LESSON 6: BURNOUT AND CAREER GUIDANCE

Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished
interest. It should not be looked as a disorder but as Problems related to life-management difficulty.
The most well-studied measurement of burnout in the literature is the Maslach Burnout Inventory.
Maslach and her colleague Jackson first identified the construct "burnout" in the 1970s, and
developed a measure that weighs the effects of emotional exhaustion and reduced sense of personal
accomplishment. This indicator has become the standard tool for measuring burnout in research on
the syndrome. The Maslach Burnout Inventory uses a three dimensional description of exhaustion,
cynicism and inefficacy.

Many theories of burnout include negative outcomes related to burnout, including job function, health
related outcomes, and mental health problems. The term burnout in psychology was coined by
HERBERT FREUDENBERGER in 1974. Psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North gave
12 phases of burnout, which are not necessarily followed sequentially:

 A compulsion to prove oneself

 Working harder
 Neglecting one's own needs
 Displacement of conflicts
 Revision of values
 Denial of emerging problems
 Withdrawal
 Behavioral changes become obvious to others
 Depersonalization
 Inner emptiness
 Depression
 Burnout syndrome

The signs can vary from individual to individual, but the following are some universal indicators that
one can use to determine if career burnout is occurring.

 Depression-Feelings of despair and sadness that last for weeks or months usually signal that
something in your life is not working like it should and is cause for an investigation into the cause –
potentially your job.
 Lack of energy-If individual experience constant fatigue throughout the day.
 Lack of desire-if an individual find that he just don‘t care if he is successful or not it‘s a warning
that the individual may have become burned out.
 Decreased productivity- if the productivity of an individual is decreased and he is not coming upto
the desired expected result.

 Increased absences and/or tardiness- if an individual finds every opportunity to skip out on work.
 Boredom-Occasional boredom in one‘s career is completely normal; however, pervasive feelings
of weariness and dreariness are not and are an indicator of potential burnout.
 Anger/resentment in workplace-Frequently lashing out at co-workers and/or supervisors is
unacceptable under any circumstance. This behavior deserves immediate attention due to its
potentially abusive nature.
 Sleep problems-Insomnia or occasional fatigue can happen to anyone but are a cause for concern
if they become constant and a part of your everyday life. Sleep disturbances are your body‘s way of
saying it is overworked.