When stress makes us fall apart
It is now possible to predict whether a worker risks becoming a burnout
candidate: a highly ambitious person focused on their career and whose
job is far from challenging will quickly feel exhausted. In the same
way, the meek person who takes on too many responsibilities might become
burned out. In both cases, the discord between the person's desires
and his or her job requirements becomes the main source of stress.
Even though some stress factors are closely linked to the nature of
the person's job, potentially stressful agents must also be considered:
relationships with colleagues, bosses or clients, the organization's
structure, the office layout, the physical environment, as well as other
factors.
However, the effects of stress are not limited to our behaviour at
work. Stress also attacks our family circle, enters in our relationships
with others. According to Ayala M. Pines, Elliot Aronson and Ditsa Kafry,
authors of the book Burnout: From Tedium to Personal Growth,
"Exhaustion within the couple and the family sphere is as frequent as
weariness at work. It can lead to divorce, adultery or just plain apathetic
relationships."
Burnout sometimes happens at a particular time in life. Amy says that
she probably would have suffered from burnout sooner or later, but that
her premature menopause hastened her so-called "descent into hell."
And although the twenties are often seen as a the carefree years, that's
not often the case. In the United States, a study of professional women
(the results of which are detailed in Burnout: From Tedium to Personal
Growth) shows that 21-year-old female students belong to the group
with "the highest level of exhaustion and the lowest level of satisfaction
regarding work and life." Among the main sources of dissatisfaction
mentioned are work overload, the difficulty reconciling professional
life and social activities, the ups and downs of romantic life and the
competition that exists in the university world.
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