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Health and Wellness

What is Burnout

and How to Prevent

it in the Workplace?

As the year begins, managing our man, too much stress or the wrong kind of stress can
stress levels is one thing we should suppress the immune system, leading to illness and
discomfort. Burnout is a vague term and can be com-
all keep in mind as we move forward, municated in a variety of ways, usually as being more
advises Shahieda Jansen, Clinical complicated and harmful than stress. The scientific
Psychologist, University of South literature defines it as a combination of emotional
weariness, depersonalisation and reduced function-
Africa. ing.

The definition of stress is the bodily, psychological Depersonalisation is the state of feeling disconnect-
and social-spiritual reaction to a demand or stressor. ed from oneself, as though one were viewing oneself
The stressor could be a deficiency (like unemploy- from the outside. Cynicism, a loss of empathy, and
ment), a danger to one’s physical or mental health, harsh and insensitive behaviour may occur due to
or a deadline at work. A certain amount of stress is this. There is little doubt that stress and burnout are
necessary for performance and is even pleasurable at related experiences. But it’s crucial to focus on the
times, according to Hans Seyle, the “father” of stress distinctions between them. Stress is tied to pressures
research. that people face daily and may also be beneficial.
Burnout and stress begin to overlap when stress be-
Warning signs of burnout comes protracted and chronic, causing distress and
As social beings at our core, humans rely on others negative effects. But burnout distinguishes itself from
to organise our internal and external environments. stress in significant ways.
Although we cannot survive without interpersonal re-
lationships, engaging with others in high-stress sit- In a work context, some of the clear warning signs
uations can be emotionally draining and lead to the that someone may be close to or experiencing burn-
onset of stress symptoms. As with everything hu- out – or a level of distress beyond stress – is when

SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 15. No. 3 of 2023 39