Bshs 461 - Causes and Prevention of Burnout

Causes and Prevention of Burnout

LaToya Morris

BSHS/461

October 28, 2013

Leatrice Allen

Causes and Prevention of Burnout

Burnout is defined as the state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion which is often caused by physical and prolonged stress. Burnout typically occurs when a person is overwhelmed with the consistent demands of one's job. With burnout a person can become stressed and lose motivation to do things that they would normally find enjoyable (Help Guide.Org, n.d). In addition, burnout can cause a person to become sluggish and lose their productivity in the workplace. When a person has given up and feels as though nothing they do is satisfying or enjoyable more than likely, they are experiencing some sort of burnout from work or personal lifestyles. Some common signs of burnout are helplessness, lost of hope, cynical and resentfulness. According to (Help Guide.Org, n.d) you may be on the road to burnout if: you feel like every day is a bad day, caring for your home and others is a total waste, you're exhausted all the time, or nothing you do is appreciated. This paper will address the causes and prevention of burnout and describe individual, cultural, organizational and supervisory factors that cause burnout. Furthermore, this paper will provide insight into how I respond to work-related stress and burnout.

Some factors they may contribute to individual burnout are setting goals that are too high for self and having pessimistic views about everything they do. In other words, nothing is ever good enough for a person that has a pessimistic personality. Other individual factors leading to burnout is having negative views about the world and your own self-worth. Individual burnout can lead to a person being reluctant to delegate to others or need to be in control of nearly everything. Factors that contribute to cultural burnout may include social, political and economic issues that help shape the work environment (Jazazewski, Much, & Swanson, n.d). A decrease in the quality workplace place health is also a cultural factor that contributes to burnout. Other culture factors that contribute to burnout are a person working for a company that practices a religion that is against his/her beliefs. Organizational burnout can come from being overloaded with lots of responsibilities and demands at work, chaotic work environment, lack of organizational structure, and lack of recognition. Lastly, a supervisory and social support factor that contribute to burnout is the lack of not being able to participate in the decision making process; an individual may feel like his/her ideas are not important.

There are various individual, job role, and organizational methods to prevent burnout and it is important that individuals practice these methods to minimize their vulnerability to burnout. One approach in preventing burnout is changing the layout of how the job is structured. Change can be as simple assigning a variety of clients to different roles and responsibilities each service delivery or