What are the causes of burnout?
So we’ve already looked at What is Burnout? and Symptoms and Levels of Burnout
And I’ve explained how exhaustion, negative emotions and lowered productivity are unfortunate but totally natural consequences of long-term stress. This is our body's way of forcing us to rest.
Here we’re moving on to look at causes of occupational burnout.
Introduction: Rarely one simple cause of burnout
When we look at causes of burnout,it’s usually a combination of factors rather than any one thing.
The different causes are usually often divided into two types :
Personal factors - beliefs or behaviours of the individual.
Organisational factors -issues in the workplace
But, as a coach and psychologist, I often see an interaction between the two!
Example of how personal and workplace factors can interact:
A workplace problem like a horrible, overdemanding/unsupportive boss or unrealistic deadlines will cause most employees some level of stress. However, we know that people who engage in psychologically healthy activities* outside work can cope far better with these stresses. Whereas someone whose life is almost totally about work is more likely to struggle with work stress or burnout.
*These healthy activities can be things like:
connecting with others regularly
engaging in hobbies that leave you feeling recharged
having clear work/home boundaries.
(How to overcomework stress and burnout is coming in a later blog, but these items listed above form a nice basic first check!
Also, some factors are hard to put in one camp or the other...
Take an employee blurring the boundaries between work and home life by answering work emails on their mobile device – is their work stress due to the employee’s unhelpful habits? Or due to the employer issuing work phones and a culture of expecting you to answer, because everyone else does?
(I mean zero judgment or blame here - I've ended up severely burned out myself years ago! It's not our fault if we find ourselves in a toxic workplace, but let's also be realistic about what we can work on in ourselves to take back control as best we and reconnect to the rewarding life we want).
Burnout can be due to the way a whole organisation works - such as burnout in the UK’s NHS due to chronic understaffing and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Or it can be seen more at the level of a team or at the level of an individual. In my role as an executive coach or counsellor, I often see burnout in self-employed people - especially where they judge themselves harshly and in terms of what they achieve in work and /or have unrealistic, perfectionistic goals.
1. Organisational (workplace) factors that cause burnout
These are all the aspects of a workplace that can either increase or reduce the demands of work and help or hinder a person to reach their work goals.
This can be involve
the physical environment
psychological - e.g., how employees are treated
social - e.g., relationships with executives, between colleagues or with customers
organisational - both the type of work and how it is organised.
TOP WORKPLACE CAUSE OF BURNOUT:
An excessive/unrealistic workload is probably the most frequently reported stressor in workplace. Little surprise there, perhaps!
However, workload alone is not usually the reason for burnout.
Other workplace factors include:
Unsupportive boss/ toxic culture or workplace bullying - maybe supervision or support is inadequate or non-existent? Or the opposite, you're being micro-managed.
Line managers are often quoted as a key cause of work-related stress. Often line managers are promoted for their technical skill in the workplace, rather than selected for, or trained in, people skills or emotional intelligence.
Role ambiguity or complexity - not understanding what is expected of you or having tasks which conflict with each other.
Injustice - where you feel you are not treated fairly or where some employees are ‘favourited’.
Poor working hours - such as long or unsociable hours, shift work, hours that don’t work well around family life and unreasonable overtime. All of these are associated with increased stress, burnout, sleep disorders and other health complaints.
Lack of resources - making it more difficult to do the tasks required.
Feeling unappreciated by the organisation/ Uncaring work environment - sometimes this can involve financial reward, but also whether you have verbal appreciation or positive feedback or are offered opportunities within work.
Lack of psychological safety - this is defined as the ability to talk honestly, raise issues, ideas and opinions or admit to mistakes without fear of judgment or hostility. This can be around workplace behaviour, policy or practice.
Lack of control or autonomy - we know that people can often cope well with heavy workloads if they are given decent autonomy in how they work.
Personal occupational hazards - this could include anything from the systems in place on a construction site to the security to protect healthcare employees from abusive or aggressive service users.
Job insecurity
‘Emotional contagion’ - a way in which burnout can develop in work groups. This describes how we are influenced by others' emotions and beliefs. Groups can develop shared beliefs and emotions when in frequent social interaction with others.
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Emotional contagion has been reported in healthcare and teaching teams. So, when working with others that are feeling negative, overwhelmed and undervalued, we are more likely to develop these feelings too.
A more positive example is where a manager often smiles and displays kindness towards, and interest in, employees. This positive, considerate attitude can spread through the workforce.
Organisation has an ‘always-on’ culture - this is an attitude that blurs boundaries between work and home, e.g. expecting phones /emails to be answered outside work.
Please see my Uptrained Brain Online Coaching Program if you feel you could be coping better with work stress, worry and that pesky inner critic. Ready to up your mental game?
