The 6 Causes of Burnout

Welcome everybody to the Breaking Up With Burnout series. This will be your weekly reminder, encouragement, information source, etc. etc. about how to get out of burnout.

But! Before we can get out of burnout we have to first have a clear understanding of what burnout is. So… what is burnout?

Burnout by definition is a state of chronic stress characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and negative self-response. This is important because you need to understand that burnout is more than just stress. It's stress that wears you out. It’s stress that makes you pessimistic and skeptical. It’s stress that causes you to question yourself.

Why is that? From a neurological perspective, prolonged periods of stress cause tangible changes in the brain. One of those key changes is an enlarged amygdala. The amygdala is a small, almond shaped mass deep in the brain that controls emotions like fear and aggression. When we experience burnout, that chronic stress gives us the sense that we are not safe and this primitive part of our biology starts to view the world looking for threats rather than opportunities. At PROTA we call this the #fearfilter. 

When we think about it, it makes perfect sense. If we're under constant stress, biologically we need something that’s going to give us the mindset to protect ourselves. After all, constant stress is a pretty clear indication that our safety has been compromised. But, for us those threats are not tribal wars or sabertooths, so it results in viewing our work, our communities, or even ourselves as a threat. Viewing our jobs or friend groups as a threat can look like cynicism about the intentions of coworkers or friends; viewing ourselves as a threat can often look like imposter syndrome (more on that in the coming weeks).

So, when we start our journey of overcoming the burnout we will not only be addressing the stress itself, but these key effects of the stress as well. 

OK.  We’ve established the characteristics of this particular brand of stress and figured out the problems that burnout creates for us. Now, what causes burnout?

Burnout is caused by 6 different factors:

• values conflict

• community breakdown

• lack of autonomy

• mismatched reward

• perceived unfairness

• work overload

Of course people always jump on work load as the only or even main cause of burnout which can be really misleading. Things like values misalignment and fractured community can have just as big an impact on burnout.

Again, when we look at the process of mending the damage of burnout, we will address all of these components.

Thanks for joining us on this journey! See you next week.