- 43% of Spanish professionals suffer from ‘burnout’ or, in other words, ‘being burned out’.
- The main consequence of not disconnecting is physical and mental exhaustion, which can lead to the development of psychological problems.
- Disconnection is difficult in the case of the self-employed and business owners, and burnout increases among teachers, health, security and public safety personnel, as well as among psychologists themselves.
- The Big Quit: in April alone 5,467 Spanish workers quit their jobs, experts advise against quitting work without a plan because of the risk of depression
Barcelona, July 14, 2022. Since January 1 of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially recognized burnout as a disease. This syndrome has become a true worldwide epidemic and, in our country alone, 43% of professionals suffer from it*.
This is not surprising if we analyze the results of the TibHealth.com® Summer and Physical and Mental Wellbeing Study 2022, which reveals that 3 out of 4 Spaniards do not manage to disconnect completely on vacation. In fact, 35% disconnect from work, but not from the Internet and social networks, a figure that rises to 70% in the case of those under 30 years of age.
On the other hand, almost a third of Spaniards confess that they only manage to disconnect at times; and a significant percentage of 8% (mostly women) say that their family role is the reason why they do not disconnect on vacation. Fortunately, only 3% claim not to disconnect at all due to their work.
That is why TibHealth.com® has requested the opinion and assessment of different medical specialists to provide a series of tips and recommendations to disconnect and take care of our mental health in summer.
The digital and work disconnection in summer, key to preventing psychological problems
The health psychologist and member of TibHealth.com® María Gallego Blanco points out that “disconnection on vacation helps us to rest physically and mentally, and makes it easier for us to return to work more motivated. The main consequence of not doing so is usually physical and mental exhaustion which, in some cases, is conducive to the development of psychological problems”.
He also points out that “there are people who, due to their profession or personal situation, cannot disconnect during the holiday period”. Something that is complicated in the case of the self-employed or those with their own business due to “the responsibilities and management that, many times, make it difficult to disconnect completely. If this is the case, I recommend limiting the amount of time spent on the job and making rational use of technology”.
However, it is not always the responsibilities, but the dependence on the Internet and social networks, especially among the younger generations: “sometimes, vacations mark the turning point where the person is fully aware of his or her addiction to electronic devices and social networks. The fact of wanting to share in RRSS the moments of leisure focuses us on how to narrate what we do, instead of enjoying what we have around us.”
The Big Resignation and tips to avoid burnout
This ‘burnout’ is beginning to have important physical and psychological consequences worldwide. One of the most mediatic is what has been called the ‘Great Resignation’ which, in the U.S., is leading 4.5 million workers to resign every month. In our country, the figures are not far behind and are growing day by day. According to Social Security affiliation statistics, 5,467 Spanish workers resigned from their jobs in April alone, a record figure to date since these data have been collected (2001).
The health psychologist and member of TibHealth.com® María Gallego Blanco reveals that initially in the pandemic the professionals most affected by burnout who came to consult were teachers, doctors and health personnel (especially nurses) in general, but the list has been extended to psychologists, police officers, customer service personnel and many other people-oriented occupations.
According to Mercè Morán, health psychologist, psychotherapist, head psychologist at CAIS and member of TibHealth.com®, this has come about because “the pandemic has brought us face to face with many things and, most importantly, with ourselves. Especially in front of everything that we didn’t see because of our busy lives, like a mouse on a wheel that keeps turning. That shock puts you in a situation in which you reevaluate and make health, tranquility, wellbeing an absolute priority, and ask ourselves if we are living according to what is important to us”.
Moreover, he adds that being unhappy with our work affects for many reasons: “for starters, it is the place and it is with the people we spend the most time with. Also, socially and culturally we value ourselves a lot around our performance and execution. That’s why it’s very important that we work on being happy in our jobs”.
In the situation of considering a change of life, she advises not to leave work without having a plan and an organization of the activity that you are going to develop when you leave: “the ‘honeymoon’ effect can occur and the first days with nothing to do can be very pleasant, but if you do not start an activity more or less immediately after leaving work, you run many risks of becoming depressed”.
Likewise, the health psychologist and member of TibHealth.com® María Gallego Blanco also offers us advice on how to disconnect from work during the vacations, prevent episodes of anxiety and avoid ending the vacations more tired than we started them:
- It is not convenient to go from a period of very marked times, which is usually imposed on us by daily life, to absolute disarrangement. There are people who complain of anxiety when they go from a very high level of activity to a very low one. Even if we do not get up early, we should try to propose routines that keep us active and get up at a reasonable time.
- Do not let your cell phone dominate you: turn off the sound of notifications, separate yourself from it whenever possible, prevent it from stealing quality time and socializing, establish routines and/or schedules for consulting certain things, such as social networks.
- Avoid a sedentary lifestyle because, although summer is a period of rest, a high level of inactivity is not good either. Take advantage of the vacations to take up a sport and maintain this habit for the rest of the year.
- Leave aside what has to do with work as much as possible and, if it is not, try to limit it to a daily time from which you can then disconnect.
- Avoid marathon days and planning too much on trips, trying to see absolutely everything stresses and exhausts.
- Even if you go home to sleep, try to spend the day outside to do something out of the routine.
- Spend time with the people you love, and try to take care of relationships that are sometimes unintentionally neglected because we don’t have much time.
- Leave some time to do nothing and then fill it with what you feel like doing at that moment.
- Dedicate yourself to your hobbies and, if you don’t have them, try to start a hobby.
- Make good resolutions, especially those that you had a little forgotten, and try to keep them for the rest of the year.