What do stress and burnout mean? What is stress according to you?
Janet Mulder starts the master class with this question to the participants. All kinds of answers pass in review, including: wanting more than you can handle, an imbalance in your energy, too much tension, loss of control, a shortening of the fuse but also a form of alertness and in itself a healthy stimulus.
With these last additions the participants hit the nail on the head. We tend to interpret stress negatively, but it also has all kinds of positive functions. For example, it provides focus and structure and it helps us to get into a 'fight' or 'flight' mode, which causes us to act. This fact is also important for you to know: stress is not wrong. In fact, it is a healthy reaction to an unhealthy situation. A problem only arises when we do not allow enough recovery time and we can no longer balance our load and capacity. When more is asked of us than we think we can live up to.
Carrying load ↓
Stress
Negative experiences
Vulnerabilities
Little support
Illness
Hereditary load etc.
Carrying capacity ↑
Resilience
Support
Positive experiences
Good relationships
Meaning
Health etc.
If the overload and stress last longer, and we end up in a state in which we experience persistent physical and / or psychological stress symptoms, then we speak of overstrain. The stress symptoms then last about three months. You can notice overstress by limitations that arise in the social and/or professional functioning.
Overstrain. This is the case when the following criteria are met (Source: LESA-guideline, 2011):
1.The client has three or more of the following complaints: tired, sleeping badly, irritable, sensitive to noise and bustle, emotionally unstable, brooding, agitated, difficulty concentrating and/or forgetfulness
2..Client experiences loss of control and/or powerlessness;
3.Client shows or feels serious limitations in professional and/or social functioning;
4.The problems are not (exclusively) attributable to a psychological disorder.
The moment the overstrain lasts six months or longer, you can end up in a burnout. There is extreme exhaustion, extreme fatigue and extreme loss of energy. You are then burned out and every effort feels like too much. This can make you sick.
Burnout. This is the case if (Source: LESA-guideline, 2011):
1.Overexertion;
2.The complaints started more than six months ago;
3.Feelings of fatigue and exhaustion are strongly in the foreground.
There are numerous definitions of burnout. The CSR Center approaches it from the perspective of psychobiology:
"Burnout is a chronic stress disorder. It is a complex of symptoms resulting from a neuro-hormonal imbalance that has its origin in a long-term cumulative recovery deficit."
Annita Rogier (Psychologist and Stress & Burnout Coach) additionally states, "Burnout is growing pains. Persistent stress is a signal that something needs to change in your life. That you need to become more who you really are."
Jakob van Wielink (initiator of and partner at The School for Transition) takes the following position: "The roots of burnout can be found in a broken connection between who you are, your (unique) calling and the things you do. Burnout is the effect of your core being tired of doing things for the wrong cause."
No one definition is THE truth. You can think of them as different perspectives and visions.
How do you recognize excessive stress?
In the Stress and burnout coaching course, we use the book "Handbook of Coaching Stress and Burnout" by Annita Rogier. In this book Annita describes that excessive stress for both the organization and the employee can be recognized by:
Physical complaints
- Persistent fatigue, lack of sleep;
- Muscle, head, back pain;
- Stomach pain, intestinal disorders, (usually poor, but sometimes excessive) appetite, nausea symptoms;
- Decreased resistance to infections;
- Palpitations, increased blood pressure, increased cholesterol;
- Psychological complaints
- Unable to settle down, agitated feeling;
- Irritable, irritable;
- Gloomy, crying fits, brooding, anxiety;
- Unable to enjoy life, lethargic, lifeless;
- Indecisive, loss of concentration, forgetful;
- Change of attitude and behaviorAvoiding social contact;
- Increased smoking, eating, using alcohol, or drugs;Increased use of sleeping pills and sedatives;
- Chaotic way of working, or going overboard with structure;
- Loss of self-confidence;
- Formerly driven, now indifferent or cynical;
- Frequent short absences: showing up late, leaving early.
Source ICM