Wanting to excel at the workplace, meet ever exceeding expectations and the urge to rise in the corporate ladder, struggling to achieve a work-life balance, most working professionals suffer from work-related stress, which results in the familiar ‘burnout’. So when on Tuesday, WHO called “burnout” a medical condition, most professionals who find it extremely difficult to disengage from work (and this feeling) were taken by surprise. However, WHO quickly retracted their statement and clarified that it remains an “occupational phenomenon” that could lead someone to seek care but it is not considered a medical condition.
According to their first statement, WHO defined burnout as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”- having three dimensions namely feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy.
We asked Dr Rajesh Goel, consultant psychiatrist, Gangaram Hospital and President of Delhi Psychiatric Society, about the complexity of burnout and he shared, “Burnout is very underrated in India but it is a serious condition, which is waiting to be addressed. Just like radiologists are given badges to measure the amount of radiation they have received, after which, they are made to go on compulsory leave, we need something similar for the working segment too. They should be offered some sort of relaxation or compulsory leaves.”
A lot of people feel that there is a dire need to bring more clarity to the definition of burnout. Well, it all starts with lack of motivation or anxiety related to work, leading to constant irritability, fatigue, loss of interest in daily routine, forcing oneself to do things and loss of interest in pleasurable activities. Some people also report somatic complaints like constant headache, back pain or gut issues, added Dr Goel.
Many people even suffer from depleted mood when work is discussed even at a casual setting and feel majorly relieved when they are leaving work. While the symptoms vary from person to person, but it is a real thing and sometimes it turns into depression.
When we asked psychotherapist Dr Gaurav Deka about the importance of classifying it as a medical condition, he said, “Whether they classify it as a medical condition or not, people still have to suffer from extreme exhaustion. Categorising or not categorising will not affect the number of people reaching out to a psychiatrist, a therapist or a medical help. The deterioration of their mental, emotional and physical health will compel them to. Classifying conditions, diseases or mental states brings a name or a diagnosis, which does not contribute to the treatment plan. More so, when t is more than conspicuous that stress at workplace is progressing day by day, and there seems to be hardly any way by which people at the same workplace are taught to manage it, let alone emotional and mental health facility/professional available at workplace.”
Most experts say that it is important to break the negative pattern in your head to prevent burnout from turning into a serious medical condition. But the best part is it has initiated the discussion around mental well being in the workplace, which is the need of the hour!
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