2014-09-15 15:15:00
According to the latest scientific study on the subject carried out by the Health Surveillance Institute (Invs) in 2012, psychological suffering linked to work concerns 3.1% of women and 1.4% of men seen by the occupational doctor in France, of which 7% corresponds to burn out syndrome (source 1). Figures which might have progressed a lot in recent years. “According to a study carried out in early 2022 by OpinionWay for the Empreinte Humaine firm, 34% of employees are burnt out including 13% experiencing severe burnout, or 2.5 million people,” indicates the Invs.
How do you know if you are burned out? What symptoms?
The stress professional is an adjustment disorder that occurs when professional demands make the individual’s adaptation to their environment impossible. THE burn out or burnout syndrome is a failure to adapt to chronic stress generated by work (or other).
“The symptoms of burnout are more or less marked, and create a break with the previous state of equilibrium », Indicates Sophie Esteve, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist.
- On the physical level : dizziness, fatigue, sleep disorders, digestive disorders, pain such as lower back pain, neck pain, etc.;
- On an emotional level: anxiety, irritability, hypersensitivity, lack of emotion, etc.;
- On the mental level : disorders of memory, attention, concentration, executive functions.
The manifestations appear gradually, insidiously, sometimes with a very sudden break, both psychologically and physically: anxiety, dizziness, fear of driving, inability to return to the workplace, physical pain (headaches, lower back pain, neck pain, etc.) , says Sophie Esteve.
“Demonstrations are often close to a depressive state, to the difference important: the symptoms decrease when the person takes time away from work (sick leave, vacation, etc.),” adds the psychologist.
“At the behavioral level, the person often falls back on hercan manifest a aggressive, irritable behavior and develop behaviors addictive. Motivation at work declines with a loss of meaning and values. Of the doubts on his skills (devaluation, questioning of his work in terms of orientation, etc.) appear,” she continues.
Which people are particularly exposed to burnout?
Profiles particularly exposed to burnout are people:
- Often very conscientious or even perfectionists ;
- Very idealistic and enthusiastic;
- Committed or strongly involved in their work with a sense of duty pushed to the extreme;
- Who have a high level of requirements, high standards of achievement and performance;
- Who have a self-forgetfulness, their needs and difficulty setting limits (particularly during periods of work overload);
- Who have an exacerbated sense of self-criticism;
- Who have difficulty delegating;
- Who have beliefs such as “I can’t say no”, “I must always be strong”, “I must please everyone”…;
- Who have difficulty identifying their suffering, and a tendency to neglect the body’s alarm signals;
- Who have difficulty in managing their emotions (to identify them, to express them);
- Who have a tendency toanxietyto the anxious anticipation of events;
- Who have a low self-esteem, a reduced sense of self-efficacy (“I won’t make it,” “I’m not able to cope”);
- who tend to confusing work performance and personal value.
“The risk of developing burnout syndrome can be also associated with a history of depression, to certain personality traits that can limit stress adaptation strategies (coping),” explains Sophie Esteve.
NB: the coping corresponds to all cognitive and behavioral efforts intended to control, reduce or tolerate internal or external demands that threaten or exceed the individual’s resources. Thanks to coping, the person will use coping strategies to deal with a stressful situation.
How to avoid getting burned out at work?
The most difficult thing is to convince people who begin to show symptoms, stop to take care of them. Very overinvested and committed, they often go to the point of breaking down.
Some tips to apply on a daily basis can help limit the breakup and avoid the occurrence of burnout:
- To please yourself, regularly do refreshing activities and simple things like going out with friends, going to the cinema, going for a walk, etc. ;
- Listen to your body’s signals and practice regular physical activities to cope with stress: meditation, sophrology, yoga, sport, etc.;
- Learn to set your limitsto say no, to delegate;
- Learn to disconnect work and/or your responsibilities (as parents, for example) during their free time, or their personal life;
- Learn to recognize situations and events that generate negative stress or unhappiness, in order to try to prevent or avoid them;
- Avoid comparing yourself to others;
- Avoid isolation, which reinforces emotional exhaustion: in cases of stress, conflict, discomfort, it is important to have a support network and people to talk to;
- Change job or service;
- Do a therapy focused on self-esteem and self-affirmation.
Do work on self-esteem and self-affirmation
Work is very often a domain used and invested in to repair narcissistic wounds, indicates Sophie Esteve. A person who has weak self-esteem will often overinvest in their work to repair this injury.
On the contrary, “a person who has good self-esteem will be able to set limitsto leave the service, or simply to take some distance in relation to the conflicts that there may be or the devaluation that one may bring to one’s work…”. She won’t let her job performance determine her self-worth.
What may turn out to be difficile today, in a world of work where “companies are blind machines that set objectives without really ensuring that they are achievable. Result: it is up to the employees to dose, which they do not always do,” adds the psychologist.
Thus, whether to prevent burnout or during the healing process, it can be useful, if the problem partly comes from there, to carry out a therapy focused on self-esteem and self-affirmation.
Use positive psychology
Created under the leadership of Martin Seligman, positive psychology proposes to focus on the person’s resources in order to better develop them. A tool that helps us put things into perspective and regain a little well-being. Focus on the positive, it is the act of focusing one’s attention on positive moments, of experiencing positive emotions during a day to feel better. It seems obvious, and yet we are so quickly overwhelmed by negative thoughts! A technique for applying positive psychology: Write down at the end of the day the things that brought you pleasure or for which you feel grateful. Indeed, according to research conducted by Martin Seligman, people who experience gratitude also feel happier.
Therapy, a tool to get out of burnout
When you have suffered a burnout, or when you feel on the verge of burnout, we recommend firstly the cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT), “because they are more supportive and dynamic,” explains Sophie Esteve. “We do psychoeducation there to provide information regarding burnout and how to get out of it, we also do workshops on self-affirmation, which will allow us to recognize and to express your emotions, your needs, but also to respond to it, to know how to say no,” she says.
“But it’s never enough. Other therapies will be useful to understand why we got here (see burn out), and to heal self-esteem wounds.” There are a multitude of them: “the most important thing is to find the one that suits us and to be accompanied by a therapist with whom we have a bond of trust”.
We must not forget the positive impact of body therapies, which allow us to listen to our body, continues the psychologist. People who are burned out completely forget regarding themselves and are no longer at all attentive to their physical sensations. Which contributes to the fact that they go ‘too far’. A person who listens more closely to their body, who does a little sport or relaxation for example, will listen to their body’s signals, and stop when it shouts ‘stop’.
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