It’s a Saturday afternoon when it happens. Nothing works anymore with Edgar. Not a step, nothing, all of a sudden. “I stood there and was momentarily paralyzed”the 50-year-old recalls.
His “typical Saturday”, jogging, some work – that was still okay. But then, on the way to a family celebration, it’s over.
What the manager only realizes later: At this moment, he has an extreme form of Burnout Business psychologist Christian Dormann estimates that this is a phenomenon that every second one of us experiences in one way or another at some point in our lives.
What is burnout?
Whether burnout is a separate syndrome or a subtype of depression is something that is clear to us Experts disagree.
Andreas Hillert, chief physician for psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, defines burnout as “subjective disorder model”: Anyone who feels affected, use the term to describe non-specific complaints that arise Excessive demands in the professional and private sphere can be reduced.
For those affected, “burnout” is a helpful term to be able to openly address overload. The reason: A “burn-out” is associated with less social stigma than mental illnesses such as depression.
Burnout has the – empirically refuted – image that those affected are particularly hard-working people who have become victims of their hard work: Only those who have burned out can burn out. That’s why it’s more attractive to experience yourself as “burned out” when you’ve reached your limits. This can sometimes make it difficult to find appropriate solutions, for example if depression is actually behind it.
Definition in science and medicine
feeling of exhaustion
mental distance from work and duties
reduced performance
With these three criteria, burnout is also part of the classification system ICD-11 the World Health Organization (WHO). Doctors can use this as a guide when making a diagnosis.
Nevertheless, according to the WHO, burnout is not considered a disease, but rather a Factor that can cause disease. The cause is chronic stress at work, which cannot be successfully processed. But experts criticize considering work stress as the sole criterion for burnout.
Many people are also exhausted in terms of leisure and family. Burnout is defined very narrowly by the WHO.
How does burnout feel?
Burnout is reflected in our emotions and behavior. Those are them warning sign:
emotional exhaustion
Distance from work and duties
decrease in performance
Burnout is not the same as stress. It lasts longer – and the symptoms are more severe.
In contrast to everyday stress, which temporarily leads to irritability or tension, burnout syndrome makes you feel very exhausted over a longer period of time and those affected are very absorbed in their tasks and duties – so much that they neglect their own interests.
Physical complaints often occur in connection with burnout, which can be very different – also in their severity:
Burnout develops slowly – usually over months to years.