BURNOUT
Your options: chill-out or burn-out
A burnout evolves over time and is the result of chronic interpersonal stress. Most individuals ignore the first symptoms of exhaustion and keep going with their usual performance patterns, mostly out of fear of failure or of not being loved or valued if they are not achieving a certain standard.
A burnout is accompanied by psychosomatic symptoms, such as:
-
Chronic fatigue/exhaustion,
-
Lack of concentration,
-
Memory disturbances,
-
Lack of interest and drive,
-
Cynicism,
-
Changes of personality,
-
Difficulty breathing,
-
Headaches or the feeling of head pressure.
If this sounds familiar, I highly recommend you to look for support as the symptoms will usually not disappear by themselves:
-
Contact your generalist to discuss the necessary steps (for example, absence from work, etc.)
-
Contact a therapist who can help you to work through the accumulated stress and to support you in changing ineffective patterns to deal with stressors. Otherwise, a recurrent burnout is likely to happen at some point.
Having a burnout is not to be taken lightly or dismissed as weakness, and can leave permanent damage to your nervous system.
​
The sooner you act, the better the chances of being cured and of re-establishing a good quality of life.