A burnout can have many different causes. Examples are perfectionism, work stress, stress in other areas of life, not being able to let go. Still, burnout often manifests in the same way, regardless of what causes it. The symptoms below are basic symptoms of burnout. It can be so that there are symptoms missing or present in a lesser grade in your case, despite the diagnosis burnout having been made. Still, these symptoms are present to some extent in anyone with a burnout.
How do I recognize a burnout? Exhausted
You feel tired and used-up. You are, in other words, exhausted. You do not have the energy to do any work or even do chores around the house. Anything asked of you feels like to much, because you have the feeling that it simply cannot happen. A typical sentence that would be used by someone with burnout is 'I cannot do it anymore'.
How do I recognize a burnout? Empty feeling
Because you can suddenly not do any of the tasks and things that you wanted to do, you feel empty. You had to set aside things which you looked forward to because they did not seem to be reachable. This means that you can feel empty, not knowing what to do next.
How do I recognize a burnout? Concentration problems
A burnout is characterized by excess work/stress and not being able to let go of this stress. Everything needs to be perfect, and more nd more needs to be done. Because you do so much, you can find that you get concentration problems. You cannot focus on your current work anymore, nor on what others ask of you, in more serious cases.
How do I recognize a burnout? Memory loss
Because your head is filled with stress and tasks which you need to remember, you might get problems with your memory. Your brain is namely overburdened and cannot memorize much in a short period of time anymore. You, on the other hand, will keep pushing your brain even more, because you still want to work at the speed which you were used to.
How do I recognize a burnout? Feeling hopeless
At a certain point you realize that you cannot continue this way. You cannot handle the pressure and stress like you used to. You start recognizing symptoms of burnout and know you have to take it easy. This can give a feeling of hopelessness, because you have a hard time letting go of your planning. There is so much which you wanted to do, but you now realize that you can probably not do it in the time which you had planned.
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'15Minutes4Me.com' developed an online self-help program, which will help you treat the abovementioned symptoms of burnout. The program helps you work on yourself on a daily basis with the help of videos and solution focused questions. Together we will then look at how to reduce or even get rid of your symptoms. '15Minutes4Me.com' can help you to reduce your stress by 77% in one month's time!
How do I recognize a burnout? The self-test!
Would you like to know if you have burnout or if you are at risk of developing a burnout? THen you can take our free burnout test. This test takes about 5 minutes. After this test you will arrive on a page with your personal scores!