Causes of burnout
Burnout is a process
Burnout is a process. The way stress factors are handled is decisive over the development of a burnout syndrome.
Reasons for a burnout syndrome
- High work strain
- High time- and responsibility pressure
- Pursuit of perfection and social recognition
- Increasing complexity of work flows
- Impersonal, depressing working atmosphere, mobbing
Negative emotions will make you ill
An increased level of stress will often result is a downward spiral of negative thought and feeling, which poses an increased risk to your health.
- Frequent emotional exhaustion and depression.
- High levels of exhaustion increase the risk of heart attack (Appels, 1990)
- More damaging reactions to stress (hormones, blood pressure, pulse etc) (Habra 2003, Streptoe 2000)
- Increased disposition to inflammations after stomach ulcer higher damage of the mucous membrane (Levenstein 2000)
- Doubled risk of heart attack when preceded by strong anger (Mittleman 1995)
- Increased blood clotting and therefore increased risk of thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, heart attack and stroke (von Känel 2005)
Differential diagnosis of a burnout syndrome
- Diabetes mellitus
- hyper-/hypothyroidism
- hypofunction of the adrenal gland
- hypofunction of the pituitary gland
- depression
- iron deficiency food allergies
- vitamin and mineral deficiency
