Are you suffering from burnout?
Causes and preventions: the CliffsNotes
What this issue covers
Burnout - the background
What is burnout?
What triggers it?
How organisations and individuals can prevent it
The blog is below. If you want to dig deeper, a long-form article with references is available here:
Burnout - the story so far
The term "burnout" is rooted in fiction- Graham Greene's "A Burnt-Out Case" (1961) - but decades of research since its coining have demonstrated that it is a widespread phenomenon. It has a high cost for businesses and individuals alike.
The term “burnout” has seen a recent resurgence due to the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a surge in new scientific studies and reviews.
(numbers taken from a search for burnout articles on sciencedirect.com)
Even prior to COVID, a 2019 study estimated that the organizational cost of physician burnout in the United States was $4.6 billion annually, or $7,600 per physician. Extrapolating this cost across all countries and businesses, it is clear why both employees and employers want to address burnout.
What is burnout?
Burnout is the body’s response to chronic psychological stress. Is it expressed in extreme physical exhaustion, a lack of engagement in the job role, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a feeling of poor ability.
What are the outcomes of burnout?
Burnout causes both behavioural and physical changes.
Behavioural:
a reduction in productivity
a reduction in job satisfaction
an increased likelihood of quitting a job
knock-on effects of a reduction in enthusiasm for family and friends
increased likelihood of relationship and personal breakdowns
Physiological:
reduction in the ability to fight viruses and disease
changed brain structure and function (!)
Who does burnout affect?
A lot of research has been focused on the medical profession - and rightfully so, given its prevalence in this area. Indeed, burnout is often referred to as an ‘outcome’ of being a nurse!
However, it is now understood that burnout can affect anyone in any profession, even at home.
‘workaholics’ are at particular risk
the teaching profession is another area with a high level of burnout
parental burnout is increasingly being studied, particularly for parents with younger children and lower salaries
On the plus side, there is evidence that the risk of burnout reduces the older we get. It may not seem like it as we work through the early years of a career, but things do consistently get better.
Dealing with burnout
Prevention: what triggers burnout?
Be aware of a sudden change in environment, particularly within the same job role (COVID being a classic example). This can lead to:
questioning of ability in the role
reduction in trust of managers as they also adapt to the new environment
a change in support required or ways of working, compounding the negative effects of the first two factors
However, burnout is often the result of a slow build of many of the factors noted above, and a change in environment may be the final straw. It is better to find ways to prevent this buildup of factors from reaching a critical point.
How can the individual combat burnout?
The majority of jobs have stressful moments - days, weeks, and months. These are not harmful if experienced in moderation. It is prolonged exposure to such conditions that creates burnout. Indeed, workaholics are most at risk of burnout simply because they have the compulsion to keep working.
The best way to combat burnout? Take a break. It sounds simple, but it’s amazing how often we convince ourselves that the next task can’t wait. It can - and if it does, the task will be completed more successfully with a rested mind.
Additionally, to borrow a term from health and safety, always be on the lookout for the “root cause” of potential burnout. Was the job less stressful a few years ago? Why was this? Are there an extra 20 emails each day to answer? Two pages of extra paperwork? An additional responsibility that seems to add 10% of time to the role but 60% more stress?
As burnout is the culmination of many small factors, there is often a way to deal with many of them and avoid the larger problem from developing
How can organisations combat burnout?
Many organisations have already embraced methods that can reduce burnout as they have a positive effect on many other areas.
But there is always more than can be done!
focus on employee progression
focus on employee autonomy
start employee-led mentorship programs
look at where paperwork or other admin be reduced
hold regular, supportive, employee (and employer) evaluations - never neglect the individual
encourage (and be part of) extracurricular group activities
make resources such as mindfulness and stress reduction training easily available
There are many options for organisations to combat burnout. These solutions directly contribute to improved team performance, so there is always a reason to implement a new one.
What’s the takeaway?
Burnout can cause long-term damage to an individual’s well-being. It can also increase worker turnover and reduce the productivity of an organisation.
Burnout is a serious issue. Technology will be part of the solution (a few ideas here), for instance, by helping to identify shift patterns that increase the risk of burnout or notifying surgeons when they are more likely to make mistakes.
Unfortunately, large institutions often lack the structure and personnel to make changes, even if technology is lighting the way. This leads to a greater risk to the health of employees and more cases of burnout
However, there are still numerous strategies that can be employed to reduce the likelihood and severity of burnout. We have the knowledge: organisations have a moral obligation to take action to reduce the chance of burnout among their employees.
As individuals, we also have a responsibility to ourselves, our family and friends, and our colleagues to take action to reduce the chance of burnout.
Do everyone a favour: take a break.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading NeuroNotes. If you would like a future NeuroNotes to investigate a topic you would like to know more about, feel free to get in touch:
andy@fclabs.co.uk
If you want to dig deeper, a long-form article with references is available here:
There have been several attempts to make burnout scales, with varying success. One well-respected scale is the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. If you want to take the survey yourself, here’s a link to one (note that we don’t know the source but found the survey well presented):
Copenhagen burnout survey link
The original source for the survey is here: