Essay on The Truth About Job Burnout

Introduction Stress affects millions of people. One of the most common forms of stress is that related to our careers and the workplace. In today 's economic difficulty, work related stress is even more pronounced than ever before. Everyone who has ever held a job has, felt the pressure of work-related stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. According to the American Psychological Association 's (APA) annual Stress in America Survey. Only 37 percent of Americans surveyed said they were doing

Burnout is a gradual onset with symptoms coming on over time slowly. Burnout symptoms may include physical exhaustion, hopelessness, negative self-concept, having difficulty leaving home, and inability to concentrate are just some of the symptoms. Due to the gradual onset of symptoms, it is often hard to detect early (Dass-Brailsford, 2007). In McCann and Pearlman’s article they discuss burnout as a, “psychological strain from working with difficult populations” (McCann & Pearlman, 1990).

The implied message is that therapists should always be aware that they could become tired of helping people, because after so long with helping numerous clients, they can start to feel wore out. The appeal being used is pathos, because therapists must use strong emotions with their clients to help their outcomes become successful. This book discusses the main causes of burnout, as well as several techniques used to keep burnout from happening. This book is an informative read, and really reaches into the deep issues of burnout in therapists, which will help me with plenty of ideas for my

As with any career, human service professionals face potential challenges that make it difficult for them to accomplish the objectives of their positions. When challenged with these obstacles, it becomes increasingly difficult for the human service professional to deliver the outstanding help and care a client needs. One such challenge is that of burnout, a reaction to the stress and strain inherent in a position that causes individuals to adopt a negative attitude about work and clients as well as become detached with the expectations of their position and its overall purpose (Woodside & McClam, 2015, p. 256). There are also physical reactions to burnout, including exhaustion, stomach issues or other illnesses, and body pain (Woodside & McClam, 2015, p. 256). This burnout can be triggered by a number of different factors, from difficulties in allocating scarce resources (Woodside & McClam, 2015, p. 249) and motivating clients to help themselves (Woodside & McClam, 2015, p. 256), to self-neglect on the part of the helper (Jackson, 2014).

should be able to present a couple of solutions to try. This can be delegating

Depersonalization occurs when employees become emotionally detached from those around them because of stress with limited or no resources available to assist the employee in coping. One of the biggest contributors to depersonalization is burnout by employees that leads to a decrease in job satisfaction, employee performance, and turnover. Conservation of resources theory (COR) addresses how burnout develops and the effects it has on an employee’s job performance. Burnout often develops because of limited work resources while attempting to keep up with work demands. This addresses the fourth hypothesis where employees with higher levels of depersonalization will more than likely engage

49. Shriom, A. & Melamed, S. Does burnout affect physical health? A review of the evidence. In A.S.G. Antoniou & C.L. Cooper (eds.), Research companion to organizational health psychology (pp.599-622). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2005

All of the definitions of burnout mention the main factor of burnout to be stress. Pamela Patrick, in her book about Health Care Worker Burnout, defined burnout as “the feeling of emotional exhaustion, a negative attitude shift, and a sense of personal devaluation that occurs over time and in relation to high stress work environment”. Whiton Paine in his book on job stress and burnout used the concept of burnout stress syndrome, or BOSS, which is due to “high levels of job stress, personal frustration and inadequate coping skills”.

In many careers especially the field of social work it is easy to feel burnout and compassion fatigue. Burnout and compassion fatigue can be a slippery road for social workers to go down. It is the feeling of mental and emotional exhaustion, frustration, feeling like work has no meaning, and loss of enthusiasm ("Compassion Fatigue | The American Institute of Stress," n.d.). We do not go into the field of social work to absorb everyone’s problems and become engulfed in them, we do it for the satisfaction of being able to help others and to try and make a difference. For this reason it is important that we remember take time for ourselves and become self-aware to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue. If we no longer care about the work that we do and dread going to work each day, it will show and client’s may start to feel that there is no hope. The good thing is that there are warning signs and ways to

Burnout is a pattern of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion in response to chronic job stressors. It is a disorder characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a low level of personal accomplishments, which primarily affects people who are dealing with other people in their work (Maslach, 1982). Burnout develops due to the persistent emotional strain, which is the result of dealing with other people who cope with serious problems. Thus, burnout could be considered as a type of professional stress, which results from the social interaction between the person who provides

Burnout is a response to job stress that results in a detachment in the worker-client relationship that dehumanizes the client and decreases worker effectiveness. The source of this stress is the interpersonal

Burnout is a combination of factors, including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and the reduced sense of personal accomplishment (Maslach, 1982). Emotional exhaustion is accompanied with a lack of compassion and motivation to work, while depersonalization leads to irritability.

It is evident that the relationship between work stress and mental health has been established by numerous research studies. As discussed in Koesky (1993), the fact that all jobs involve some degree of stress makes it all the more alarming as to the level of stress experienced by individuals working in the human services. That is, given that these individuals are heavily involved in the lives of others, they often develop mental health symptoms that are characteristic of work-related stressors. In fact, “This involvement, which requires caring commitment and empathic responding, places workers at risk for a special type of strain commonly referred to as 'burnout'” (Koesky, 1993, p. 319).

Any work environment can have stressful aspects that can negatively affect the employees’ performance and may lead to burnout. Oftentimes when employees are stressed or burnout their commitment at the job may begin to weaken and they may lose satisfaction. Many organizations have recognized that workers burnout is the result of aggravated chronic work stressors and embodied by enervation and inefficacy. This author will discuss the impact of stress and worker burnout on organizations. Moreover, this author will consider the implication of stress and worker burnout on the employee, as well as the short- and long-term productivity of a business.

According to Elkin and Rosch (1990) workplace related stress in a major problem in the U.S. and it creates a major expense for corporations. Koeske, Kirk, and Koeske (1993) indicate that all jobs have some level of stress but jobs that are in the human services have additional stressors because they “derive from intense involvement in the lives of others”. (p.319). They also refer to the type of stress experienced by individuals working in human services as “burnout” (Koeske, Kirk, and Koeske, 1993, p.319). Another factor that can influence our stress level is how we handle life’s demands. There are different ways of reacting to the situations we face every day of our lives. We have all heard of expressions such as ‘road rage’ and ‘going postal’. These are terms that we have come to identified with violent reactions to stressors caused by situations all of us face every day. How many of us have experiences in the road that