Psychologists from Peking Union Medical College warn: If you have these 10 symptoms, you may be suffering from "occupational burnout"

Author: Jiang Yinan, Department of Psychology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Are you working hard but always feeling exhausted?

Do you always feel that your life is almost entirely occupied by work?

Do you have the same experience and feelings as Ms. Tang? Let's take a look~

Ms. Tang is a 30-year-old white collar worker at a fund company. She looked anxious, worried, and restless. After calming down in the clinic, she told the doctor about her troubles:

"I have been doing this job for seven years, working more than 10 hours a day, and rarely taking a break on Saturdays and Sundays..."

"What hurts me the most is that I am a person who plans everything I do, but there are always many emergencies. I may receive a call at 11 o'clock at night and ask me to prepare a report for 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."

"My life is almost completely taken up by work, and I feel like I'm about to be overwhelmed..."

Do you encounter similar problems? If so, you need to consider such a problem, that is, career burnout!

Perhaps this word is still unfamiliar to you, so we specially invited Dr. Jiang Yinan from the Department of Psychology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital to help you understand "occupational burnout".

1. What is "occupational burnout"? To understand "burnout", we first need to understand a psychological concept: what is "stress".

Stress is the various events and stimuli in our daily lives.

Some people say that stress is a modern plague!

Why do I say that? Because stress is almost everywhere. All problems and events in daily life can become stress.

Not only those tense, difficult and challenging things are stressful, but also promotions, salary increases, wedding vacations, moving into a new house, etc., these so-called "good things" can become stressful.

Stress can cause a series of physiological and psychological reactions, leading to the consumption of individual energy. When this consumption reaches a certain level, exhaustion will occur.

And occupational burnout is, without a doubt, the exhaustion caused by stress in the workplace.

2. What are the manifestations of occupational burnout? If you gradually experience the following 10 manifestations at work, you should consider the possibility of occupational burnout:

● Emotional exhaustion

● Dissatisfied with own performance

● Alienation

● Depressive reaction

● Helplessness

● Inner emptiness

● Fatigue from work

● Unable to relax: Unable to feel relaxed even without stress and work

● Being overly demanding of yourself

● Irritability: easily angered and prone to conflict with others

3. Causes of occupational burnout

"Career balance" is an important factor leading to career burnout.

As shown in the figure above, if the job requirements are within your capabilities, and even if they exceed your capabilities, you can still get strong support from your leaders and colleagues, then your job is in a balanced state.

But it should be emphasized that the requirements at work do not only come from others or the company, but often come from one's own heart. For example, Ms. Tang mentioned above said that when she first started working, she required herself to complete every task until her superiors could not raise any objections, otherwise it would be a failure. Obviously, she needs to obtain more of her own abilities and peripheral support, and the risk of imbalance is relatively high.

In addition, there should be a balance between your professional efforts and the rewards you receive (both material and spiritual rewards).

What needs to be emphasized here is that the rewards of career and work do not only come from external rewards and recognition, but more importantly from one's own inner experience and feelings. This part is often even more important.

Take Ms. Tang as an example. She comes from a wealthy family and is particularly fond of art. However, her father is a very successful entrepreneur and believes that Ms. Tang’s interests are not enough to provide her with a stable life in the future. Therefore, he strongly urges her to work in a fund company, a career that offers a lot of benefits. However, Ms. Tang cannot accept her father’s choice and is extremely resistant to such a job.

In short, when the above situation is out of balance, there is a risk of career burnout. But career burnout does not happen overnight, it is a gradual process.

At the beginning, we may just have high demands on ourselves in our hearts, hoping to achieve professional success and recognition through hard work, so we continue to increase our investment in work.

These investments may be rewarding at first, such as a significant increase in income, recognition from leaders and colleagues, etc. At this point, we can say that we have tasted the "sweetness".

Therefore, we will further restrain our needs and suppress other conflicts brought about by the increase in work, such as the needs for family and friendship, and the conflicts with lovers and children. At this time, we may use "psychological defense mechanisms" to deny or avoid these problems, such as comforting ourselves "these are not problems, those who achieve great things do not hesitate to make small sacrifices, and there is no success without sacrifice"...

These long-term repressed and denied problems will gradually affect people's behavior, and even change their personality to some extent, causing them to feel inner emptiness and even develop mental illness.

4. Diagnosis of occupational burnout Occupational burnout is not yet a recognized disease diagnosis, but there is no doubt that occupational-related stress and pressure are at the core of this type of problem.

If you see a psychiatrist, the doctor may diagnose you with depression, anxiety, somatic disorder, or adjustment disorder (which means it is difficult to adapt to a certain situation or problem) based on your current condition.

However, behind the psychiatric diagnosis, the core pathogenic factors are occupational stress and inappropriate coping styles.

5. Treatment principles for occupational burnout From a treatment perspective, we can start by reducing stress, improving our own emotions, and discovering cognitive distortions.

Mindfulness: The concept of mindfulness originated from Buddhist meditation. It means to pay attention to and be aware of everything in the present moment purposefully and consciously, without making any judgment, analysis or reaction to it. You just simply notice and pay attention to it. Such practice can effectively reduce stress response.

Self-care: It's okay to be different ("say no") and learn to say no, which is an effective way to reduce stress and pressure.

Improve self-emotional management: especially acceptance of negative emotions.

Increase the ability to relax and be happy: It must be emphasized that relaxation is not something that can be achieved by just talking about it. Relaxation is a method and technique that requires training to master.

In short, only by discovering your own cognitive and behavioral patterns and improving them can you stay away from "occupational burnout."

About the Author

Jiang Yinan

Doctor of Medicine, attending physician, majoring in clinical medicine, Peking Union Medical College.

Expertise: Biological and psychotherapy for common mental and psychological problems, including various types of anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and unexplained physical symptoms. Especially for mental and psychological problems associated with physical illness.