Burnout – Every year, the “bad word” of the year is chosen, the colloquial use of which is often perceptible, but which does not make it any easier to decipher the exact meaning, despite its prayerful repetition. In the field of health, one term or the description of a condition that essentially defines a complete mental and physical breakdown has certainly ranked at the top of the scale over the last 30 years.
Over time, worn-out, unclear terms lose their serious character without, however, minimizing the danger for those actually affected – on the contrary. “Burnout”, which has been reported thousands of times in the media, is rarely used as an official diagnosis by doctors, but private health insurance companies shy away from accepting applicants like the devil shies away from holy water. Victories lead to new victories, too many victories can unconsciously become a burden for some, which can later even lead to personal defeats due to their own high expectations.
Burnout versus Depression
First of all, a key difference: although burnout and depression show similar symptoms such as exhaustion, listlessness and withdrawal, they differ in terms of cause and severity. Burnout is generally a reaction to chronic stress, usually in a professional context, and often begins with excessive commitment that leads to frustration and exhaustion. The symptoms are mainly related to working life. Depression, on the other hand, is a mental illness in its own right that affects the whole of life – regardless of external circumstances. It manifests itself through deep dejection, a lack of joy, feelings of guilt and sometimes even suicidal thoughts. While burnout sufferers may feel better when they are on vacation or away from work, depressed people also experience their exhaustion in their everyday lives. The transitions can be fluid, which is why professional clarification is important.
Celebrities make burnout prominent
Prominent athletes and coaches such as Otmar Hitzfeld and Ralf Rangnick, ski jumper Sven Hannawald, Sebastian Deisler and Jan Simak are examples. The story of national goalkeeper Robert Enke is probably the saddest in this context, who suffered from severe depression and burnout and ended up committing suicide. Other “cases” are the politician Matthias Platzeck (officially – sudden hearing loss!), actress Renee Zellweger, the rapper Eminem, currently the singer Peter Plate from Rosenstolz or Robbie Williams.
Burnout can be found in all areas of society
However, it is not only through the media-effective social segments such as high-performance sport, the stage and politics, with all their multifaceted side effects, that the emotional and physical super disaster “burnout” has seeped into the collective subconscious with up to over 100 possible symptoms.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. For each person affected, the symptoms manifest themselves in different constellations, which are more likely to be observed in other threatening but more clearly diagnosable illnesses, making a clear diagnosis difficult. The phenomenon was first investigated, established and documented in scientific studies in the mid-1970s among employees of aid organizations, doctors and nurses, and later circulated as a manager’s disease. Robert Beetz, a renowned psychologist, explains further correlations.
Positive stress can also lead to burnout
When positive stress (eustress) turns into negative stress (distress), it has a long history and, later on, a massive disruption of the hormonal control circuits and a persistent state of inflammation. However, permanently destructive working conditions, perfectionism, permanent over- or under-challenging, bullying, an exaggerated sense of responsibility, a lack of prioritization, unprocessed negative emotional experiences, relationship and family problems, excessive sport, alcohol and drug abuse as stress compensation, an unhealthy diet or the occurrence of these problems in combination can also lead to burnout.
Previous warning signs such as lack of drive, sleep disorders, lack of concentration, irritability, mood swings and even depression, a drop in performance and aggressive behavior patterns are often not taken seriously enough.
Hormones often play a major role in burnout
Complicated connections and the interdependent stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline are disrupted in their interaction in burnout syndrome. The reduced production of the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin are also not available in sufficient quantities. These neurotransmitters have a wide variety of tasks within a 24-hour rhythm. Cortisol, which is increasingly released during physical and psychological stress as a counter-regulator to adrenaline, is the most important indicator here. It is produced in the second half of the night in the adrenal cortex by the impulse from the brain (hypothalamus and pituitary gland) and is available in the morning for daytime activity and stress management.
If the adrenal cortex is overwhelmed by permanent overproduction of cortisol, it will sooner or later react with reduced secretion. If this is the case, serious symptoms develop, especially physical ones, until the stress resistance collapses completely. Even in the morning hours, this results in extreme fatigue and listlessness with many negative physical side effects. Massive persistent headaches, high blood pressure, pain in the connective tissue structures, coordination disorders, eating disorders, muscle twitching (tremor), muscle weakness, cognitive disorders, visual disorders, weakened immune defenses, etc. can occur, and the list goes on. Everyday tasks become a feat of strength, work becomes impossible!
Clear physical and psychological warning signals are ignored
For preventive and diagnostic purposes, the cortisol level can be measured using a 24-hour saliva test, or even more precisely in the blood serum, to determine whether the respective reference value is reached according to the time of day and whether danger is imminent. Self-assessment questionnaires can also be useful to determine whether and at what risk level you are currently at. If you find a high value here when answering honestly, it is primarily the stress-inducing life and work circumstances as well as behaviors that should be analyzed in detail and changed if necessary.
Not every prolonged period of stress leads to burnout for everyone; genetic factors and predispositions also play a role here. However, many people often consciously override the “inner voice” that calls for a break and mindfulness with: you can do it, nobody else can, I’m indispensable, I’ll do it at the weekend, this phone call and that appointment, the e-mails, the partner, the parents, the children, the finances, the house building, the seminar, no time for vacations and and and…..
Learning to set priorities and say NO is very helpful
The list of priorities is more like a jungle and loses its clear structure and actual meaning. An optimal balance between workload and recovery should then be established as a matter of urgency. It is also important to learn to build and maintain your own self-esteem regardless of very high workloads and to occasionally admit to yourself that you are overworked.
Learning to say NO, visualizing happy moments in life, even from the past, maintaining social contacts, taking a vacation in everyday life, e.g. sauna, massages, a healthy diet and, of course, regular exercise can help enormously to temporarily escape the overstimulation.
Relaxation against tension and stress
Yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, Tai Chi etc. are other preventative and therapeutic options. What is really important, when are thoughts and actions really private? After careful self-analysis, the art lies not primarily in burdening your own ship with additional tools in the hope that it will sail better through all the emotional, financial, health and other straits that everyday life brings with it, but instead in mindfully shedding ballast. Gain time by losing time…! But this should be done seriously and truthfully, because it is not possible to set sail and row back with ballast at the same time.
Praise yourself and give yourself a big hug!
Sport provides a distraction from everyday working life, endurance training has been proven to raise serotonin levels and therefore the mood, the production of the growth hormone HGH is boosted by sport, which leads to an increase in cortisol and testosterone and therefore to improved fat burning. Sport also reduces adrenaline, making you calmer and more balanced.
With the knowledge of the healing power of exercise and the associated positive metabolic processes in the brain, many American psychotherapists have started to put their patients on a treadmill and have them walk during treatment. More on what all this has to do with reason, intuition, the right and left hemispheres of the brain and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems soon. Break……………………………!