A Quick Overview of Burnout Symptoms

There are various burnout symptoms, which can be both physical and psychological. We explain possible complaints in an overview.

What is a burnout and who is affected?

During a burnout you feel deeply exhausted and burned out (see also: Exhaustion depression). Theoretically, anyone can be affected by this complete exhaustion, but it often affects people who expect a lot from themselves, are under professional pressure or have to care for a relative at home. The symptoms of a burnout syndrome can be both physical and psychological. It is interesting to note that the “disease” burnout has not yet been recognised as a real occupational disease.

What are the symptoms of burnout?

Burnout does not usually happen overnight – it comes on gradually, but is announced by several early signs. These include above all the inability to really switch off and recover from everyday life. The following early burnout symptoms exist:

• Own needs are deferred
• One has the feeling of always having too little time
• You feel indispensable
• Negative experiences like disappointments are repressed
• One withdraws from social contacts

It is also noticeable that some affected people work even harder than before at the first signs of burnout – some out of personal ambition, others simply because they feel there is no other way to tackle the task at hand.

Although burnout is not a disease, other symptoms of the disease occur, which already indicate exhaustion. These include:

• Sleep disturbances, resulting in severe fatigue
• Nervousness
• Loss of drive
• Powerlessness
• High susceptibility to infections

As a result of these complaints, patients increasingly have the feeling that their great commitment is not appreciated with enough recognition, which creates frustration. A great aversion to the task that caused the burnout in the first place develops – often people quit inwardly and only do what cannot be avoided. At the same time, the demands on the personal environment grow – for example, one makes unrealistic demands on the partner, but at the same time one is no longer prepared to invest anything oneself. The following psychological burnout symptoms occur at this time:

• Empathy decreases
• One develops emotional coldness and negative feelings against the personal environment
• Sense of exploitation rather than appreciation
• Commitment decreases, additional burden is rejected
• Complex tasks become a problem
• Decision problems occur
• An inner defensive attitude and indifference towards other people and hobbies develops

Physically, the burnout now also becomes more and more noticeable – often with the following complaints:

• Continued poor sleep, often with nightmares
• Back pain
• Headache
• Muscle Tension
• Gastrointestinal complaints
• High blood pressure
• Tachycardia up to a feeling of tightness in the chest
• Sexual difficulties
• The eating behaviour changes – thereby weight gain or weight loss
• Increased use of addictive substances such as cigarettes or alcohol

Complete hopelessness through burnout

In the end, burnout often leads to severe despair and hopelessness, which usually results in depression. In the worst case, suicidal thoughts develop. This is why it is so important that an impending burnout is recognised and treated in good time by means of a diagnosis. Psychotherapy and often also medication are used.