Burnout Syndrome
What is Burnout Syndrome?
Many individuals working in today's stressful and busy work environments have to try to cope with the problem of burnout syndrome at an early age. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), burnout syndrome is "A person's exhaustion over a long period of time, loss of interest in the events and developments around him, and a corresponding decrease in performance." It is defined as.
Stages of Burnout Syndrome
Enthusiasm and Enthusiasm Phase: In this stage of the disease, high hope and energy are very high. The person has unrealistic professional expectations. They prioritize their profession above everything else and strive to adapt to insomnia, tense work environments, and the inability to devote time and energy to themselves and other aspects of life. Stagnation Phase: In this phase, the person's wishes and hopes begin to decline. While he was not previously bothered by the difficulties he encountered while doing his job, these begin to bother him. This time, the person begins to think that he is doing nothing but his job.
Frustration Phase: In this phase, people understand how difficult it is to change people, the system, and negative working conditions. The person experiencing the feeling of frustration has to choose one of three ways.
These ways are activating adaptive defenses and coping strategies, advancing burnout with maladaptive defenses and coping strategies, withdrawing or avoiding the situation.
Ignorance Phase. : People experience emotional ruptures in this phase. They feel like they are sterilized and cannot produce anything. Work life is expressed as a place that is far from being a place of satisfaction and self-realization for the person. .
A. Emotional symptoms of Burnout Syndrome: Lack of motivation, decrease in personal confidence, feeling of worthlessness, excessive suspiciousness, anxiety, restlessness, feeling isolated, quick anger, dissatisfaction, concentration disorders, helplessness, confusion and disorganization, loss of cognitive skills. experiencing difficulties.
B. Behavioral symptoms of Burnout Syndrome: Sudden reactivity and hypersensitivity to criticism, irritability, impatience, rigidity about rules, resentment, spending time on other things instead of dealing with work, a constant state of defense and blame, denial. C. Physical symptoms of Burnout Syndrome: Chronic fatigue, loss of energy, sleep disorders, shortness of breath, stomach problems. When these symptoms are considered alone, they may suggest some other problems besides burnout. However, when considered in the organizational environment and especially in parallel with the work done, considering these symptoms as signs of burnout in the individual will be the first step to take in coping with burnout. The next step is to address the sources of burnout and the factors that increase burnout in the individual.
CAUSES OF BURNOUT
In most cases, burnout is caused by work. If an individual has worked hard but feels undervalued, he or she is at risk of burnout. Examples can be given, such as an overworked office worker thinking that he does not get enough vacation, or a mother who deals with household chores and takes care of 3 children thinking that she has a high responsibility.
However, burnout is not only caused by a stressful work environment or excessive responsibilities placed on the individual. An individual's lifestyle and certain personality traits also contribute to burnout. It may be effective in arriving. An individual's view of the world is one of the factors that causes burnout, as much as the demands at work or at home.
Work-related causes of burnout
The individual feels like he has little or no control over his work, Reasons such as feeling a lack of recognition or reward after good work, unclear or overly demanding job expectations, doing the job as monotonous or simple, working in a high-pressure or chaotic environment are reasons for burnout caused by the work environment. /> Lifestyle-related causes of burnout
Working too much without enough time for relaxation and socialization, Expecting too much from too many people, Taking on too many responsibilities without enough help from others, Close, supportive relationships Reasons such as lack of burnout are the causes of burnout syndrome due to the lifestyle of the individual.
Causes of burnout related to individual characteristics
Perfectionist tendencies, nothing being good enough, for the individual himself and for the world. Reasons such as pessimistic perspective, desire to be in control, inability to obey others, being a high-achieving individual, A-quality personality are also reasons for burnout that occur due to the individual's own characteristics.
Treatment of Burnout Syndrome
The amount and burden of work-related tasks can be influenced by directing interventions in the workplace. The causes and consequences of burnout are evaluated individually. If burnout occurs as part of depression or as part of an adjustment problem, the need for treatment and sick leave is determined according to the conditions generally applicable to such disorders. A patient's sleep rhythm in the treatment of Burnout Syndrome It usually takes a few days and nights for things to return to normal. In cases of severe fatigue that wears out functional capacity, for example if it is combined with an adaptation problem, sick leaves of 2-3 weeks are required.
In severe cases of depression, even longer sick leaves are often required because it takes longer than the time required for the symptoms to disappear. More is required to regain functional capacity. Sick leave does not replace treatment and follow-up. Regular appointments should be arranged with the patient. If the patient's burnout is not caused by a psychiatric or somatic disease and he needs time away from work, the solution is not a sick leave but a reduction in workload or rearrangement of tasks. It should also be taken into account that all different types of such arrangements are also made possible by the social security system or the employer.
If the workload is also clearly unreasonable, the labor protection system should have a central role in solving this problem. According to the current classification of diseases, burnout is a diagnosis of symptoms and does not require compensation on the part of the employer. Health insurance requires that the loss of ability to work be the result of an illness. If the patient is unable to work due to burnout, the patient's condition can be considered an illness and the main diagnosis is some kind of mental disorder (such as depression, adjustment problem, somatoform disorder). Burnout may be recorded as an additional diagnosis.
Treatment is planned on an individual basis and may include, for example, stress management, medication or psychotherapy. It is important to sleep well. Mental problems such as depression should be actively treated. It is important to take into account the patient's subjective experience and It should not be forgotten that it is also important for the child to get used to the living conditions. If there is no significant improvement within 1-2 months and the diagnosis remains unclear, the patient should be referred for psychiatric evaluation. If the occupational health service unit believes that burnout is common in a particular workplace, some initiatives, including group-based solutions/interventions, can be planned.
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