Work is both a boon and a bane — a blessing because you need one to pay the bills and put food on the table, but it’s also a curse because it can also burn you out. If you think about it, how many times a week do you complain about it?
The truth is, it is normal to feel stressed at times but what’s not is when you are exhausted and drained and you constantly can’t help but hate your job.
Burnout
Burnout isn’t a new discovery; it has been present since time immemorial. If you have not experienced this problem yet, then lucky you.
But for most people, the feeling that they are fed up with their jobs or the persisting urge to just stay at home instead of going to the office always linger. In fact, it is a growing concern that even employers should be taking note of.
Yup, not only are employees affected by burnouts, bosses are not exempted of this because they actually take the toll of stressed out personnel. There’s the absences, office politics, and even toxic working environment that’s going to make the other workers march their way out of the place. Thus, it is also costly for companies. Plus, it could also wreak permanent havoc on the mental health of those suffering.
These may be the reasons the World Health Organization categorized burnout, which was described as chronic stress from work that was left untreated, as a medical condition under the International Classification of Diseases Handbook.
At the section where it was listed, the agency laid out the criteria for diagnosing the problem that’s been sweeping every workplace – doctors must check the following conditions first: stress, adjustment disorder, anxiety, and mood disorders.
Signs of Burnout
Not sure if you’re just stressed out for the moment from work or you’re actually experiencing burnout? WHO said it is characterized by reduced efficacy in your job, feeling exhausted, and mental distance from your profession.
This means that if you’ve noticed you have been accomplishing lesser and lesser tasks (meaning you started to become unproductive unlike before), your mind wanders far from your work (perhaps being unable to focus on your task), or you feel tired even with less work, then you might want to seek help.
Treatment
Just like an abusive relationship, the best cure is to leave your work, WHO suggests, whether temporarily or permanently. If it’s draining the juice out of you, it is high time that you address that.
But, of course, we cannot remove the fact that not everyone can really leave their workplace without falling into further stress. It is not as simple as that, especially for those who are living paycheck to paycheck.
Psychiatrist Gail Saltz recommends taking a break every now and then to avoid burnout. If this doesn’t solve the problem, then try talking to the management if they could do something about it like asking for ways to reduce stress in the workplace, ways to be motivated, or to incorporate interest in the daily routine.