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How to Avoid Emotional Burnout?
In this article, we learn about emotional burnout symptoms and how to deal with burnout in brief details.
There must be a lot of things you love about your job, family, and life in general. One moment you are happily chatting with your colleagues and the next moment the long working hours are weighing you down. Job burnout can get you pretty fast.
There comes a time in everyone's life when various situations start to affect you the way you never thought. Stress, depression, and anxiety are the most common problems that you suffer from. However, people are often oblivious to one factor that affects the most — emotional burnout.
To help you or your loved ones' in their dark moments, we brought this article with a brief guide about emotional burnout. Also, you will learn about emotional burnout symptoms and how to deal with burnout in brief details. So, let's dig into it!
There comes a time in everyone's life when various situations start to affect you the way you never thought. Stress, depression, and anxiety are the most common problems that you suffer from. However, people are often oblivious to one factor that affects the most — emotional burnout.
To help you or your loved ones' in their dark moments, we brought this article with a brief guide about emotional burnout. Also, you will learn about emotional burnout symptoms and how to deal with burnout in brief details. So, let's dig into it!
What Is Emotional Burnout?
Also known as emotional exhaustion, it's a mind-numbing state or a feeling that has worn you out emotionally. A person feels drained due to stress, which could be due to professional burnout or something related to personal life. Sometimes it can be a combination of both!
More than often, people mistook emotional burnout for depression and stress. In stress, you might struggle with the pressures, but in burnout, you lose any hope or energy to cope with the scenario. If you have long-term stress, you are more prone to emotional burnout than others.
8 Common Burnout Symptoms To Keep An Eye On
It's one thing to experience stress and depression, but it's almost impossible to distinguish emotional burnout. It is important that you recognize the red flags to fully understand how to prevent burnout.
The following list explains some of the most common burnout symptoms.
1. High Mood Swings
It's hard to approach your work with positive enthusiasm during an emotional burnout. When you're feeling relaxed and happy, you are radiating pure joy and feel like you can take on any villain for the day.
When a person is headed towards professional burnout, first, they will start losing interest in their work (that they used to love) or any other activity they usually engaged in actively.
In fact, you may even start getting annoyed for no reason at all! Negative thoughts swirl in your mind. Hence, burnout is just waiting around the corner.
2. Sleep Troubles
Another physical symptom of burnout is sleep trouble, lack of sleep, or constantly disturbed sleep. The disturbance in sleep can gradually increase with increasing burnout stages. Lack of sleep or overdosing can cause a serious conflict with day-to-day activities.
Stress hormones are one of the major reasons behind disturbed sleeping patterns. It threatens your normal functioning state. Lack of sleep will result in high mood swings and low productivity, and zero energy to interact with people.
3. Become Workaholic
Too much work and not taking time off means easy job burnout. Just because you are getting big bucks, the employers may exploit this to their own benefit. Result? Your job starts controlling your life.
If you work around the clock, it will benefit the organization you work for, but your emotional health will deteriorate speedily. If your job is leaving you tired and sleepless, you might be on the dangerous verge.
The following list explains some of the most common burnout symptoms.
1. High Mood Swings
It's hard to approach your work with positive enthusiasm during an emotional burnout. When you're feeling relaxed and happy, you are radiating pure joy and feel like you can take on any villain for the day.
When a person is headed towards professional burnout, first, they will start losing interest in their work (that they used to love) or any other activity they usually engaged in actively.
In fact, you may even start getting annoyed for no reason at all! Negative thoughts swirl in your mind. Hence, burnout is just waiting around the corner.
2. Sleep Troubles
Another physical symptom of burnout is sleep trouble, lack of sleep, or constantly disturbed sleep. The disturbance in sleep can gradually increase with increasing burnout stages. Lack of sleep or overdosing can cause a serious conflict with day-to-day activities.
Stress hormones are one of the major reasons behind disturbed sleeping patterns. It threatens your normal functioning state. Lack of sleep will result in high mood swings and low productivity, and zero energy to interact with people.
3. Become Workaholic
Too much work and not taking time off means easy job burnout. Just because you are getting big bucks, the employers may exploit this to their own benefit. Result? Your job starts controlling your life.
If you work around the clock, it will benefit the organization you work for, but your emotional health will deteriorate speedily. If your job is leaving you tired and sleepless, you might be on the dangerous verge.
4. Lack of Energy
When you stop caring about the things that you used to love, it's a red flag. Sometimes one can confuse it with boredom, but if the situation prevails longer than anticipated (like a day or two), then you are heading towards a professional burnout.
Zero energy means you will slack in your work routine and won't be able to give your 100 percent. Some even may not show up at work or skip the social gatherings altogether for no reason.
5. Lack of Healthy Relationships
Deserting yourself from social gatherings is another sign of burnout syndrome. You are unable to interact with friends, family, and coworkers without feeling depression and anxiety.
