BURNOUT.

Burnout is a condition in which one feels exhausted on all fronts by prolonged stress. Loss of interest, involvement and motivation are characteristic.

Burnout reduces your productivity and it costs a lot of energy. Ultimately, we feel as if there is nothing more to give.

If every day is a bad day, if you lost interest in work or home, if you feel exhausted every day and if you feel that nothing really matters, that could mean you are on your way to get to a burnout.

The negative effects of burnout affect every area of your life. Your home and your social life are eventually involved.

Burnout is nowadays looked upon as a work-related illness. People who have burnout due to prolonged stressors at work and personal stressors usually have three symptoms, which are emotional exhaustion: people are less able to work on an emotional level, depersonalization: people develop negative feelings towards work and colleagues, and they feel less capable to carry out their jobs.

The latest definition of burnout includes cynicism and inefficiency, in addition to the weariness and prolonged stressors at work.

So one is dealing with prolonged stress at work, which means that one runs out on an emotional level, is cynical (and this results in reduced emotional involvement with work in all its facets) and one feels that the tasks associated with work can not be performed adequately anymore.

Because stress is the result of a situation where certain demands are placed on a person and that person can not meet these requirements with its resources, burnout could also be considered as the result of failed coping: that there is stress someone is trying to cope with, and it fails.

Burnout seems to occur most among healthcare workers, but there is no hard proof.

Burnout is measured through the Maslach Burnout Inventory measured (MBI). This is a list of symptoms developed by mrs. Maslach, an American psychologist who has done much research into burnout. The list is circulating in various forms for various professional groups.

As causes of burnout following items are mentioned.

- Lack of control over work, you have too little influence at work.

- You get no appreciation for the work you provide.

- You have too little time to relax and / or social activities.

- You have a perfectionist attitude.

- You do not experience any challenges in your work or your work is always the same.

- There is a lot expected of you.