When people think of burnout, mental and emotional symptoms such as feelings of helplessness and cynicism often come to mind. However, burnout also causes physical symptoms, and it is necessary to know how to recognize them in order to take action.
Burnout, as defined, is not a medical condition, it is "a manifestation of chronic unmitigated stress," explained Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, a medical scientist who studies burnout at the Mayo Clinic.
You start to not perform as well, you don't meet deadlines, you feel frustrated, perhaps irritable with your co-workers
Jeanette M. Bennett
Researcher studying the effects of stress on health at the University of North Carolina.
When people are under stress, their bodies undergo changes that include producing higher than normal levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, adrenaline, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These changes are helpful in the short term, giving us the energy to get through difficult situations, but over time, they begin to damage the body.
Here's how to recognize burnout in your body and what to do about it:
A common symptom of exhaustion is insomnia.
A survey of frontline health care workers with burnout during the first peak of the pandemic found that 55% reported having difficulty falling asleep, while nearly 40% had nightmares.
Physical fatigue is another common sign
One of the key symptoms of burnout is fatigue. If you feel exhausted from the moment you wake up, this can be a very important sign to pay attention to.
Changes in eating habits
Whether eating more or less than usual, they can also be a sign of exhaustion. People may eat less because they are too busy or distracted, or they may have more food cravings than usual.
Stress hormones can affect appetite, causing people to feel less hungry than normal when they are under a lot of stress and hungrier than normal when stress is relieved.
If you identify with these symptoms, taking action to prevent the condition from worsening is key! See you next week with tips to avoid them from day 1.
