Causes

The cause of a burn-out is assumed to be a vicious circle of overwork and excessive demands that has lasted for years. During this chronic stress phase, a burn-out occurs due to interaction on two levels. One can very well imagine a burn-out syndrome as the end point of a downward spiral.

At the end there is a complete collapse. According to Johannes Siegrist, the causes of the burnout syndrome lie in the imbalance between a person’s requirements and resources. For this reason, the medical sociologist developed a questionnaire to record professional gratification crises.

The point “requirements” includes statements such as: “I have permanent time pressure. “I have a lot of responsibility. “I am often disturbed at work.

“In recent years, my duties have become more and more demanding. “. Examples of statements of resources are: “I am not treated with the respect due me by my superiors. ”

“I do not receive adequate support in case of difficulties. ” “I am often treated unfairly. ” “My professional future is uncertain. ”

Often, the imbalance between demands and resources is compounded by an exaggerated sense of obligation and sleep disorders. The other model that tries to describe the causes of burnout is the requirement control model of Karasek and Theorell. Persons who suffer from constant stress at work and at the same time have a limited scope for decision-making suffer more often from burnout.

Examples are supermarket salesmen, assembly line workers, etc. Using the two models, certain risk factors can be formulated which can favour burnout: A lot of stress at work, lack of positive feedback, lack of boundaries between professional and private life, too high expectations and own goals, excessive demands in the job, threatening loss of employment, low income, perfectionism, fear of rejection, criticism and failure, etc. – The first level is characterised by external stress factors, i.e. long working hours, unfavourable working hours that neglect the individual biorhythm, stress/annoyance/conflicts with work colleagues, family members or the partner, a strong hierarchical structure in the workplace, high performance or time pressure, fear for the job, little positive feedback, etc.

Burnout can also be a result of bullying. Not everyone who works or lives under such external stress factors will necessarily fall ill with burnout. – On the second level, there are also internal personality factors, such as perfectionism, high ambition, unrealistic expectations of the job and oneself, the difficulty of saying “no”, a tendency to ignore one’s own regeneration needs, distrust of the abilities of others and overestimation of one’s own performance.

Symptoms

The symptoms of burnout affect both the psyche and the body of the person. In most cases a burnout begins insidiously with unspecific symptoms such as persistent tiredness and exhaustion. Often these symptoms are ignored and dismissed as a normal break in performance.

At this moment it would be useful to reflect and step back. Instead, however, many of those affected are increasingly pushing their performance limits. They begin to reduce social contacts and rest breaks in favour of work and also start working numerous hours of overtime.

In phase II of the development of a burnout, those affected encounter more and more incomprehension and criticism from their families and friends, as these are now most strongly neglected. Often affected people do not see this as a warning, but much more as envy and resentment. This in turn leads to an even stronger withdrawal and an increased falling into work.

Affected persons begin to see themselves more and more as lone fighters and to be successful without the support of others. Typical symptoms are now that performance and concentration decrease more and more, affected persons start to make mistakes and become more irritable in dealing with customers and colleagues. Often affected persons now look for the blame for their own failures in others and isolate themselves even more.

Finally, physical symptoms such as back pain, neck pain and headaches are added. Affected people start taking painkillers or drinking alcohol. This in turn leads to harmful substance use, sleep disorders and panic attacks.

In phase III of a burnout, surrender finally occurs. Body and mind are already working to their limits. Those affected notice increasing exhaustion, weakness and weakness.

Continued stress leads to increased cortisol levels, which in turn promotes sleep disorders, increased sweating and an increased susceptibility to infections. In addition, gastrointestinal complaints also occur. Abdominal pain, constipation and stomach ulcers are typical symptoms of burnout.

Heart rhythm disturbances, so-called palpitations (heart stumbling) and tachycardia are also common. The risk of vascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease, circulatory disorders and heart attacks also increases. Chronically existing muscle tensions, back pain and headaches occur.

Nothing seems to give more pleasure to those affected. They feel exhausted, tired and lacking in drive. Those affected notice a loss of interest in everything that used to give them pleasure.

Brooding and a depressed basic mood become more and more obvious. The burnout has now turned into depression. At this time many burnout sufferers have only a few people to relate to, who are a last stop for them.

If the person concerned loses this person in the end, many of them end up in a deep hole, where many things seem hopeless and those affected feel a strong inner emptiness. Many try to fill this insensitivity with alcohol excesses or the like, but have to realize that even this will not improve their situation. Out of this desperation, many burnout sufferers think of suicide for the first time.

At this point at the latest, a doctor, psychotherapist or counselling centre should be consulted urgently. Specific symptoms respiratory distress and burnout: respiratory distress, also known as dyspnoea by the medical profession, is a subjective feeling of those affected that they are not getting enough air. This can have many causes.