In some of the severe cases, a person can also feel confusion, low self-esteem when able to maintain healthy relationships either personally or professionally.
When you stop caring about the things that you used to love, it's a red flag. Sometimes one can confuse it with boredom, but if the situation prevails longer than anticipated (like a day or two), then you are heading towards a professional burnout.
Zero energy means you will slack in your work routine and won't be able to give your 100 percent. Some even may not show up at work or skip the social gatherings altogether for no reason.
5. Lack of Healthy Relationships
Deserting yourself from social gatherings is another sign of burnout syndrome. You are unable to interact with friends, family, and coworkers without feeling depression and anxiety.
In some of the severe cases, a person can also feel confusion, low self-esteem when able to maintain healthy relationships either personally or professionally.
6. Extreme Empath
Natural empaths are more inclined to suffer emotional burnout. An empath is not only dealing with their stress but also trying to handle the stress of people around them.
While being an empath is a gift, but it can soon become an emotional burden. Empaths usually feel a personal responsibility to take care of others; therefore, it leads towards emotional burnout rapidly.
7. Zero Motivation
Losing interest in your work is often a sign of job burnout. However, it is related to emotional burnout.
We all have days when one feels like giving up entirely on the job they once loved or giving up on favorite most hobbies. Due to a lack of motivation, it becomes impossible to get out of bed or do any physical activity on an everyday basis. Exhaustion overrules your common sense.
8. Loss/Excess of Appetite
Most people lose their appetite when undergoing an emotional period. The loss or excess of appetite sometimes depends on the burnout stages. Some can even start stress eating hence gaining weight. Food either becomes the coping mechanism or you neglect it enough to lose weight.
Because your body is constantly in fight/flight mode, you are unable to maintain a healthy routine that affects even basic activities such as taking healthy meals.
Natural empaths are more inclined to suffer emotional burnout. An empath is not only dealing with their stress but also trying to handle the stress of people around them.
While being an empath is a gift, but it can soon become an emotional burden. Empaths usually feel a personal responsibility to take care of others; therefore, it leads towards emotional burnout rapidly.
7. Zero Motivation
Losing interest in your work is often a sign of job burnout. However, it is related to emotional burnout.
We all have days when one feels like giving up entirely on the job they once loved or giving up on favorite most hobbies. Due to a lack of motivation, it becomes impossible to get out of bed or do any physical activity on an everyday basis. Exhaustion overrules your common sense.
8. Loss/Excess of Appetite
Most people lose their appetite when undergoing an emotional period. The loss or excess of appetite sometimes depends on the burnout stages. Some can even start stress eating hence gaining weight. Food either becomes the coping mechanism or you neglect it enough to lose weight.
Because your body is constantly in fight/flight mode, you are unable to maintain a healthy routine that affects even basic activities such as taking healthy meals.
How To Deal With Burnout?
Acknowledging the Emotional Burnout Symptoms
When you recognize any of the burnout symptoms, do not turn a blind eye to them. To build resilience, you must acknowledge the fact that something is amiss. This is the first stage of burnout recovery. Acknowledge the emotional weariness and accept it. It will open your mind to deal with the situation in a better way.
Adopt Healthy Lifestyle
They say "health is wealth", and one understands the importance when you suffer through sleepless nights and are overworked. Skipping lunch just to put in an extra hour of work will affect your health. It's time you take control of your health right away.
Start with the basic exercises, even if it's limited to walking. Ditch the junk food and shift towards tasty but healthy meals containing proteins to regulate blood sugar. An easy way to do so is to plan your weekly meals and follow them. You must try healthy foods that are delicious and kind of resemble the taste and texture of junk food at the beginning.
Acknowledging the Emotional Burnout Symptoms
When you recognize any of the burnout symptoms, do not turn a blind eye to them. To build resilience, you must acknowledge the fact that something is amiss. This is the first stage of burnout recovery. Acknowledge the emotional weariness and accept it. It will open your mind to deal with the situation in a better way.
Adopt Healthy Lifestyle
They say "health is wealth", and one understands the importance when you suffer through sleepless nights and are overworked. Skipping lunch just to put in an extra hour of work will affect your health. It's time you take control of your health right away.
Start with the basic exercises, even if it's limited to walking. Ditch the junk food and shift towards tasty but healthy meals containing proteins to regulate blood sugar. An easy way to do so is to plan your weekly meals and follow them. You must try healthy foods that are delicious and kind of resemble the taste and texture of junk food at the beginning.
Maintaining Work-Life Balance
If the question is how to prevent burnout, then the answer surely is to "Maintain". It is vital to find the right work-life balance. Learn to take breaks from your routine. Whether it's yoga, a date night, or even a trip to the Maldives, plan it, especially when you do not need to feel the need to take time off.
