How to Recognize and Address Burnout

Today, the word burnout is very common in our fast-moving world. It’s a thing many people have heard of but have yet to decide whether or not they understand what it is and how to deal with it. Burnout doesn’t just mean feeling tired after a long week of work—you’re in a state of chronic stress that hurts your emotional, physical, or mental health. You need to pay attention to recognizing and addressing burnout because it’s important to a balanced and fulfilling life. In this post, we’ll cover what are the signs of burnout and helpful ways to manage and even prevent it.

What is Burnout?

Burnout describes a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion brought on by continued and chronic stress. It happens when you can’t keep it all together and get swamped with the constant pressures put on you, whether from work, family, or other obligations. Anybody—professionals, students, parents, or caregivers—can be affected in different ways.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

If burnout is identified early on, it can be stopped before becoming worse. Here are some common signs and symptoms:

Emotional Symptoms:

• Drained and unable to handle.
• Irritability or mood swings that are increased.
• The diminishing of interest in what you used to love doing.
• A sense of detachment, of cynicism.

Physical Symptoms:

• Fatigue that does not go away with rest or as a recurrent exacerbation.
• Body pains (like headaches, or stomach issues, for instance), or just unexplained body pains.
• Trouble falling or staying asleep might be one disturbance of sleep.

Behavioral Symptoms:

• Procrastination and falling off of the productive track.
• The withdrawal from social activities and friends.
• An increase in unhealthy coping mechanisms (such as overeating, over drinking).

Common Causes of Burnout

You can gain an insight into the root causes of burnout and find out whether there are triggers to these in your own life. Here are some common causes:

• Work-Related Stressors – Excessive work demands, long hours, unattainable expectations, or job dissatisfaction can cause burnout in many people. Stress can be caused by high pressure, poor work-life balance, and lack of control over tasks.
• Lifestyle Factors – Burnout doesn’t always come from work, it can come from lifestyle too. Missing meals, not exercising, not paying attention to hobbies — or at the extreme, constantly putting work before your personal life — can all contribute to full-fledged, chronic stress and exhaustion.
• Personal Challenges – Certain behaviors tip the scales on burnout and one of them is perfectionism, another is having too much responsibility and the final is taking on too much. If you constantly try to get the highest results and always feel like you have to do everything, it’s almost certain you’ll feel burned out.

The Impact of Burnout

On Physical Health

It can hurt your physical health if you are quite busy. They say that prolonged stress can contribute to heart disease, high blood pressure, digestive problems and lower the immune system. Once your body’s natural ‘fight or flight’ response breaks down, only so much can be handled.

On Mental Health

Burnout is just as devastating to the mind. Very often it’s associated with feelings of helplessness and can lead to depression and anxiety. Burnout can also affect cognitive function such that it becomes physically impossible to focus, make a decision, or remember important details.

Personal and Professional Life

Suffice it to say, that burnout can take a serious hit on your professional existence and lead you to a life of reduced productivity, missed deadlines, and frequent absenteeism. On a personal level, burning out can affect your relationships leaving you peeved and/or distant from your loved ones.

How to Address Burnout: Effective Strategies

• Prioritizing Self-Care – Taking better care of yourself is one of the most important steps in countering burnout. Do the things that recharge and refresh you but don’t fall into a black hole: a warm bath, book, deep breathing exercises. So take some time to do things that make you happy and relaxed.
• Setting Boundaries – Saying no is something you have to learn, as is guarding your time. Creating balance in your schedule may involve establishing legal boundaries between your work and personal life. The rule is to stop the emails or calls of work when it is time off.
• Seeking Support – You don’t need to suffer through burnout alone. Talking to friends and family about how you’re doing can often feel good, and help relieve the emotional burden. Besides that, if the stress is becoming too much, you might want to consider speaking to a mental health professional for help and support with it.
• Building Healthy Work Habits – If your burnout is a direct result of work, use stress management strategies. You should prioritize tasks, break large projects into smaller steps, and if possible, delegate. Use practice time management techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique to stay focused and be on point without burning out.

Get Help at DeLand Treatment Solutions

It’s a serious condition that could turn your health and well-being for the worse. Our compassionate team at DeLand Treatment Solutions is here to help if you feel overwhelmed with stress and can’t deal with it on your own. Specializing in stress support and developing healthier coping skills – we offer services in our specialized therapy programs. Reach out to us today to find out more about what we provide and how we can help you get to a more well-balanced life.

When to Seek Help

In some situations, burnout symptoms are so severe, that care isn’t enough. If burnout symptoms exist, and you make an effort to remedy them but they don’t disappear or hinder your ability to do daily life things, you owe it to yourself to talk to a professional. However, therapy can allow you to address your stress, learn coping mechanisms, and learn how you could prevent burnout from happening in the future.

Available Types of Therapies and Treatments

Various types of therapy can help with burnout, including:

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): It deals with how to change negative thought patterns and actions that increase the level of stress.
• Mindfulness and Meditation: It will help you to think about the present and help you be less stressed.
• Stress Management Workshops: Practical skills for reducing stress are provided.

Everyone can be burnt out, but the trick is when you realize and get help. You can avoid and better manage and prevent burnout by prioritizing self-care, setting boundaries, getting support, and developing healthy work habits. If you are in the dark you may think you don’t know how to ask for help but in truth, there is nothing wrong with coming forward to get help. It is okay to seek support; your health and your happiness are worth it.