HEALTH PLUS:Economic crisis means more burnout for more people
THE CONDITION known as burnout, which was first identified and named in the 1970s, is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion resulting from conditions at work. It is occupational breakdown.
It is a process rather than a sudden event. It can creep up insidiously, particularly where prolonged stress is a feature of work. Burnout is the end point of long-term functioning under this stress.
In the current economic and stress-related work climate, we are likely to see a great deal more burnout, particularly among service providers, as cutbacks limit service provision, maximise workload and undermine services.
Burnout can occur in any work context but it is particularly associated with the caring professions. Nurses, social workers, psychologists, doctors, gardaí, childcare workers, welfare officers, drug-addiction counsellors, fire brigade services, teachers and others in support agencies and caring professions are particularly at risk.
In fact, burnout was originally identified among caring professionals, where compassion fatigue and frustration with their inability to make a difference to people’s lives, was found to deplete those who had entered these professions filled with idealism, energy, enthusiasm and a vocation to serve others.
Research shows that those at risk of burnout usually begin their working lives as sensitive, empathetic, dedicated individuals, but they may end up with personal feelings of inconsequentiality and defeat.
Sadly, there is only so much suffering workers can witness if they feel helpless to alleviate it. Burnout can cause “hardening of the heart” and compassion exhaustion because of the pain of watching people in misery.
Public scrutiny and disparagement, allied to increased performance pressure and decreased resources, play their part in making workers vulnerable to stress and burnout.
It is bad enough not to have the resources to do one’s job, but to then be blamed for poor service, can cause the balance to be tipped for those who are doing their best. This may cause burnout sufferers to become apathetic, cynical, guilty, resentful and depressed.
There are a number of questions that can identify if you are suffering from burnout. For example, do you go to work each day, fantasising about winning the lotto, early retirement or just getting through the day? Do you look back cynically on your
youthful enthusiasm and belief that you could change the world? Are you suffering from
a feeling of disillusionment?
Do you think that no matter how hard you try, there is no point anyway? Do you feel that what you do has no meaning? Are you overwhelmed by
what needs to be done?
Other documented factors that have been associated with burnout include working long hours, lack of autonomy, client neediness, public frustration and public misunderstanding, inadequate resources, lack of criteria to measure accomplishment, excessive performance demands, administrative indifference, interference or inappropriate intrusion into work.
Additionally, those who work in institutions rather than in private settings often face the endemic stresses of large organisational structures, including role ambiguity and role conflict, organisational politics, territorial competition and disputes.
Good people in bad situations can find themselves in conflict rather than united. Recession regression can set in unawares, with unseemly competition for scarce resources, and those who should work together most may become divided by their fears for their jobs, their specific services or even their own personal capacities to cope.
Teachers, for example, may find that all social ills seem to arrive into their classrooms and they can be overwhelmed by class sizes and inadequate space. Gardaí may feel besieged by the magnitude of the problems that face them, as societal anger and disappointment is displaced into destructiveness or vented on them. Child protection services are confronted with increased complexity. Risk management may overwhelm mental health services as recession inevitably increases mental health distress.
Family services witness the marital conflict financial problems and job insecurity engender in couples. It’s a stressful time all round.
In the current anger about waste of taxpayers’ money and the need for increased efficiency, accountability, honesty, transparency and control, it is important not to displace all anger onto ordinary service providers. Otherwise the fallout from burnout will increase to the detriment of all.
mmurray@irishtimes.com
Clinical psychologist and author Marie Murray is director of student counselling services in UCD