in relationships and at work immediately, do not accumulate negativity. When a person suppresses anger and dissatisfaction in himself, these toxic feelings begin to poison his life. Therefore, you should not increase anger if something has irritated you. You need to learn to forgive, let go of negativity.
• Find the positive side in any event. This will help maintain emotional balance.
• Getting things done. Unfinished tasks take up a lot of emotional energy. Therefore, it is necessary to plan the day so that by the evening all the tasks are completed.
• Learn meditation and relaxation techniques. The meditative state allows you to get rid of the accumulated stress, restore the balance of vitality.

Prevention of emotional burnout of teachers

Separately, it is worth mentioning how teachers, educators, and psychologists can prevent such a state. After all, people working in these areas are most often exposed to it. Emotional burnout of an educator or teacher is often caused by excessive requirements for representatives of these professions. A high bar is often set for themselves by teachers who want to achieve one hundred percent results in their activities, strive to be perfect. An additional factor for stress is the inability to forgive yourself for your own mistakes.

One of the ways to prevent psychologicalemotional burnout among teachers - the formation of a correct idea of their professional activities. If a teacher cannot teach someone, protect them from bad influence, there is nothing reprehensible in this. A teacher or caregiver cannot be effective 100% of the time.