Burnout syndrome.

What is Burnout Syndrome: is a psychic disorder of a depressive nature, preceded by intense physical and mental exhaustion, defined by Herbert J. Freudenberger as "(...) a state of physical and mental exhaustion whose cause is closely linked to professional life "Excessive dedication to professional activity is a hallmark of Burnout, but not the only one. The desire to be the best and always demonstrate a high degree of performance is another important phase of the syndrome: the Burnout bearer measures self-esteem for the ability to achieve and succeed professionally. What starts with satisfaction and pleasure ends when this performance is not recognized. At this stage, the need to assert oneself and the desire for professional fulfillment turn into obstinacy and compulsion [1]; the patient in this search suffers, besides problems of psychological order, strong physical wear, generating fatigue and exhaustion. It is a pathology that reaches members of the Health, Public Safety, Banking, Education, Careers, Information Technology, Project Managers, health professionals in general, journalists, lawyers, biochemists, teachers and even volunteers. Stages: There are twelve stages of Burnout: Need to affirm or prove to be always capable Dedication intensified - predominantly the need to do everything alone and at any time of day (immediacy); Lack of personal needs - eating, sleeping, hanging out with friends begin to lose their meaning; Conflict stress - the bearer realizes that something is not going well, but does not face the problem. It is when physical manifestations occur; Reinterpretation of values ​​- isolation, escape of conflicts. What once had value suffers devaluation: leisure, home, friends, and the only measure of self-esteem is work; Denial of problems - at this stage others are completely devalued, perceived as incapable or underperforming. Social contacts are repelled, cynicism and aggression are the most obvious signs; Gathering and aversion to meetings (refusal to socialize); Obvious changes in behavior (difficulty accepting certain jokes with good judgment and good humor); Depersonalization (avoid dialogue and give priority to e-mails, messages, messages, etc.); Empty interior and feeling that everything is complicated, difficult and exhausting; Depression - marks of indifference, hopelessness, exhaustion. Life loses meaning; And, finally, the professional exhaustion syndrome, which corresponds to physical and mental collapse. This stage is considered emergency and medical and psychological help is an emergency.

Symptoms: The symptoms are varied: severe headaches, dizziness, tremors, a lot of shortness of breath, mood swings, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating and digestive problems. According to Dr. Jürgen Staedt, director of the psychiatry and psychotherapy clinic at the Vivantes hospital complex in Berlin, part of the patients who seek him with depression are diagnosed with the syndrome of professional exhaustion. Professor of Psychology of Behavior Manfred Schedlowski of the Zurich Higher Institute of Technology (ETH), records the growth of burnout in professional settings, despite the difficulty of differentiating the syndrome from other ills, as it manifests itself in a way very varied: "One person has chronic stomach pain, another reacts with depressive signs, the third develops an anxiety disorder explicitly," and adds that there have been described more than 130 symptoms of professional exhaustion. Burnout is usually developed as a result of a period of excessive exertion at work with very small intervals for recovery. Researchers seem to disagree about the nature of this syndrome. While several scholars argue that Burnout refers exclusively to a syndrome related to exhaustion and lack of personalization at work, others perceive it as a special case of more general clinical depression or just a form of extreme fatigue (hence omitting the depersonalization component ). Health workers are often prone to burnout. Doctors appear to have the highest proportion of burnout cases (according to a recent study in Psychological Reports, no less than 40% of physicians had high levels of burnout). Cordes and Doherty (1993), in their study of these professionals, found that those who have frequent intense or emotionally charged interactions with others are more susceptible. Students are also prone to burnout in the final years of basic schooling and higher education; Interestingly enough, this is not a type of work-related burnout, but with continued intense study with deprivation of leisure, playful activities, or another equivalent of hedonic fruition. Perhaps this is best understood as a form of depression. Jobs with high levels of stress or consumption may be more likely to cause burnout than jobs at normal levels of stress or stress. IT professionals, scientists, police, taxi drivers, bankers, air traffic controllers, engineers, musicians, teachers and artists all seem to be more likely to burnout than other professionals.

Burnout Syndrome in Teachers: Teacher burnout is known as a physical and emotional exhaustion that begins with a feeling of discomfort and gradually increases as the will to teach gradually decreases. Symptomatically, burnout is generally recognized by the absence of some motivational factors: energy, joy, enthusiasm, satisfaction, interest, will, dreams for life, ideas, concentration, self-confidence, and humor. A study of teachers who decided not to take up positions in classrooms early in the school year in Virginia, USA, revealed that among the major causes of stress was a lack of resources, lack of time, overeating, number very large number of students per classroom, lack of assistance, lack of support and hostile parents. In another survey, 244 teachers of students with irregular or undisciplined behavior were instantiated to determine how stress at work affected their lives. These are, in decreasing order, the causes of stress in these teachers: Inadequate school policies for cases of indiscipline; Attitude and behavior of managers; Evaluation of managers and supervisors; Attitude and behavior of other teachers and professionals; Excessive work load; Uninteresting career opportunities; Low status of the profession of teacher; Lack of recognition for a good lesson or for teaching well; Noisy students; Dealing with parents. The effects of stress are identified, in the research, as: Feeling of exhaustion; Feeling of frustration; Feeling of incapacity; Carry stress home; Feeling guilty for not doing enough; Irritability. The strategies used by teachers, according to research, to deal with stress are: Perform relaxation activities; Organizing time and deciding priorities; Maintain a balanced or balanced diet and exercise; Discuss problems with coworkers; Take the day off; Seek professional help in conventional medicine or alternative therapies. When asked what could be done to help reduce stress, the most mentioned strategies were: Allow teachers time to collaborate or talk; Provide teachers with courses and workshops; Give more praise to teachers, reinforce their practices and respect their work; Give more assistance; Provide teachers with more opportunities to learn more about students with irregular behaviors as well as program options for the course; Involve teachers in school decision making and improve communication with school. As can be seen, teacher burnout is closely related to demotivating conditions at work, which affects, in most cases, the performance of the professional. The absence of motivational factors leads to professional stress, causing the professional to quit his job, or, when he maintains himself, work without much attachment or care.

The "Burnout" in Nurses: The nurses, by the characteristics of their work, are also predisposed to develop burnout. These professionals work directly and intensely with people in distress. Particularly nurses working in areas such as oncology, psychiatry, and medicine often feel exhausted because they continually give much of themselves to their patients and in return for the characteristics of the disease receive very little. Luís Sá (2006), in a study with 257 oncology nurses, found that these professionals were more emotionally worn when compared to nurses from other areas. One of the main factors found in the origin of burnout was the lack of control over work. It is also necessary to add that in the territories of the Health, Burnout Syndrome acquires more complex aspects by the fact of adding values ​​coming from the health systems that feed on utopian perspectives that interfere, directly, in the work of the nurse. Curricula, guidelines, guidelines and other bureaucratic processes end up spreading discussions that always end up accumulating stress in professional practices and, consequently, involves the nurse and his praxis. Society, in turn transfers extra responsibilities to the nurse, overloading it and inculcating roles that will not be performed with the necessary competence Each day more is added more activities for the nurse in institutions and quality processes insert more and more items to be checked, there is also the wage devaluation and the hourly overload to which they are subjected, so that the nurses do not individually respect a rest period between one day and another, accumulating jobs and coming to work 36 and 48 hours uninterrupted, with homes from 1 to 2 hours maximum between the 12-hour days. Source: HC.