What are the main burnout symptoms?
How to tell if you have burnout
Am I burnout? This is a question we are regularly asked.
If you are experiencing chronic stress at work and you are not supported with tasks, stress or relationships then you may be wondering if you are experiencing burnout. The main symptoms of burnout, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) are:
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
- Reduced professional efficacy
You may also notice one or more of the following:
- Making more mistakes
- Considering leaving your role and / or organisation
- Avoiding going into work or certain tasks
- Being physically unwell more often
These symptoms may look different in different people; some people may withdraw from work and become physically unwell while others may continue to try to work and find themselves making mistakes more frequently. Many might find themselves cycling between these two situations. Different people will be triggered by different causes of stress. Burnout is frequently triggered by one or more of the following:
- High workloads including high caseloads in health and social work
- Frequent changes in your role, processes or colleagues – due to a high turnover of staff
- Unsupportive management team
- Lack of appropriate clinical supervision (in client health and social care work) or mentoring (in other types of organisation or other roles)
- Difficult working relationships or feeling isolated in your role
- A lack of appropriate training to complete your job
- Worries about your future career, either in feeling unsure that your role will continue or about career progression
- Being someone who struggles to say no
- Not prioritising self-care
- Wider life stressors including caring roles
Recovering from burnout
If you are experiencing the above symptoms then you may find the suggestions below useful to support your recovery:
Prioritise self-care: this includes ensuring that you take care of your physical health, prioritising relationships both at home and work and keeping to boundaries at work. For more information on prioritising self-care see our previous blog.
Seek support at work: it is imperative, in order to recover from burnout, that you seek support from seniors at work. You may need a break from work, reduced workload, counselling through work in order to recover.
External support: you or your employer may find it helpful to seek support externally.
Burnout UK was founded by Dr Julie Hannan and provides online courses for people to overcome and prevent burnout. Courses are written by Psychologists and approved by the British Psychological Society. Courses help you identify stressors that you face in your work and home life that might be contributing to your burnout and reshape areas of your life which are depleting you by developing new strategies to support your recovery and strengthen your resilience and wellbeing for the future.
