
Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion often resulting from prolonged stress or excessive demands in a professional or caregiving role.
Burnout is characterized by three main dimensions:
Emotional Exhaustion: Feeling drained, overwhelmed, and unable to cope.
Depersonalization: Developing a cynical attitude towards work or detachment from work-related activities.
Reduced Personal Accomplishment: Feeling a sense of inefficacy or lack of achievement and productivity in one's work.
What does research say?
Burnout can cause a breakdown of key systems in the brain and should be treated as a medical emergency. If untreated, the damage caused by burnout may not be reversible.
The World Health Organization published a study in May 2021, according to which more than 55 hours of work per week, between the ages of 45 and 74, can kill us; it is a condition that claims up to 745,000 lives a year!
When it comes to brain chemistry and burnout, research suggests that chronic stress, lack of time for healthy habits and unhealthy coping strategies could be the three most common factors associated with burnout. Moreover, a study in Sweden compared 40 participants who had worked more than 60 hours a week for many years and had a burnout diagnosis, with people of the same demographic profile who were not "burnt out". The tests revealed that those diagnosed with burnout found it more difficult to control or suppress their negative emotions. This does not come as a surprise, as an overreaction and a tendency toward negativity are classic symptoms of burnout. However, the researchers stressed that they had found something that left them stunned when they studied the brain scans; As the Association for Psychological Science reported, “the two groups showed key differences in the amygdala, a brain structure critical for emotional responses, including fear and aggression. Participants in the burnout group had relatively enlarged amygdala and also appeared to have significantly weaker connections between the amygdala and brain regions associated with emotional distress, more specifically, the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC). "The higher the level of stress a person reported, the weaker the connectivity between these brain regions appeared on R-fMRI." Participants in the 'burnout' group also had weaker connections between the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in executive function, or the ability to suppress impulses, make long-term plans, and control our behaviour in terms of moving from thinking to thinking to action.
The amygdala, which acts a bit like the brain's alarm system – responsible for sending a signal when there's something in our environment to worry about – is overactive. At the same time, the systems meant to override the amygdala with logic, perspective, and coping mechanisms are weakened. It's like an emergency siren keeps going off for every little thing, and the off switch gets stuck.
Can the brain recover?
The damage burnout does to our brains is real. Whether it is reversible seems to be related to how long we live in the condition. Studies in mice have shown that healing is possible. Also, a 2018 study in humans found that cognitive behavioural therapy for burnout reduced the size of the amygdala and restored the prefrontal cortex to pre-stress levels.
Other activities that can help our brain recover are hands-on activities such as the arts, cooking and enjoying the senses, especially in nature. It also helps to talk to our fellow humans, as well as soothe the mind through sports, long walks or yoga. It has to be emphasized that burnout is not a failure of will. This is a breakdown of key systems in the brain and should therefore be treated as a matter of medical necessity. Not as a failure of character or strength.
Burnout doesn't only happen in the workplace
The diagnostic manual ICD-11 of the World Health Organization (WHO) mentions burnout as a "workplace phenomenon", and defines it as "a syndrome that is a consequence of chronic stress in the workplace, which has not been successfully managed."
It has been established, of course, that burnout syndrome does not only concern professionals but also students.
In any case, the mind perceives it as a 'sucking of emptiness and despair from the soul – where care and passion used to be; unable to feel the joy of success and accumulating failures'.
If you feel so tired that you can't do anything after work, if you can't get out of bed in the morning to go to work or class, and if you feel emotionally drained, if you feel exhausted (body pain, difficulty concentrating, irritability and feeling 'drained'), apathy and dread every time you think about your work, you could be 'burned out'. Employees usually feel remorseful and responsible for how they feel, especially if they avoid expressing those feelings to others.
Unlucky combinations and symptoms
Researchers who study burnout recognize that it is a systemic issue caused by the wrong combination of people and their tasks. And the role of the employer is decisive in this.
Studies have proposed six dimensions in which this unfortunate combination occurs:
Workload (too much work, with insufficient resources)
Control (micromanagement, lack of influence, taking responsibility without power)
Reward (not adequate salary or recognition or satisfaction)
Environmental and social factors (isolation, conflict, disrespect)
Impartiality (discrimination, favouritism)
Values (moral conflicts, indifferent tasks)
Some factors may seem tolerable but not to everyone, depending on what one considers important; And they may lead to burnout.
It suggested that individuals who recognize what may become a problem have a better chance of avoiding 'burnout'.