End-Of-Year Burnout? A Further Exploration
As we approach the end-of-year season, work can become more hectic and stressful with looming deadlines and high demands, leading us to (or exacerbating) a state of burnout. Despite a lack of recognition from the DSM-5, burnout is a rising psychological condition in today’s world. Alongside collective mindsets like “hustle” and “boss” culture, the issue of burnout has pervaded the social discourse. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2021 that over 47 million Americans quit their jobs during the pandemic, marking an unprecedented workforce exodus in a movement now called the Great Resignation, attributed largely to burnout in various industries.
The term “burnout” is commonly related to work, but it can take on other forms in areas like relationships, parenting, caregiving, and other life domains that inflict prolonged and repeated stress. Although the literature still seeks a more concretely operational definition, burnout can include emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, cognitive dissonance, cynicism, and feelings of reduced personal value. Furthermore, burnout can manifest in a wide range of mental health and physical symptoms. And while burnout has a strong correlation with depression and anxiety, these conditions do not conclusively overlap, so it is important to look at burnout as its own condition.
Within the mental health profession, the question remains how burnout can be effectively addressed in therapeutic settings. Up till now, research has largely focused on how therapy can be used to develop coping skills and help return people to work; meanwhile, there is scarce insight into the existential and systemic problems aspects that underlie the condition, especially with the emerging conflict between the slow-down of grind culture and the intensifying malaise of crushing economic pressures.
Nevertheless, existential fulfillment has proven to possess a strong significance in burnout. As such, people can experience burnout when their job fails to provide any authentic meaning beyond certain demands and expectations. Coping skills can alleviate burnout; however, their use does not necessarily entail a thorough internal exploration into tackling burnout. This exploration can include an investigation into the internal and external circumstances that drew someone into or required them to pursue/settle on a certain work, a re-examination of whether our work aligns with our strengths and values, how we approach our work and navigate its different dynamics, the extent of freedom and agency we feel in our lives, and/or why we continue to stay in a certain cycle with work. If you feel called to such self-reflection, you can book a free consultation here to get started.