The Institute for Youth Development KULT held an NGO MeetUp on Dealing with Burnout.
The conclusions and advice offered in this text are the result of conversations with:
Senka Čimpo, psychologist and psychotherapist and
Đana Lončarica, psychologist and psychotherapist.
- Accept you have a problem!
The only way to fight a mental illness is by acknowledging it first. Accepting that you have a problem is the first step towards getting help. As long as you stay in denial, your hands are tied, and you are helpless.
- If you recognize yourself in any of the conditions below, ask for help!
You are exhausted, you feel like a constant failure, you lose confidence and self-belief and you feel unable to change anything in your life. You’re trapped in a vicious cycle, and you’re becoming tired and nervous. Food becomes your best friend or your enemy; you suddenly lose weight or gain weight, and you also have problems sleeping. Do you feel angry and blame others for what happens to you? Are you openly critical of your supervisors and colleagues? You feel helpless, you are often sick, and anxiety and depression become part of your everyday life. If you wondered this yourself or felt this way, it’s time to get help!
- Burnout is all about balance.
Obligations, workload, and job responsibilities are just one piece of the puzzle that makes up your life. Let your days, weeks and months be filled with different things. Ensure that your personal life balances with your work life. Your time should be filled with friends, family, hobbies, and activities that fulfill your personal needs and emotions. This way, the burnout syndrome will definitely not affect your mental health.
- If you can’t say anything about yourself except what your job is, then you’re in trouble!
Be part of your social circle, create connections and other roles in your life! You are more than just an employee of some company or organization. Be a friend, partner, acquaintance, relative as well as an employee. Even though burnout syndrome is closely tied to work, focusing on personal growth can significantly improve your ability to cope with stress and prevent various other negative outcomes.
- Seek help when you realize you have a problem.
If you can’t afford a psychotherapist, reach out to your loved ones. They can be great at listening to your problems, and they’ll often offer you understanding and support. Go somewhere you feel comfortable and talk about your problems.
- Reach out to your supervisor – they’re human too.
If you feel like your problems can’t be solved, try talking to your supervisor. Be open about your feelings toward your work, and consider requesting changes in your work habits that could rejuvenate your working environment and responsibilities. Adjusting working hours, redistributing tasks, and taking on new responsibilities can help rekindle your attachment to the workplace.
We hope these tips will be valuable in your future work and in preventing burnout syndrome.
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