Today we are publishing a blog post by astro-psychologist Angelika Zhuravskaya about the syndrome of “Professional and Emotional Burnout,” along with a link to an online test so you can assess yourself.
…. Hello to everyone reading this blog. Let’s talk a bit about the concept of “emotional burnout.” Are you familiar with this state? In psychology, it is believed that it most often occurs in people who work in “person-to-person” systems and strive to help everyone, investing as much soul and energy as possible into their work. Most commonly, these are medical workers, social workers, teachers, educators, psychologists, and managers. It is believed that burnout syndrome frequently occurs in individuals who have certain personality traits:
• perfectionism, the desire to do everything perfectly;
• heightened responsibility and a tendency to sacrifice personal interests;
• dreaminess, which sometimes leads to an inadequate assessment of one’s own abilities and potential;
• a tendency toward idealism.
And if a person is an idealist, yet worthy results in work (or in family life) are absent for years, and everything must be achieved through immense effort, then yes—such a person may burn out. For the sake of fairness, I should note that emotional burnout can manifest not only in those who work hard and diligently, showing altruism, but also in those who live in a constant state of emotional giving, pouring their emotional warmth into close relationships. For example, in my professional experience, I often encounter situations where women married to authoritarian men gradually develop emotional burnout, as do mothers raising sick children, or wives of alcoholics.
“…Emotional burnout syndrome—a term introduced into psychology by American psychiatrist Herbert Freudenberger in 1974—manifests as progressively accumulating emotional exhaustion. It may cause personal changes in the sphere of human communication…” Simply put, burnout accumulates and begins to manifest as heightened emotional sensitivity, with emotions growing stronger and stronger, leading to disproportionately intense reactions to the surrounding world: tears, hurt feelings, irritation, fears. One website stated: “Under prolonged exposure, burnout develops into genuine stress, with its characteristic symptoms (including cardiovascular disorders, neuroses, gastrointestinal ulcers, weakened immunity). Indifference grows, along with ‘professional cynicism’ and negativity toward clients and one’s work. Sometimes, disgust toward the entire world arises, along with unmotivated resentment toward others, fate, or the government. Life seems empty and meaningless, and work becomes a tedious, hateful routine. People one must interact with—clients, visitors, colleagues—become particularly hostile. This type of burnout is even referred to as ‘people poisoning.’ By the way, students—schoolchildren and university students—are equally susceptible to ‘burnout.'”
What causes burnout?
According to psychologists, emotional burnout is a defense mechanism developed by the personality, involving the complete or partial suppression of emotions in response to psychologically traumatic influences. Since our nervous system has a certain “communication limit,” meaning that a person can give full attention to only a limited number of people per day, exceeding this number inevitably leads to exhaustion and, subsequently, burnout.
Would you like to check whether you are currently prone to burnout syndrome? If so, you should take the test, which consists of 84 questions. You can share your results and reflections. Test link: http://psytests.org/boyko/burnout-run.html
For those interested in delving deeper into the topic of burnout, its causes and consequences, here is a link to a good article:
http://www.camps.ru/…/179-jemocionalnoe-vygoranie-i-kak-sn…
With respect to all our readers at Astrodata.pro, astro-psychologist Angelika Zhuravskaya
Source ASTRODATA
