behandlungsfeld burnout 1

Burnout

Burn­out syn­dro­me (burn-out syn­dro­me) or burn­out is a con­di­ti­on cha­rac­te­ri­zed by men­tal, emo­tio­nal and phy­si­cal exhaus­ti­on, weak­ne­ss and fati­gue. It deve­lo­ps over a lon­ger peri­od of time. Ulti­m­ate­ly, it leads to a loss of qua­li­ty of life and, in most cases, to secon­da­ry ill­nesses such as anxie­ty dis­or­ders and depres­si­on. The boun­da­ries bet­ween the­se ill­nesses are blur­red.

Burn­out can have a varie­ty of psy­cho­lo­gi­cal and phy­si­cal (bodi­ly) cau­ses:

Psy­cho­lo­gi­cal sym­ptoms and com­plaints of burn­out syn­dro­me

  • Emo­tio­nal exhaus­ti­on with the fee­ling of being over­whel­med
  • Psy­cho­so­ma­tic dise­a­ses
  • Depres­si­on
  • Cyni­cism and aggres­si­on
  • Need for distance and loneli­ne­ss
  • Assig­ning bla­me
  • Increased risk of addic­tion — alco­hol, tob­ac­co con­sump­ti­on, drugs
  • Lack of dri­ve and con­cen­tra­ti­on
  • Lack of moti­va­ti­on, accom­pa­nied by dif­fi­cul­ties in coping with life
  • Indif­fe­rence and dis­in­te­rest
  • Exis­ten­ti­al des­pair

Phy­si­cal sym­ptoms and com­plaints of burn­out syn­dro­me

  • Sleep dis­or­ders
  • Chro­nic tired­ness and exhaus­ti­on
  • Lack of ener­gy
  • Night sweats (night sweats)
  • Hea­da­che
  • Sto­mach cramps
  • Increased sus­cep­ti­bi­li­ty to infec­tions

Burn­out syn­dro­me usual­ly affects peo­p­le who are high­ly self-moti­va­ted and have high demands and expec­ta­ti­ons com­bi­ned with idea­li­stic ide­as about them­sel­ves and their work. If goals and hopes are not ful­fil­led in rea­li­ty, resi­gna­ti­on and frus­tra­ti­on can be the result. A lack of reco­gni­ti­on and pro­blems in the pri­va­te sphe­re can also con­tri­bu­te to the deve­lo­p­ment of burn­out syn­dro­me.

Com­mon cau­ses of burn­out syn­dro­me

  • Exces­si­ve ambi­ti­on, per­fec­tion­ism
  • Stress, high workload and con­flicts with supe­ri­ors and col­le­agues
  • Lack of com­pen­sa­ti­on (“work-life balan­ce”)
  • Con­tra­dic­tions bet­ween own demands and real con­di­ti­ons
  • Dis­tur­ban­ces in the day-night rhythm, e.g. due to shift work, resul­ting in insuf­fi­ci­ent sleep
  • Pri­va­te con­flicts
  • Pro­blems with per­cep­ti­on and enforce­ment of own stress limits, often psy­cho­dy­na­mic back­grounds

The aim of tre­at­ment must be to regu­la­te the phy­si­cal and men­tal over­load.
Even if burn­out is not an inde­pen­dent dise­a­se in the dia­gno­stic cata­log of doc­tors and psy­cho­the­ra­pists — it is not a “fashionable dise­a­se”! In view of the fact that burn­out is con­side­red the “litt­le sis­ter of depres­si­on”, every burn­out pati­ent must be taken serious­ly and trea­ted. The ear­lier the pro­blem is reco­gni­zed and trea­ted, the bet­ter the cour­se and pro­gno­sis.