The Risk of Professional Burnout Has Increased in 2021
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health has never been so important. Studies have shown a significant spike in mental health complaints in individuals across the globe due to prolonged confinement, financial worries, and the feeling of general uncertainty that goes along with a pandemic. Adult professionals have also found themselves under significantly more pressure than usual this year with having to quickly adapt to mandatory work from home conditions while still maintaining strong performance at work and also possibly having to also look after children too during working hours. All of this on top of both the usual demands of business and personal life can cause stress to build quite rapidly. When profound stress is left unaddressed and given enough time, it will affect all aspects of life, from business to personal. It can even affect one’s physical health as the stress response suppresses the immune system, tissue repair, and digestion processes.
Stress will always be a part of life and some can naturally handle it more than others. Some people develop great strategies instinctively to help them deal with it. Others never quite seem to manage to find the balance in life that helps them to overcome this hurdle. This can end up manifesting itself through burnout, depression, anxiety, and addiction. This is why stress and burnout coaching has become such an important resource for professionals today.
In business, burnout is one of the most common ways people lose their ability to perform effectively in their role. After all, the stigma associated with admitting that you are burned out can lead a supervisor or manager to evaluate your ability to function and your usefulness within the organization. Stress and burnout coaching has evolved and was developed specifically to assist those individuals, many of whom are executives in high-pressure positions, deal with the every day and the not-so-everyday battles within their lives. For those who are feeling overwhelmed in their careers, fear not, the first step is to reach out. The courage to reach out unlocks the door to restoring health as stress and burnout thrive on silence.
It’s worth noting that those who currently suffer from or who have experienced anxiety, depression, or ADHD in the past are found to be at a higher risk of professional burnout. Burnout and depression can share common symptoms e.g., loss of interest and impaired concentration. However, despite its severity and resemblance to depression characteristics, burnout is not mentioned in DSM-V and still, no diagnostic criteria exist for identifying it. Furthermore, one major factor that appears to distinguish burnout from depression is the fact that burnout is work-related and situation-specific, whereas depression is context-free and pervasive.
So, what’s the best way to prevent burnout or treat yourself if you’re already feeling burned out? That depends on the individual. Psychologists and other mental health professionals recommend tapping into resilience-building strategies in five domains: professional support, professional development, life balance, cognitive strategies, and daily balance. That might mean sharing work-related stressors with colleagues or being aware of stress-inducing triggers. If self-care strategies fail to restore normality it is recommended to reach out to a licensed mental health care professional who will assist in getting you back on track.
