From the experience of working a variety of employment opportunities in the past it never crossed my mind that the workload combined with management lack of empathy and support is what lead to my decrease in desire to keep working in some employment positions. It always felt like my lack of motivation or drive for those positions came from my inability to keep up with demand, due to consistent negative comments about my skills and overwhelming demands of workload and hours from management.
There had to be something wrong with me, right?
According to a research paper on the National Library of Medicine (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834764/) there are dimension of symptoms for burnout
| Dimension | Definition |
|---|---|
| Emotional exhaustion | This dimension manifests in the form of feelings and sensation of being exhausted by the psychological efforts made at work. It is also described in terms of weariness, tiredness, fatigue, weakening, and the subjects who manifest this type of feelings show difficulties in adapting to the work environment since they lack sufficient emotional energy to cope with work tasks. |
| Cynicism or depersonalization | This dimension, the interpersonal component of burnout, is defined as a response of detachment, indifference and unconcern towards the work being performed and/or the people who receive it. It translates into negative or inappropriate attitudes and behaviors, irritability, loss of idealism, and interpersonal avoidance usually towards service users, patients, and/or clients. |
| Reduced personal achievement | This dimension is reflected in a negative professional self-evaluation and doubts about the ability to perform the job effectively, as well as a greater tendency to evaluate results negatively. It also translates into a decrease in productivity and capabilities, low morale, as well as lower coping skills. |
Here are some symptoms of burnout according to the Positive Psychology website (https://positivepsychology.com/burnout/):
The physical symptoms include:
- Feeling exhausted
- Unable to recover from a common cold
- Frequent headaches
- Frequent gastrointestinal problems
- Sleep disturbances
- Shortness of breath
The behaviors include:
- Irritability
- Heightened emotional responses (quick to cry, quick to anger)
- Suspicious and paranoid about colleagues
- Substance abuse
- Stubbornness, rigid thinking, and unwillingness to listen to other people
- Negative attitude
- Appears depressed
Voices of Burnout (VOB) 