As seen in Vogue Singapore
We all know and feel it to some degree, but what do we do with this extended sense of fatigue and malaise?
If you are feeling tired or drained most of the time, even helpless, trapped or defeated at work, London-based Psychologist Richard Reid says you’re probably experiencing burnout.
Chronic work stress is real and the World Health Organisation warns that burnout is a psychological syndrome brought about by not being able to be “successfully managed.”
The age of the average burnout worker is now 32 and home working is making it a whole lot worse for all of us. But before you succumb to the abyss of the burnout era, there are proven ways you can try to put your burnout into reverse. Vogue Singapore speaks to global mental health experts to help you with your burnout recovery plan.
What is burnout?
“Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress in your job, or when you have worked in a physically or emotionally draining role for a long time,” Reid explains.
What contributes to burnout and what can we do about it?
According to a recent McKinsey survey across 15 countries, toxic workplace behaviour had the biggest impact on predicting burnout symptoms and intent to leave work, across all dimensions assessed.
Dr Craig Beach, US-based psychiatrist, workplace mental health expert and founder and CEO of Open Mind Health says: “Toxic workplace behaviour is interpersonal behaviour that leads employees to feel devalued, belittled, or unsafe, such as unfair or degrading treatment, non-inclusive behaviour, sabotaging, cutthroat competition, abusive management, and unethical behaviour from leaders or co-workers.”
In fact, a recent study says a toxic workplace culture emerged as the single largest predictor of the Great Resignation, ten times more powerful than compensation alone.
The Great Resignation continues; a whopping 44 per cent of workers look for new job opportunities, and with a record of 4.5 million job quits in March 2022 alone, it continues in full swing. Globally, the trend has trickled over to Singapore, Australia, the UK… and online. On TikTok, the hashtag #quittingmyjob has 145.1M views.
Other common causes of burnout include: “lack of adequate social support; taking on more than one can handle at work, or interpersonally with family and friends; and poor self-care,” Reid adds.
Published: 28 August 2022
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