Burnout Symptoms
5 early warning signs of burnout
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There are various burnout symptoms that can be both physical and psychological. We explain possible complaints at a glance.
Causes: What is burnout and who is affected?
With a burnout you feel deeply exhausted and burned out (see also: exhaustion depression). In theory, anyone can be affected by this complete exhaustion, but it often affects people who expect a lot from themselves, are under pressure at work or have to look after a relative at home. The symptoms of burnout syndrome can be both physical and psychological. It is interesting that the “disease” burnout has not yet been recognized as a real occupational disease.
What are the burnout symptoms?
Burnout does not usually happen overnight – it comes insidiously, but announces itself by several early signs. Above all, this includes the inability to really switch off and recover from everyday life. The early burnout symptoms are:
- Your own needs are neglected
- You always feel like you don’t have enough time
- You feel indispensable
- Negative experiences such as disappointments are suppressed
- You withdraw from social contacts
It is also noticeable that some affected people work even harder than before at the first signs of burnout – some out of personal ambition, others simply because they feel there is no other way to accomplish the task at hand.
Although burnout is not a disease, further symptoms of illness appear, which already indicate exhaustion. These include:
As a result of these complaints, patients increasingly feel that their great commitment is not given enough recognition, which creates frustration. A great reluctance develops for the task that triggered the burnout in the first place – people often quit internally and only do what cannot be avoided. At the same time, the demands on the personal environment are growing – you make unrealistic demands on your partner, for example, but at the same time you are no longer willing to invest anything yourself. The following psychological burnout symptoms occur at this time:
- empathy decreases
- You develop emotional coldness and negative feelings towards your personal environment
- Feeling of being exploited and not valued
- Commitment decreases, additional burden is rejected
- Complex tasks become a problem
- Decision problems arise
- An inner defensiveness and indifference developstowards other people and hobbies
Also physically, the burnout is now becoming more and more noticeable – often with the following complaints:
- Continued poor sleep, often with nightmares
- back pain
- headache
- muscle tension
- Gastrointestinal complaints
- High blood pressure
- Palpitations to a feeling of tightness in the chest
- sexual difficulties
- Eating behavior changes – resulting in weight gain or weight loss
- Drugs such as cigarettes or alcohol are increasingly used
Total hopelessness from burnout
Ultimately, burnout often causes severe despair and hopelessness, which usually manifests itself in depression. At worst, suicidal thoughts develop. That is why it is so important that an impending burnout is recognized and treated in good time through a diagnosis. Psychotherapy and often medication are used.
Reading tip: Here you can also find out everything about depressed mood, depression symptoms and how to treat depression. And you can find out here how resilience can help you to prevent burnout.