2. Personal factors
So why is it that some hard workers burn out and others don’t?
It is increasingly being recognised that seeing excessive work or a difficult workplace as the sole reason for burnout is over-simplistic.
As mentioned before, often the reasons are multiple. And what’s happening in the workplace often interacts with an individual’s unhelpful beliefs or behaviours.
This individual level is where I can help massively, as often our attitudes and beliefs about work and about ourselves are making the situation worse.
TOP CAUSE OF STRESS & BURNOUT:
Past demons - Often we’re being driven by old stories or beliefs about the world or ourselves that are so entrenched they just seem like part of our personality. Often, we just aren’t even aware of them without professional help to shine a light on those hidden depths.
Other personal factors contributing to work-related stress or burnout
Family Values - maybe you come from a family with a strong work ethic and that defines who you are? Anything less than total effort makes you feel less than worthy!
Assertiveness issues - maybe you struggle with assertiveness, with a tendency to ‘people-please’ and so find it really hard to speak out if your workload, deadlines or other expectations are unreasonable?
Maybe you find it hard to set boundaries and to stop checking your phone or responding to work emails out of hours?.. out of fear that you won’t catch up or will be judged for waiting till morning? Or maybe it’s now such a habit that it just feels really uncomfortable not to do this and you don’t know how to change and turn off from work?
Perfectionistic tendencies - do you always work at maximum effort, regardless of the task or urgency? Or do you feel that anything less than perfect is inadequate or will bring judgment, even if on a trivial task?
Often people with low self-confidence have coped throughout their lives by being a perfectionist and working at impressing others more than other people tend to. There can come a point where that strategy is just unsustainable and imposter syndrome is still present, but they often just don’t know how to change who they’ve always been.
Competitive environment - maybe you find yourself in a workplace with other people that also believe they need to achieve constantly to be worthy – so you all end up competing to proof your value? (And maybe this is encouraged by management?)
Ignoring the physical - stress can manifest itself in a massive variety of bodily signs and symptoms – from muscle tension and headaches to indigestion, insomnia and fatigue. THIS is your sign that you need more rest and relaxation. But maybe you believe that worthy, reliable and loyal people work through this?
Ignoring self-care & putting others before yourself - See above for how self-care and having a good work-life balance act as a buffer against stress.
Burying your emotions - do you push any negative feelings away rather than talking about them or making changes?
Unhelpful coping strategies - using alcohol, medication or illegal drugs as an escape or to try sleep. Often this is a slippery slope where what at first seems reasonable and socially acceptable (a glass of wine in the evening or an occasional over-the-counter sleep aid) starts to be relied upon.
Your identity is all about work - giving over a disproportionate amount of your time to work, leaving no time for hobbies/ non work activities, socialising or relationships. Now you are your job!
Pacing like you’re still in your 20s - people most commonly experience burnout in their 40s. It’s thought that this is because they haven’t adjusted for different energy levels or home commitments.
Feeling overly responsible for everything - feeling overly responsible, or the need to feel in control of everything, is a common trait in people who struggle with work-related stress or who could be described an ‘anxious achiever’.
Working somewhere incongruent with your values - we know that if you stay in an organisation that does not share your important values then you’ll grow more frustrated and resentful.
This can mean doing something that doesn't fit with your ethics, or doing something with no meaning to you. Often people continue without pausing to reflect on what they want or need.
Tendency to worry and ruminate - the more time we spend dwelling on a thought, the more believable it feels AND the more often it pops into our head. It's almost like our brain has 'tagged' that thought as something super important (even if it's completely untrue!)
This is something I work with a lot. Often people will feel like they’ve been a ‘worrier’ for as long as they can remember. But just because this is a very firm habit doesn’t mean that it can’t be changed with the right help.
Additional personal issues/responsibilities - e.g. financial, relationship or health issues or caring responsibilities. Anything causing extra stress outside work will add to the overall stress burden.
Often people will be rewarded and praised in the workplace for these behaviours – such as working long hours or being excessively perfectionistic.
A healthy workplace is one where people are reminded to take their holiday time and encouraged to give consideration to a good work/life balance.
PREVIOUS: Part 2: Symptoms and Levels of Burnout
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Sources and resources associated with this article series:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834764/pdf/ijerph-19-01780.pdfhttps://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/burnout#:~:text=Christina%20Maslach%2C%20a%20professor%20of,used%20to%20measure%20job%20burnout
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/#:~:text=The%20term%20%E2%80%9Cburnout%E2%80%9D%20was%20coined,ideals%20in%20%E2%80%9Chelping%E2%80%9D%20professions
https://www.nicholaspetrie.com
Published by Dr Jill Williams, Rethink Therapy incl. Uptrained Brain May 2023. Executive Coach - Psychologist - Counsellor.
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