Several years ago, I found myself unable to do the work which I usually did with enthusiasm. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t seem to reach my usual potential. A good friend then advised me to take an online test to assess if I was experiencing burnout. I discovered that accumulated stress, grief and conflict of interest had led to a sense of discouragement and eventually a burnout. After unsuccessfully trying to overcome it, I ultimately took time out to rest and recuperate. Thankfully, I recovered within two months.
But what is burnout? Burnout is stress caused by feelings of emotional exhaustion. Burnout caused decreased in motivation, and loss of interest in the work a person is doing.
Cause of burnout includes:
• Work overload – Too much work, too little time for self-care, or a lack of resources and support available to do the job.
• Lack of control – When a person feels that he or she has very little influence or autonomy at work.
• Insufficient rewards: When one feels unappreciated and undervalued.
• Insufficient team cohesion – When one feels alienated or when there is a lack of cohesion in the team.
• Unequal or unfair treatment – When one constantly feel marginalised and mistreated.
• Conflict of values – When the aspects of the job contradict one’s ethics or values, which lead to constant distress.
If you feel discouraged and unmotivated in your work or study, if you lose interest in the things that you used to enjoy, or if you find yourself unable to perform to your usual capacity, you may be experiencing burnout. Leaving the burnout untreated is detrimental to your wellbeing because the longer you ignore it, the more time you will need to recover from it. Therefore, please seek help as soon as possible.
At Restoring Peace, we work with our clients to identify the cause of burnout, and working with them towards the restoration of their psychological wellbeing. Do drop us an email should you need to find out more.
Take care.