“You will burn and you will burn out; you will be healed and come back again.”― Fyodor Dostoevsky
Does this sound familiar, “I feel stressed!”, “I can’t take this anymore, I am burning out!”?
As society evolves, so do the expectations that come with it, whether in professional or personal settings. This has given rise to increased reports of people feeling distressed or burnt out. Although it may seem that both conditions mean similar experiences, there must be some nuances that differentiate the two, other than spelling that is!
Let’s start off with the similarities first.
In the most basic sense, stress and burnout are forms of emotional disturbances. Feelings are typically associated with stress and burnout might include anger, fear, or sadness. Other likely secondary emotions that we may have could be disappointment, guilt, discouragement, and so forth. Prolonged stress and burnout eventually lead to complications in other areas of functioning and life. Our mental states suffer when we are in constant distress, as if there is a permanent dark cloud over our heads. We are also pushed closer towards unhealthy behaviours that provide temporary respite but are detrimental to our general well-being. Moreover, we are prone to shorter fuses as we are hurting emotionally. As a result, the quality of our interpersonal relationships also steadily declines.
Nonetheless, the above is just a brief snapshot of what stress and burnout signs look like. As we take a closer look at stress and burnout, we realise that both conditions have their unique characteristics and symptom expression.
Mostly, stress produces feelings of urgency. As such, people who are stressed tend to move quickly and utilize great amounts of energy to eliminate the stressor(s) immediately from their lives. However, in their attempt to remove the stressor(s), they are more likely to neglect basic needs (e.g., food, rest, etc.) which eventually causes their physical well-being to break down. They are exposed to a greater risk of developing various forms of health complications and chronic illnesses (e.g., cardiac diseases, diabetes, cancer, etc.).
On the flip side, people who experience burnout report feelings of numbness in response to the stressor(s) they are facing. The typical associated feelings include loss of motivation, loss of control, helplessness, and hopelessness. They might view life as not worth living anymore. Burnout is therefore seen as more of emotional damage, and as such, the healing process could take longer. People who experience burnout are at a greater risk of engaging in harmful behaviours, for instance self – injurious actions or suicidal attempts.
If you notice that you might be experiencing such symptoms, are if you know of others around you who might be suffering in silence, consider seeking professional advice.