Burnout or Boreout - in a recent issue of the ‘Counseling Corner’ I already
mentioned that people being ‘bored out’ often show similar symptoms to people
suffering from high amounts of work-related stress. Interestingly, on a
physiological level, the neurological and hormonal changes are quite similar
between both of them, and their consequences are as well. Just as burnout, being
‘bored out’ is seen as a cause for diseases of the cardiovascular system (heart,
veins and arteries), the digestion system, and it also might raise the risk for
autoimmune diseases.
Here are 3 typical indicators for a burnout dynamic:
- Physical, Mental and/or Emotional Exhaustion: Free
time snaps away in a blink without any feeling of recovery or relief (burnout)
or it seems to be never-ending with eating being one of the few highlights of
the day (boreout).
- Depersonalization / Cynicism: Unfeeling and
impersonal attitudes and reactions towards others, particularly with people you
are dealing with on a regular basis. The goal of this behavior is seen as an
effort to create distance between oneself and the ones who are causing
discomfort.
- Reduced Appraisal of Accomplishments: You might feel
that you don’t achieve anything remarkable anymore, wasting your time. A feeling
of failure and insufficiency is indicating an increasing loss of trust in our
abilities.
The main problem in dealing with progressed forms of burnout
is that we don’t have access to our usual resources of energy, creativity and a
positive mindset anymore that could help to gain ground again. Instead, you as a
‘burned out’ person might make your situation even worse by trying harder to
succeed or to gain control again.
Basically, every strategy to deal with the burnout process
must relate to reducing the workload and finding balance again. But for that,
quite dramatic turns might be required, like to take some time off or maybe even
a ‘sabbatical’ leave.
It might also turn out that organizational changes or
adaptations to one’s self-management might be required in order to avoid ending
up in the same situation again. Often enough, it doesn’t help to blame a company
or a ‘situation’ for one’s burnout since to a very high extent, it is actually
our own psyche that makes us vulnerable and causes us to have a tendency to
drift towards boreout or burnout. It is also us who have to find means to find
back to happiness again.
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Live the happy life you planned! Richard L.
Fellner is head of the Pattaya Counseling Center in Soi Khopai and
offers consultations in English and German languages (after making
appointments at 0854 370 470). |