Examples of causes include heart disease (cardiac insufficiency, coronary heart disease, valvular diseases); lung diseases (asthma, COPD, pneumonia, lung cancer) or psychological (hyperventilation in anxiety). Especially in burnout, respiratory distress is often associated with sudden panic attacks and anxiety. However, as many affected people also lead a very unhealthy lifestyle due to their work, with cigarette smoking, alcohol, fatty and unhealthy food, and lack of rest, cardiovascular diseases or even lung diseases (lung cancer) are not untypical.

A medical clarification is recommended. Diarrhoea: An unhealthy lifestyle with constant stress, lack of relaxation phases and irregular eating can often lead to digestive disorders with diarrhoea, constipation and stomach ulcers. High blood pressure: High blood pressure is the pressure that the blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels.

Normal blood pressure is systolic at 120mmHg and diastolic at 60-70mmHg. Too much stress in the workplace can lead to a permanent increase in blood pressure, which often goes unnoticed at first, but has many side effects. In 9 out of 10 people with high blood pressure there are no concrete causes, it is idiopathic, so to speak; however, studies have shown that especially a permanent overload at work or at home can lead to a long-term high blood pressure.

One speaks of high blood pressure when the systolic value is above 140mmHg and the diastolic value is above 80mmHg. The consequences of high blood pressure can be vascular changes with circulatory disorders in all organs. This can result in heart attack, stroke or even kidney failure.

Burnout patients in particular are often affected by high blood pressure and its physical consequences due to their unhealthy lifestyle and the high work overload. Therapeutically, the aim should be to reduce stress at work and in everyday life, endurance sports and a healthy diet. Relaxation techniques such as autogenic training are easy to learn and can be helpful.

If a change in lifestyle does not show any visible success, the blood pressure should be adjusted with medication by the family doctor or cardiologist. Cardiac arrhythmia: A cardiac arrhythmia is a disturbance of the normal heartbeat sequence caused by a disturbance in the formation of excitement or a disturbance in the conduction of excitation. They can occur in both healthy and sick people.

In healthy people, cardiac dysrhythmias rarely have a pathological value – everyone knows the feeling of sudden palpitations or even a brief heart stumble, which occurs suddenly and usually disappears by itself. In cardiac patients, however, cardiac dysrhythmia can be life-threatening and lead to diseases such as stroke, heart attack and cardiac insufficiency. Particularly in the case of burnout, cardiac dysrhythmia, such as heart stumbling or racing heart, is a typical early warning symptom.

Sweating: Persistent stress and a lack of recovery even at night lead to permanently elevated stress hormone levels in the blood of those affected. This often leads to sleep disorders, heavy sweating (night sweats) and nightmares. Also, pondering thoughts about what still has to be done or whether an early dismissal could be imminent; trigger fears and nightmares in many affected people, which in turn are accompanied by outbreaks of sweating and panic attacks.

Good treatment methods here would be relaxation methods, sleep hygiene and psychotherapy. The use of medication can also be helpful. Panic attacks: Temporary fears and worries cause many people to break out in sweat and panic.

However, these subside as soon as the problem is solved. Sometimes, however, anxiety can become pathological and start to take over the life of the person affected. Such pathological fears and panic attacks are often associated with depression.

Panic attacks are sudden, out of the blue anxiety attacks that are often accompanied by vegetative (i.e. physical) reactions such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath and sweating. These anxieties can be targeted or diffuse (aimless) and in the course of time can lead to fears of further panic attacks, a so-called fear of anxiety (phobophobia). Due to the permanent stress and the inability to “switch off”, many people affected by burnout develop a panic attack in the course of the disease.

Depression: As mentioned above, burnout can always turn into depression due to numerous factors such as frustration and social isolation. A burnout per se only represents a physical and mental state of exhaustion, where the smallest things of everyday life seem to be increasingly difficult to do and those affected feel burnt out and exhausted. Many affected people appear cynical, impulsively aggressive or even resolute, indifferent.

Depression, on the other hand, is characterized by a depressed mood, a loss of interest and a massive lack of drive. Furthermore also by: Sleep disorders, thoughts circles, suicidal thoughts and physical symptoms (stomach ache, palpitations etc). In the final stage of a burnout there is almost always depression.

Speech disorder:

A permanent overload of the body ultimately leads to disorders of concentration and cognition (thought and perception processes). This can ultimately manifest itself in a speech disorder or a word finding disorder. For example, those affected find it difficult to formulate a reasonable sentence, words no longer occur, or word syllables and letters are mixed up.

Many affected people also have difficulty remembering things or foreign languages that used to be like a mother tongue to them. Since speech disorders can also be typical of incipient circulatory disorders of the brain and of a stroke, initial speech disorders should be clarified to be on the safe side. Speech disorder: A permanent overload of the body ultimately leads to disorders of concentration and cognition (thinking and perception processes).

This can ultimately manifest itself in a speech disorder or a word finding disorder. For example, those affected find it difficult to formulate a reasonable sentence, words no longer occur, or word syllables and letters are mixed up. Many affected people also have difficulty remembering things or foreign languages that used to be like a mother tongue to them. Since speech disorders can also be typical of incipient circulatory disorders of the brain and of a stroke, initial speech disorders should be clarified to be on the safe side.