Stress & Burn-out

Out of Balance

Problems arise when the burden becomes greater than the capacity to handle it. At this point, the demands placed on you, whether by others or yourself, exceed what you can manage. The balance between stressors—factors causing tension—and your ability to prevent or cope with stress tips unfavorably.

This imbalance can occur due to either an excessive burden or insufficient coping capacity. An excessive burden involves external demands and causes that are beyond your control. These stressful circumstances can vary widely, from everyday stressors to major life events.

Sensitivity to Stress

People vary in their sensitivity to stress due to different personal characteristics and traits, resulting in varying levels of resilience. The following attributes can make a person more vulnerable to stress:

• Striving for perfection
• Traits like ambition, competitiveness, being task-oriented, feeling rushed, inability to relax, and multitasking
• Being demanding and setting high expectations for oneself (lots of rules and a strong sense of duty)
• High sense of responsibility
• Strong involvement in family or work
• External validation (sensitivity to others' approval)
• Difficulty saying "no" and setting boundaries
• Struggling to ask for help
• Difficulty expressing emotions
• Feeling a lack of control over one's life

In addition to personality and temperament, experiences and skills also play a significant role. Therefore, you can take steps to enhance your resilience. Through self-examination and self-reflection, you can better understand yourself, gain more self-awareness, and become conscious of self-imposed (and often unrealistic) rules and beliefs. This increased awareness provides more choices and allows you to set more realistic expectations for yourself and others.

Unhealthy lifestyle and work habits can also reduce resilience. Examples include poor eating habits, excessive coffee or alcohol consumption, lack of physical exercise, and insufficient sleep and relaxation. 

Furthermore, poor work organization, excessive work, and inadequate breaks contribute to decreased resilience. This reduced resilience makes you more susceptible to the effects of stress.

Men and women show similar symptoms of burnout, but women are at greater risk. A burnout develops gradually, often after a long period of stress. Women are usually more sensitive to stress and are more likely to become tense.

Recovery from burnout can take some time, and predicting the exact duration is difficult. 

Similar to the grieving process, several stages must be navigated. If one does not go through all the stages and opts for a quicker route, relapse is likely, which can prolong the recovery process even further.

Recovery also depends on various factors. Here are a few:

• The balance between resilience and burden
• The severity of the burnout symptoms
• The presence of risk-enhancing characteristics in the individual
• The level and quality of support and guidance
• The person's own rules and beliefs
• Physical condition
• And more

Consulting Google yields recovery periods ranging from three months to even two years, with some cases taking even longer.

It is difficult to find a solution with the same mindset with which you caused your problem. I recommend seeking professional guidance. Someone can give you specific feedback.

Getting Started on Your Own

• Be kind to yourself and listen to your body
• Ensure you get enough rest and physical recovery before engaging in activities.
• Establish a consistent daily routine; wake up on time and go to bed at a regular hour. Avoid sleeping during the day; instead, rest on the couch if needed.
• Eat healthy meals regularly.
• Alternate between rest and activity.

A professional guide can assist you in setting up a daily routine, help identify the root causes of your burnout, and support you in becoming aware of self-imposed (and often unrealistic) rules and beliefs. This process gives you more options for managing stress in the future.

When burnout symptoms have been ignored for a long time, far-reaching physical and psychological problems can arise that affect behavior and even thoughts and thinking.  We are then talking about very serious burnout symptoms.

Physical Symptoms

Stress can manifest physically with symptoms such as headaches, back pain, neck pain, heart palpitations, or digestive disorders. The immune system may also be compromised, making you more susceptible to colds and flu. Common issues include fatigue, restlessness, and sleep disturbances. In severe cases, muscle weakness and difficulty speaking can occur. Stress can even cause one limb to become temporarily paralyzed or numb, such as an arm or leg.

Psychological Symptoms

Stressed individuals often feel irritable or cynical. Stress can also lead to feelings of helplessness, unhappiness, or boredom. Unhealthy stress significantly impacts one's mood and emotional state, and people may feel isolated.

Behavioral Symptoms

Behavioral changes due to stress can include being bossy, snapping at others, or becoming overly critical. It may also result in increased use of alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, or overeating. These changes often stem from the physical and psychological symptoms of stress. Irritability can lead to conflicts, while lethargy or sadness can cause withdrawal from social interactions.

Cognitive Symptoms

Unhealthy stress can impair cognitive functions, leading to difficulty thinking clearly, a lack of creativity, memory issues, and concentration problems. It often fosters a negative thought pattern, and individuals may lose their sense of humor.