A diagnosis burnout can help you to take further steps. Often, people are relieved and confused when they hear that they have a diagnosis burnout. They namely have noticed for a while that something is going on, but were unsure as of what it was. On the other hand, people are also often confused or shocked by the diagnosis depression, because it takes time to process this. Even though talking about burnout has become more common, the diagnosis burnout is not yet socially accepted everywhere. It is not always easy to speak of the diagnosis burnout in every environment.
It is also useful to take specific steps after your diagnosis burnout which can help you in the treatment of your diagnosis burnout. Just like other mental disorders, the diagnosis burnout requires an active approach, because the symptoms do not simply disappear in many cases. The development of a diagnosis burnout namely has to do with certain habits, which you have. Treating this diagnosis burnout will then imply that ou need to change these habits.
What does a diagnosis burnout entail?
A diagnosis burnout can generally be given by your physician. While a diagnosis burnout is not considered to be a separate illness according to the DSM, research by Verschuren et al. (2011) has shown that there are specific guidelines when recognizing a diagnosis burnout.
According to this study we can consider a diagnosis burnout if the following characteristics are present:
- You experience a feeling of nervous exhaustion
- The complaints have been present for over 6 months
- During the entire day you feel mainly exhausted and fatigued. These feelings are dominant.
What does nervous exhaustion entail?
As you can read above, a prerequisite to diagnosis of burnout is that you must experience a feeling of nervous exhaustion. but what does nervous exhaustion really mean? Below, we list the characteristics of nervous exhaustion(Verschuren et al., 2011):
A. To have a nervous exhaustion, at least 3 of the following nervous exhaustion symptoms must be present:
- Fatigue
- Issues sleeping
- Irritability
- You can no longer stand business or loud noises
- Your emotions change quickly
- You worry a lot
- You feel very agitated
- You experience concentration issues and memory problem
B. You feel like you have lost control or that you are helpless. These feelings are a response to no longer being able to deal with the stress in your daily life. Your stress levels are too high.
C. You experience significant suffering in different areas of your life (both work-related and social).
D. The stress, loss of control, and suffering are not only the consequences of a psychiatric illness.
Test your symptoms of burnout!
Would you like to know to what extent you might be suffering from a diagnosis burnout and to what extent the symptoms of burnout affect your daily functioning? Then take the free online burnout test here!
