Burnout, is alarmingly on the rise, ballooning to a record high, reports global media. Terms like “Guolaosi (Chinese word for ‘work-related death’) and “Karoshi” (Japanese), are resurrecting in the media, cautioning individuals to be on the guard against the unmanaged chronic work-related stress. Reports suggest that annually 1 million people die by overwork in China, with lack of work-life balance, and as much as 120,000 in the US. The WHO presented the statistics of 745000 deaths worldwide in 2016, from stroke and ischemic heart diseases due to working long hours. A survey undertaken by the US Think-Tank Future Forum in February 2023, revealed that among the 10243 global workers who participated, 42% of them experience burnout, the highest since May 2021.
Incidentally, the hybrid and remote work culture of the pandemic is blamed for the disastrous spike. Obviously, the work-from-home transitions, financial anxiety from potential job loss, lack of in-person support from colleagues, zoom fatigue, etc., constantly expose workers to the pernicious consequences of burnout.
Burnout, ‘the great exhaustion’ as called by McKinsey and Company, however, is not the exclusive creation of the pandemic. It was there in the pre-pandemic world. Looks like, it will continue to exist, unless we change, reframe, and redefine our existing work culture. A consistent healthy practice of self-care, however, could be a competent coping strategy for managing burnout.
What is burnout?
Herbert Freudenberger, who coined the term in 1974 described it as the physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. The 11th revision of the International Disease Classification (IDC), defined burnout as “a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” As a built-up stress, it manifests itself in real time, in three specific dimensions: feeling 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.
Experts warn us of the grave impact of burnout on human health and wellbeing. It affects us adversely from impaired immunity to sleep disturbances, musculoskeletal diseases, gastrointestinal issues, chronic fatigue, cardiovascular diseases, and a wide range of psychological and behavioral disturbances. Substance dependency and suicide could be its potential companions.
“Chronic” and “Workplace”
The words “chronic” and “workplace” hold the key in understanding what burnout is about. It is not about any stress which we randomly undergo. For example, we all have those typical mornings we wake up feeling not interested in going to work, wanting to stay in bed. Those are the ‘lazy days,” which are not to be mistaken with burnout. The maker of burnout would be more serious in nature such as a lingering disinterestedness in work, persisting cynicism thinking out it, experiencing dread or panic about the thought of work, waking up feeling sick, lack of confidence and feeling incompetent about work.
The WHO links burnout primarily to the ‘workplace’ context, to the mismatch of multiple work-related components like heavy workload, long working hours, insufficient resources, toxic workplace etc. Michael P. Leiter, and Christina Maslach, authors of the book “Banishing Burnout: Six strategies for improving your relationship with work” present six sources of burnout at work: “Lack of control, values conflict, insufficient reward, work overload, unfairness and breakdown of community.”
The hardest obstacle individuals encounter in the amelioration of burnout is its systemic etiology. Obviously, tackling the sources of burnout is not entirely within the control of the employees. Employees cannot decide on their workload, or determine the recognition they deserve for their achievements. It solely falls within the parameters of the employer’s vision of how he wants to run his business. At the best of his ability, an employee could take note of the workplace toxicity, address it with the employer for positive change. But it can’t be guaranteed that today’s profit-controlled work culture would heed to such concerns.
Healthy Self-care Habits
It is proven that our commitment to the daily practice of self-care could help us manage burnout effectively. While rest, relaxation, resilience, and overall wellbeing are the motives, prudence should be exercised that our focus on self-care is not reduced to any one area of our life. Uncompromisingly, a well-thought-out holistic approach is needed. For example, we see millennials having a penchant for physical exercise which is highly desirable for anyone wishing to manage stress. Physical, though is not enough. We need to expand our healthy self-care habits to the wellbeing mind, spirit, and soul too.
An all-inclusive package sounds unattainably time-consuming. But it is quite doable, and falls in place with intentionally committing to many of the activities we do habitually. Sleeping sufficiently, eating healthy, building positive relationships, and finding quiet space and time are fundamental to a meaningful life.
Taking time to reframe our toxic self-critical and self-defeating thoughts would require only five to ten minutes of a daily mindful mediation practice. But the tremendous psychological and emotional benefit of this activity of cognitive reframing, living in the moment, and total acceptance is invaluable.
A 30-minute leisure walk (nature walk) is a no-cost and effortless activity compare to going to a gym, but it produces tons of physical energy and happy hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphin. We therefore don’t have to feel exhausted thinking about inventing heavy self-care packages to combat burnout.
Burnout as an ‘occupational phenomenon’, as called by WHO, is a reality, and in today’s work culture no one is insulated from it. We can, but, manage it, with the practice of healthy self-care habits.
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