Even if you run your business, learn to maintain a healthy balance between your work and personal life. It will even boost productivity levels. Take it as a game or challenge or set alarms. For instance, I'll take a 15 mins break after working for 1 hour.
Learn to Manage Stress
So what's the cause of the stress? There are always trigger points (stressors) that can be identified. Once you do, you can work on it and resolve the issue before it turns out to be an emotional burnout for you. Figure out the situation that bothers you the most or that one feeling you get every time doing a particular chore.
For instance, being in a toxic relationship is also a red flag. So the best thing to do is to avoid negative people in your life and stay at a distance from them. That way, you can better manage the situation.
Learn to Say No
Burnout psychology says being too much available for work or in a relationship is a big NO. One should learn to say No when things become more challenging. We realize that it isn't for you to deny someone but remember, if you are good for yourself, only then you can be good for others. It's stressful to please everyone at the same time. So just for someone else's sake, do not keep saying "Yes" to them when emotionally you are being torn apart.
Instead of feeling guilty, learn self-perseverance that will help you distinguish when someone really needs your help.
When you recognize any of the burnout symptoms, do not turn a blind eye to them. To build resilience, you must acknowledge the fact that something is amiss. This is the first stage of burnout recovery. Acknowledge the emotional weariness and accept it. It will open your mind to deal with the situation in a better way.
Adopt Healthy Lifestyle
They say "health is wealth", and one understands the importance when you suffer through sleepless nights and are overworked. Skipping lunch just to put in an extra hour of work will affect your health. It's time you take control of your health right away.
Start with the basic exercises, even if it's limited to walking. Ditch the junk food and shift towards tasty but healthy meals containing proteins to regulate blood sugar. An easy way to do so is to plan your weekly meals and follow them. You must try healthy foods that are delicious and kind of resemble the taste and texture of junk food at the beginning.
Maintaining Work-Life Balance
If the question is how to prevent burnout, then the answer surely is to "Maintain". It is vital to find the right work-life balance. Learn to take breaks from your routine. Whether it's yoga, a date night, or even a trip to the Maldives, plan it, especially when you do not need to feel the need to take time off.
Even if you run your business, learn to maintain a healthy balance between your work and personal life. It will even boost productivity levels. Take it as a game or challenge or set alarms. For instance, I'll take a 15 mins break after working for 1 hour.
Learn to Manage Stress
So what's the cause of the stress? There are always trigger points (stressors) that can be identified. Once you do, you can work on it and resolve the issue before it turns out to be an emotional burnout for you. Figure out the situation that bothers you the most or that one feeling you get every time doing a particular chore.
For instance, being in a toxic relationship is also a red flag. So the best thing to do is to avoid negative people in your life and stay at a distance from them. That way, you can better manage the situation.
Learn to Say No
Burnout psychology says being too much available for work or in a relationship is a big NO. One should learn to say No when things become more challenging. We realize that it isn't for you to deny someone but remember, if you are good for yourself, only then you can be good for others. It's stressful to please everyone at the same time. So just for someone else's sake, do not keep saying "Yes" to them when emotionally you are being torn apart.
Instead of feeling guilty, learn self-perseverance that will help you distinguish when someone really needs your help.
Reevaluating Priorities
A prolonged burnout syndrome becomes prominent when everything in your life feels like a mess.
Have a timeout to think about your goals, dreams, and things that make you happy; a better way is to write them down. This way, you can discover the factors that are causing stress and burnout. Once the boundaries are set, you will nourish your emotions in a better way. Taking a break from technology is a prime example.
Seek Professional Help
According to burnout psychology, lifestyle change can go a long way, and so can professionally help. Sometimes it is important to seek help for emotional traumas. For instance, a therapist or a family doctor can help you overcome emotional burnout through a talk therapy session.
Professionals often recommend joining support groups too. It can help immensely in overcoming burnout.
A prolonged burnout syndrome becomes prominent when everything in your life feels like a mess.
Have a timeout to think about your goals, dreams, and things that make you happy; a better way is to write them down. This way, you can discover the factors that are causing stress and burnout. Once the boundaries are set, you will nourish your emotions in a better way. Taking a break from technology is a prime example.
Seek Professional Help
According to burnout psychology, lifestyle change can go a long way, and so can professionally help. Sometimes it is important to seek help for emotional traumas. For instance, a therapist or a family doctor can help you overcome emotional burnout through a talk therapy session.
Professionals often recommend joining support groups too. It can help immensely in overcoming burnout.
Conclusion
It's hard but not impossible to recognize the signs of emotional burnout. Even the slightest hint of burnout syndrome can affect every aspect of your life. Try the above-mentioned burnout recovery tips to deal with the emotional nuisance. We believe in you!
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