Stage 11: Depression
You're emotionally and mentally exhausted. You feel lost and unsure. Work feels completely devoid of meaning or purpose.
The final stage of burnout is habitual burnout. This means that the symptoms of burnout are so embedded in your life that you are likely to experience a significant ongoing mental, physical or emotional problem, as opposed to occasionally experiencing stress or burnout.
It takes an average time of three months to a year to recover from burnout. How long your burnout lasts will depend on your level of emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue, as well as if you experience any relapses or periods of stagnant recovery.
Having a hobby or finding something that you enjoy doing minimizes the impact of workplace burnout. Fun activities act as an outlet for stress and are something to look forward to after a hard day at work.
Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don't see any hope of positive change in their situations. If excessive stress feels like you're drowning in responsibilities, burnout is a sense of being all dried up.
Burnout is when a person reaches a state of total mental, physical and emotional exhaustion and it has some similar signs and symptoms to a nervous breakdown. Your doctor can prescribe medicines for many mental health conditions, and refer you to other healthcare professionals, such as psychologists or psychiatrists.
Your brain on burnout
Chronic stress has long been known to contribute to mental and physical diseases, and now researchers are able to capture what happens to the brain. “One of the most striking (effects) is thinning of the gray matter of an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex,” Arnsten said.
Burnout symptoms are usually temporary and disappear after you address them. If not addressed, these can also affect your physical health and cause heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol, and even type 2 diabetes. Depression symptoms, on the other hand, can get in the way of your daily life and are longer-term.
Burnout doesn't go away on its own; rather, it will get worse unless you address the underlying issues causing it. If you ignore burnout, it will only cause you further harm down the line, so it's important that you begin recovery as soon as possible.
While burnout is not a mental health disorder, it is closely tied to a few. Burnout can be a cause of a mental health disorder, but mental health conditions can also cause burnout. According to a study conducted by the University of Macedonia, burnout has an interconnected relationship with both depression and anxiety.
PTSD is caused by witnessing, experiencing, or hearing about a traumatic event, whereas burnout is caused by work characteristics such as workload. Medical Classification. PTSD is characterized as a disorder whereas burnout is labelled as a syndrome.
childhood trauma can also lead to what is known as “burnout.” This is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion from chronic stress.
Burnout can be accompanied by physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and sleeping difficulties. It is important to recognize and treat burnout early, and with psychological counseling and support, most people begin to feel better and recover quickly.
"Boreout" at work is chronic boredom, and studies have shown it can cause depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia and higher turnover. Boredom is an emotional state characterized by feeling unstimulated, unfocused and restless, yet lacking the desire to engage.
Physical symptoms include chest pain, heart palpitations, gastrointestinal pain, dizziness, fainting, and/or headaches. Increased illnesses arise when the body is drained, which causes the immune system to weaken, making one more vulnerable to infections, colds, flu, and other immune-related medical problems.
Your mind and body work hard to make you succeed in life, and when that work eventually drains you, you may be more prone to getting sick or relapsing. When you feel that you may be getting close to burnout, it is essential to handle it immediately before the consequences arise.