Burnout Got You Drained? Signs, Causes and How to Bounce Back

 Do you always feel tired and unmotivated? Does it feel impossible to drag yourself out of bed every morning to go to work? Is it as if your zeal to work has gone missing and now it feels like a burden? Well, chances are that you are going through a burnout! What is it? How to recover from it? How do you know you are having a burnout? Find out in this article.

What is Burnout?

In psychology, burnout is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that can be caused by chronic stress. Basically, being too done with your life and not having the energy to deal with it. It is very common for people to experience workplace stress causing a job burnout, especially in time bound jobs and the “work for promotion” race. But the question still remains, how do you know if you are burnt out or is it just everyday stress? According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), burnout is generally characterised by three main dimensions - energy depletion and constant physical exhaustion, mental exhaustion and negative feelings, and chronic work-related stress and reduced efficiency. 

Now that you know the basic criteria, and maybe you’ve figured out that you are going through burnout, let’s get to the types of burnout before we talk about how to recover from different levels of burnout.

Types of Burnout

Although burnout can be of as many types as the people experiencing it, majorly it is classified into 4 types. 

1. Overload Burnout - Remember work-life balance? How to balance when to work and when to take care of your health. When that balance is missed, when you’re too occupied with either work stress or in getting things just right, you forget everything else - that is Overload burnout. When a person over exerts themselves, and is also willing to risk their health for it. 

   
   

2. Under-Challenged Burnout - Ever wondered - “why I am always exhausted at work, even though I don’t do anything?” That might be the case of under-challenged burnout. When you’re bored at your job and feel underappreciated. That is a different type of your workplace stress - the need to do more. The loss of motivation due to this stress can lead to avoiding your responsibilities and work even more.

   
   

3. Neglect Burnout - This is another type of professional burnout where you might feel you’re not even capable of the job given. The constant stress of imposter syndrome, and feelings of helplessness. When things aren’t going right, you may feel incompetent and worthless. Those feelings of helplessness, neglect, and incompetence lead to neglect burnout.

   
   

4. Habitual Burnout - This is the kind of burnout that is one of the most severe ones. It's when you are so used to the mental exhaustion, the constant stress, and the lack of work-life balance that you might not be able to even think about coping with that stress. It is this chronic state that can even lead to depressive and suicidal thoughts. 

   
   

All the types are fine (not literally I mean), but how can you know that you are burnt out? How to recognise it early on and maybe even prevent burnout before it happens? The next few sections talk about that.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

Unlike other psychological disorders, burnout is not diagnosable. However, you can still look out for some signs and symptoms to check if you are any close to getting burnt out. These signs can either be physical, mental, or emotional. 

1. Physical Symptoms - Our body always tells us what is wrong with it, even if it is something psychological. Therefore, your headaches, sleep issues, blood pressure changes, weakness, fevers, etc. can all be signs of a burnout. It is important to keep a check on those and be mindful of your body. 

   
   

2. Mental Symptoms - Yes, you can be fine physically thanks to a great immune system. But there’s another category of signs you can keep a check for - your thoughts. Remember the negative burnout? The feelings of worthlessness, imposter syndrome, loss of interest in everything - all of these can be tell-tale signs of an approaching burnout. 

   
   

3. Emotional Symptoms - Have you noticed yourself getting irritable when things don’t work out? That last push and an outburst of tears suddenly over something so small you’re left wondering what’s wrong? That, dear readers, is a sign that you have been going through chronic stress and that you have reached the peak of your emotional exhaustion. 

It might feel like nobody would understand you, but with the growing workplace stress and everyday life challenges, I guarantee you that every other person you meet will tell you some of these signs of burnout from their life at some point. And now you might question - “But how is this different from stress?” Isn’t this normal everyday stress? And the answer is that it can be but it can also be something more serious. Read on for the difference.

Difference Between Stress and Burnout 

The word ‘burnout’ itself can give you an idea and an image of how severe it is. Imagine a candle burning. It gives you light for some time, it might flicker and maybe be on the verge of blowing out in between. But it's truly consumed and done when it's burnt out. The wick is gone, and there’s nothing left. That is the difference between stress and burnout. 

Stress is like the first light of the candle - it might hurt, but it’s also pushing you to work or make that deadline. It’s also the reason your workplace duties can be managed. But when your candle or your stress is burnt for too long, you can get emotionally exhausted, you might feel tired, and there might be instances of those flickers of the candle. Those are the signs to maybe blow out the candle and manage your stress to prevent a burnout before it even happens. If you don’t manage your stress or if you can’t cope with the impending burnout, your candle will be exhausted and used up. 

To sum it up, stress is short term and can be beneficial to manage your duties. Burnout however, is a result of chronic stress and extreme emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. But why would you reach that extreme exhaustion? Are there times when you are more vulnerable to burnout? Let’s find out.

Risk Factors and Causes of Burnout

So why does burnout happen? Stress happens everyday so does burnout also happen often? Here are some of the possible causes and risk factors - situations that might put you at risk but not always lead to burnout. To begin with, workplace stress can turn into burnout or put you at risk, when there is unreasonable time pressures, lack of communication from your colleagues, and an overall excess workload. All these add up to become chronic stress, emotional and physical exhaustion and ultimately, burnout. 

Some other factors might include lack of social support, sleep deprivation, and a poor work-life balance. To sum it up, risk is not a great thing when it comes to burnout. So try to manage your life before things get escalated. And how to do that (I know, that’s what you really want to know), learn from the next paragraph

How to Manage Stress and Cope with Burnout?

As mentioned previously, burnouts are the last straws. Before that, you have plenty of time to manage your stress and prevent it from becoming a burnout. Here are some regular practices that you can adopt to regulate your stress and improve your wellbeing. 

1. A space to vent: Be it your ‘dear diary’ or your best friend or that teddy bear friend, having a place for your emotions is beneficial to not let them overflow. Managing emotions early on and giving them a space will prevent them from taking control over your life. A subtle reassurance like “yes I know you’re here, I’ll deal with you” is enough for emotions to calm down.

2. Activities you enjoy: Venting is alright, but what to do when you don’t want overwhelming emotions. That’s when those hobbies come to rescue. Get back to even 10 minutes of a walk, or those colouring books, or a random dance - whatever sails your boat. Having a regular time for the activities you enjoy and feel comfortable with will keep you happy and prevent burnout. 

   
   

3. Take care of yourself: Everything fails when you’re physically sick or if you’re sleep deprived. Remember when you get ‘Hangry’? To prevent that, and to prevent burnout, it is important for you to take care of yourself physically. Health really is wealth and remembering that might save you from a burnout. 

   
   

And that’s it, that’s all about burnout that I am going to tell you. I don’t want to cause you stress just by reading about it. Remember, this is just an article and if you are still struggling with stress and burnout after trying everything, there is no hesitation in reaching out to a mental health professional.