Burn-out: Prevention/Intervention

Being burned out. Mentally feeling finished. Physically feeling broken. Burn-out – suffering in the workplace. And beyond. An emergency and a disease that is now spreading.

If you do not deliver, you get kicked out – this is the mantra of the modern world of work. The times when you could push your way through with half strength are definitely over. Result: rapidly increasing pressure. On the one hand by growing competition. On the other hand, by increasing demands due the course of digitization. The world of work is changing at great speed. What was learned yesterday is often no longer needed the day after tomorrow. Job profiles change half-yearly. School leavers collect training and degrees to increase their competitiveness. More and more people have more than one job.

In the perception of many, life accelerates overall. They feel like hamsters in the wheel, complain workers and employers. Time is becoming an increasingly precious commodity. Time to pursue his interests. Time for the family. Time for leisure. Time that seems to evaporate in the ubiquitous efficiency pressure. No wonder the diagnosis burn-out is becoming more common. An increase like an epidemic.

Burnout endangers companies, is a growing capital destroyer and can be the beginning of a very painful turn in your own biography. The following symptoms are signs of burnout: difficulty concentrating, short-term memory limitations, irritability and nervousness, feelings of helplessness, increasing inability to decide, feelings of helplessness, inner emptiness, tendency to retreat, difficulty sleeping, and tiredness. In addition, gastrointestinal problems, increased susceptibility to infection. And last but not least: no more desire to go to work.

“I’m fighting the clock,” people complain of burn-out or precursors. “Constantly I’m under time pressure,” they moan. “Growing responsibility weighs on me. The pressure from above increases. Everyone wants something from me. Very often I am disturbed. Often, something is left on my desk. More and more often I come out of the office late. ”

Nevertheless, hardly any recognition was received from the executive suite. They would feel left alone. Would be increasingly afraid of dismissal and an uncertain future. Would become increasingly foreign to yourself.

“I do not know who I am anymore,” said Client P. during a practice session. “I experience a strange self-denial and alienation.”

Burnout phone: advice and more

As a therapist and alternative practitioner for psychotherapy (HPG), I offer professional help. I am subject to confidentiality and guarantee full confidentiality. In addition to the work in practice, I offer a burn-out phone (with special conditions for medium-sized companies and larger companies). More on request via mail: oj@otmarjenner.de

Chronic fatigue in the workplace is the definition of burnout syndrome. But causes are not seldom also beyond the work in the private search. Whatever has caused an unhealthy inflaming when a person burns, he may burn out. Rivalry, motivation, curiosity and zest for action can ignite a fire in a person who becomes an unhealthy fire in the course of his working life.

The following stages in the development of burnout will typically be reached according the American Psychologists Association (APA):

The first preliminary stage: The falling in love phase (enthusiasm at the beginning, 120 percent work and zeal).
The second preliminary stage: End of the dream (first disappointment, the greater effort).
The third preliminary stage: The view into the abyss (further disappointment, increasing stress and dissatisfaction, the feeling of failure, first nervous breakdowns).
Burn-Out: The final stage (desperation, mental and physical exhaustion, collapse).

In addition, there is often talk of a fifth stage. I call it: the becoming of the phoenix.

The legend of the Phoenix from the ashes comes from ancient Egyptian mythology. The Phoenix, actually God Osiris in the bird’s body, burns in the morning sun, but rises from his ashes as if born again. A myth of regeneration and resurrection.
We humans too can get out of the ashes. Turn a supposed end into a new beginning and departure. Because we are vital. And because we learn.
Learning to listen more to ourselves and less to others.
Learning to set ourselves healthy goals.
Learning to move towards these goals at a healthy pace.
Learning to use a healthy amount of strength and time for it.
Learning to better understand our innermost needs.

We can learn that and more. To become a phoenix. Get out of the ashes. Everything at nine. That’s the opportunity. To avoid burn-out. Or, to emerge stronger from it.

Burn-out: Prevention/Intervention

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