What are the symptoms of burnout?

What is burnout?

Burnout has been recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is classed as a major problem for professions, including healthcare. However, burnout is not classified as a medical condition but an occupational phenomenon.

Burnout is defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) as a syndrome specifically caused by unmanaged workplace stress.

The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) is a standardised tool used to measure your likelihood of developing burnout, which the British Medical Association (BMA) uses as a basis for its own burnout questionnaire.

Dr Josephine Perry, chartered psychologist, Performance in Mind, London, UK, says: "Burnout is often felt by people who are used to just doing more, and working harder in order to find their way out of problems.

"Unfortunately, when you've got burnout, sticking with this behaviour is like digging yourself into a hole. Some techniques that people would often use to handle stress - like exercise or seeing friends - just dig you deeper and deeper into that hole. People with burnout often struggle to stop and recover, but they get to a point where they have no choice."

The act of prioritising high achievement over your health is sometimes called overload burnout.

Mental health charity Mind describes these symptoms as a larger pattern of long-term stress.

Fatigue and sleep problems

Feeling tired and over-burdened are signs that you may be under stress. Symptoms of energy depletion or exhaustion in burnout would fall under this broader sign of stress.

All of these symptoms can exacerbate burnout.

Burnout vs depression

Increased mental disengagement or negative feelings about work might fall under a broader sign of stress, such as depression. Feeling neglected or lonely can be another sign of stress, as can feeling uninterested or unable to enjoy yourself. If you used to enjoy your career, feeling distant or resentful about your job might be a sign you are burning out.

Dr Perry says she's used to seeing depression-like symptoms in clients who are burning out.

"It can be very hard for people to tell whether they are depressed or burnt out, because the symptoms are the same," she says. "When burnout is at its worst you might be unable to get out of bed for weeks at a time. Your body will just shut down, having done too much for too long.

"Burnout doesn’t sound like it's that serious, but it can be debilitating when you are in the middle of it. The earlier you notice and deal with it, the quicker you can recover."

Feeling overburdened or overwhelmed

Poor job performance - not being able to do your job as well as usual - is a sign of burnout that falls under a broader sign of stress and feeling overwhelmed. Stress can make existing mental health problems worse, and feeling tired or sleep-deprived may affect your ability to work well.

To recover from burnout, Dr Perry advises patients to build up a toolkit of healthy coping mechanisms.

One approach she recommends is the feelings wheel.

"When you can identify specific emotions, you're going to have a much more effective coping mechanism for managing stress," she says. "In identifying your actual feelings, you're proactive about planning for how to handle them."

There are no accepted rules about recovery from long-term stress and burnout. Some experts advise that the idea of recovery is a continuous process that is dynamic and ongoing.

Evidence-based stress reduction techniques - such as yoga and meditation - work to prevent long-term stress or burnout.

Dr Perry recommends grounding techniques - practices that help you focus on the present.

She says: "When we are stressed, although it has big implications for our body, it's our brain that's running away, thinking through future - usually disastrous - outcomes, and all the things that could go wrong. Grounding helps bring us back to the here and now, and what is actually going on in the present moment."

Other evidence-based techniques include taking time away from work, sleep, a healthy diet, exercise, deep breathing practices, and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Experts also recommend social interaction with friends or loved ones, creative hobbies, being in nature, and imaginative time.