Psychology Today defines burnout as a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Though it’s most often caused by problems at work, it can also appear in other areas of life, such as parenting, caretaking, or romantic relationships.
Let’s take a look at the signs in more detail:
Physical Signs
There are many physical signs that tell you something is wrong or off. When it comes to burn out some of the common symptoms include: lethargy, insomnia, muscle aches and headaches. Burnout may also lead to loss of appetite, gastrointestinal problems, migraines and lowered immunity to disease and sickness.
Behavioral Signs
When reaching the point of burnout, you might tend to react differently in some social situations. You might start to blame others for your problems and feelings and even withdraw from your tasks at home or work. You might self medicate using drugs, drinking alcohol as a form of mental outlet. This could lead to making poor decisions at work due to high levels of stress leading to procrastination, ignoring responsibilities, skipping work or arriving late.
Emotional and Mental Signs
Burnout can affect people's emotional well-being a lot. It can reduce your ability to concentrate and focus, decreasing activity and memory power. You might develop self-doubt, isolation, feelings of failure, sadness, a negative outlook on life and work, signs of detachment, loss of motivation, and depersonalization (psychosis)
Just by looking at the signs you can easily see how burnout can impact your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. Left untreated these symptoms can result in a decline in mental/physical health, or even illness. Not to mention it can have a negative impact on relationships.
So now that we know the signs of burnout and why it’s dangerous let’s look at stress. I bring this up because we often confuse the two and surprisingly, they are two different issues, and one can be a result of the other. I invite you to join me as we continue the conversation in our first FREE challenge called, Say Goodbye to Burnout.
Learn how to spot burn out, manage it, while creating comfort and joy this season. Click the below button to get started (just create an account). It's all FREE!
