Burnout is often associated with extreme physical and emotional exhaustion, decreased interest in activities that once brought pleasure and a sense of lower accomplishment.
You will know that you are suffering from chronic burnout by somatic arousals such as being easily irritated, sleep problems, poor memory and difficulty concentrating. Unabated stress will trigger increase in cortisol levels which in turn causes inflammatory response and other physical and emotional symptoms.
Internally-driven factors causing burnout.
While we know that external environmental factors causes stress leading to burn-out, there are other internal self driven factors that contributes to burnout.
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Excessive activities
Our mental energy or our physiological brain resources have its limitations as our body can only produce so much neurochemicals to supply the demands of our activity. Whether it’s a physical, cognitive or emotional activity, our brain is the source that drives it and excessive demands will lead to depletion of these resources.
When we are stressed, the adrenal gland above our kidneys produce cortisol that is released into the blood stream. Our brain has a lot of glucocorticoid receptors for cortisol especially in the cortex (thinking brain) and the limbic system (emotional brain). The release of cortisol will trigger glutamates which is necessary for our neurons to connect but excessive amounts can turn neurotoxic.
The amygdala in the limbic system is the controller of fight, flight and freeze response which triggers noradrenaline when we experience threat. While this response is instinctive for safety and protection, chronic activation of this HPA axis and network can result in dysregulation of the stress response. Hence, unmanaged stress can lead to structural and functional alteration in connectivity pathways, increase volume of amygdala and a reduction of grey matter in our brain. Putting it simply, our thinking brain looses its ability to think rationally and we react negatively even in situations that are non-threatening.
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Personality Type
Certain personality types are more prone to burn-out:
Burnout tends to happen more to the Type A personalities. These are people who are ambitious, highly competitive and who have intense need for urgency and control. Perfectionistic personalities are also more pre-disposed to burnout.
People who lack communication skills and assertiveness, as well as those with a strong need for external validation are also prone to burnout.
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Performance-Based Self-esteem
While our talent can contribute to higher self-esteem, excessive dependence on our talent and performance can have adverse effects.
High performing athletes often neglect other aspect of life to focus on their sports resulting in risk of total dependency on the sport for self-identity and esteem. When our self-concept and self-esteem is based on how we perform in the eyes of others, the activity itself can become a stressor leading to a higher chance of burn-out.
Coping Strategies
- Stress-reduction activities – identify key stressors find ways navigate around it. Find better ways to manage time, prioritize and increase control over activities.
- Change perspective and processes. Identify what is really important and focus on these. This will reduce unwanted load in the usual task process. Reframe negative thoughts
- Develop thinking agility and adaptive behavior by improving communication skills, problem solving and assertiveness. Take on a growth mindset and future orientation.
- Develop a positive self-concept
Reference: Khammissa RAG, Nemutandani S, Feller G, Lemmer J, Feller L. Burnout phenomenon: neurophysiological factors, clinical features, and aspects of management. Journal of International Medical Research. 2022;50(9). doi:10.1177/03000605221106428 Gustafssonet al.(2017) Athlete burnout: Review and recommendations, Current Opinion in Psychology
