The WHO calls the syndrome resulting from chronic work-related stress “occupational burnout”, although it does not classify it as a specific medical condition. What is clear, however, is that the work environment can generate stressful situations that influence health, both physical and psychological, in various ways.
However, classifications aside, everyday reality shows us that people who suffer from chronic stressful situations in their daily occupations are prone to psychological symptoms, generally symptoms of anxiety or depression.
Logically, stressful circumstances at the work level can come from:
- Individual factors that will be related to the training and capacity of the subject, his expectations, his coping strategies and in summary those personality traits that facilitate or hinder the execution of his tasks.
- Group circumstances. The work environment among colleagues, solidarity, competition, leadership and the motivational capacity of their superiors, among others.
- Circumstances of the organization. The management style of the company, whatever its size, the pressure to achieve objectives, insecurity due to adverse economic results, can be causes that transmit discomfort to employees. Likewise, changes due to company mergers, possible layoffs, and even promotions can be stress factors.
- Physical work environment, comfort conditions, noise level, luminosity, among others.
- Circumstances outside the organization. For example, the distance between home and the workplace, the time spent in commuting, the means of transport (finding oneself daily in a traffic jam can produce added stress and a “bad start to the day”).
I have already mentioned that people with work stress can have different physical and psychological symptoms and the reality of daily practice shows us that among the most common psychological symptoms we will find anxiety disorders and depressive disorders.
Burn-out syndrome
In this regard, it is worth highlighting what is known as occupational burn-out syndrome (in its English meaning “burned-out worker syndrome”). Broadly speaking, it would consist of a prolonged stress response to the constant alertness, emotional factors, work overload and possible difficulties in interpersonal relationships that occur in this environment, which would include chronic fatigue, ineffectiveness and a psychological attitude of denial of the problem.
In general, the most vulnerable populations for burn-out syndrome are those professions in which there are intense human interactions: health professionals, teachers, members of the armed forces in conflict situations, people who must complete tasks within very tight deadlines and also employees in customer service. Statistics seem to indicate that women are more affected than men.
Burn-out syndrome is usually defined by three parameters:
- Exhaustion, i.e., the affected person experiences the feeling of not being able to offer more of oneself. It is not a mere physical fatigue but a situation of extreme fatigue on an emotional level.
- A suspicious and at the same time skeptical attitude towards work, colleagues and all those with whom he/she deals with at work.
- The perception of inefficiency (real or not) with the constant feeling of not completing assigned jobs.
The burned-out worker feels a permanent impotence, he is tired at the beginning of his working day, which is experienced as a condemnation since he has the feeling that his work is never finished. This leads to a loss of enjoyment for what he/she is doing. But also when he is not working, the exhaustion persists and during weekends and vacations he has such a need for rest that he postpones any other pleasurable activity.
Harassment at work
Another aspect of conflict situations in this environment that cause psychological symptoms is mobbing or harassment at work. Mobbing is actually a sociological term whose meaning is the intimidation of an individual by a group, whether in the school, neighborhood, community, workplace, etc.
Workplace bullying is defined by a number of key characteristics:
- The repetition of these behaviors, i.e., they occur regularly.
- The duration of it, with a tendency to perpetuation.
- Escalation, in terms of aggression.
- Hierarchical disparity, since the subject who is subjected to harassment lacks the power to defend him/herself successfully.
- The clearly attributed intentionality to harm the subject.
For all these reasons, victims of harassment in the workplace are subjected to a situation of constant pressure and experience a situation of helplessness that can lead them to suffer from various psychological disorders such as adjustment disorders, somatoform disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and even major depression.
Sometimes people who find themselves in a situation of suffering from work-related stress are not aware of it. The identification of each of these situations requires careful reflection by the affected person, asking him/herself a series of questions:
- Do I go to work happy and/or motivated?
- Do I feel impatient to get to the end of my working day? Did this happen before?
- Do I have insomnia, restlessness or unexplained headaches?
- Am I irritable and unhappy at work?
- When I get home, do I not put work issues out of my mind?
- Has the quality of my work suffered lately?
Of course, it is important that the answers are sincere and with a good dose of self-criticism. In addition, here are a few tips to help you adapt to your new job:
- Review the way you organize yourself.
- Try to manage your time by prioritizing and prioritizing “to-dos”.
- Set reasonable goals. You can be a great worker, but do not want to monopolize everything, work in a team, learn to delegate.
- Manage the use of devices to be “connected” (I do not advise answering emails, whatsapps or work messages after hours, although there are always exceptions, the exception should not become a rule).
- Set reasonable limits on working hours, working conditions, etc.
- Respect your free time and dedicate it to different things that produce well-being, including some activity that relaxes you or “disconnects” you from the routine.
- Enjoy the company of the people who love you.