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Burnout: Emotional Exhaustion and Self-regulatory Goal Attainment

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You have a hundred things to do… by tomorrow, the pressure is mounting, expectations are high, and the phone won't quit ringing. Are you headed towards burnout? It is quite possible. Most people have an idea of what burnout is. You dread going to work. You go through your day feeling numb. You have lost your enthusiasm for your job. And you continually feel tired, stressed and drained of energy. If this sounds familiar, you could be suffering from burnout. Burnout is on the rise in modern society resulting in poor performance and health. Maslach and Leiter (1997) define burnout as "the index of the dislocation between what people are and what they have to do. It represents erosion in values, dignity, spirit and will—an erosion of the …show more content…

That stage is Frustration and it causes the worker to question the effectiveness, value and the impact of their efforts while facing mounting obstacles. Frustration in an organization can have a domino effect on the others. If the problem is not resolved then Apathy, the final stage is reached. Apathy is a crisis stage. The person is in a state of disequilibrium and is normally accompanied with denial. Burnout 7 We as professionals have two types of instruments to help assess burnout. The Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Emotional Exhaustion Scales are two tests from the first type which assist with determining the degree of burnout. The Maslach Burnout Inventory measures the three symptom patterns associated with burnout. Golembiewski, Munzenrider and Stevenson (2005) used the Maslach Inventory to develop a progressive phase model of burnout. The model sees depersonalization as the least potent and initial burnout phase. They see any substantial reduction in feelings of personal accomplishment as a secondary phase. Emotional exhaustion is the third phase and the most potent indicator of burnout. (James, pg. 490-91) The Emotional Exhaustion Scale measures and assesses the feelings of being emotionally worn down. For a total frequency and intensity score you will need to combine the measurements from the personal accomplishment scale, the depersonalization scale, the emotional

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