Stress might seem like a common occurrence to most people, something that we might consider to be normal, and it should be comforting to know that it is. Stress happens to everyone at one point in their life or another, whether that comes through worrying over a test, dealing with workplace anger over projects and deadlines, or having troubles with a spouse. However, as normal as stress might be, too much can be a detrimental thing.
When stress starts existing across the long-term, lingering in our lives from day to day for weeks, months, and years, it can lead towards bouts of major depression or can even have seriously harmful effects upon our health. What we should consider is a type of stress that is different from depression, reflecting more of the symptoms of anxiety, and that is called burnout syndrome.
Burnout syndrome, at its core, is the state in which anxiety and stress continues for such a great deal of time that the body starts exhibiting signs of extreme fatigue, whether that be mentally, physically, or emotionally. A large proportion of people deal with burnout at one time or another, and it largely stems from either life burnout or job burnout. Most often, it occurs due to a poor work-life balance, in which the burnt out individual is either being overworked and has little time for their life outside of work, or their life outside of work is far too stressful and negatively affecting their work. In some cases, it might be both, but these are more severe.
If you are wondering whether or not you are dealing with burnout, there are burnout symptoms and recovery methods you should look for. These burnout symptoms and recovery methods will (1) show you whether you are dealing with basic anxiety, depression, or burnout (extreme stress/anxiety), and (2) will offer reasoning for burnout symptoms and recovery methods so that you might find calm within your daily life and reduce the amount of stress you are struggling with.
To begin with the burnout symptoms and recovery methods, let’s look at the most basic symptoms of burnout syndrome:
- Physical Symptoms: Burnout will cause bouts of severe uneasiness, the symptoms of which can be profuse sweating and an ever-present need to escape from a situation (consider the flight in “fight or flight”
- Mental Symptoms: A person will become weary and over-concerned with what is to come, particularly that which pertains to large life events and job deadlines
- Emotional Symptoms: Burnout will cause a person to become emotionally unstable dependent upon circumstances, wherein their emotions will get the better of them due to being overtired/overworkerd — leaning towards bouts of anger, sadness, and disinterest
It should come as no surprise that physicians tend to deal with burnout at extremely high rates, as their work-life balance is extremely uneven. Reports have shown that over 45% of physicians currently dealing with at least one symptom of burnout syndrome, while over 35% of physicians are currently dealing with burnout syndrome. And the rate only increases the younger you are, considering that most doctors are just recently getting out of undergraduate school, medical school, residency, and then working full-time, with 44% of physicians under the age of 35 dealing with burnout.
If you feel as if you are dealing with burnout, then it is worth taking the time to look closer at the burnout symptoms and recovery methods and find ways that your stress can be treated.
A psychotherapist is the best option for seeking out help when it comes to recovery methods for burnout, as they will wholly understand burnout symptoms and recovery processes, wherein they can analyze what is truly bothering you and work from there to restructure your life and job to better these conditions.
Other forms of basic treatment, ones without the heed of medical attention, can come from yoga, running, walking, reading, writing, drawing, etc.. Basic forms of simplicity can help to ease stress, allowing for you to calm your mind and focus on something simpler and calmer.
