What is burnout? I have had a truly bad year. I feel exhausted and lethargic. Am I burnt out?

Burnout is defined as long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in life. Research indicates that the highest proportion of burnout cases occur among general practitioners. It's reported that no less than 40 percent of doctors experience high levels of burnout.

Burnout is not a recognised psychological disorder. Is leave in order after such a tough year?

The most well-studied measurement of burnout in the literature is the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Maslach and her colleagues first described the concept of burnout in the 1970s. They developed a measure that weighs the effects of emotional exhaustion and reduced sense of personal accomplishment.

Many theories of burnout include negative outcomes related to burnout, especially poor job performance and health related problems - an increase in stress hormones contributes to coronary heart disease and mental health problems such as depression.

Work-related problems are the main cause of burnout. It is so common in Europe that they have included work stress and burnout in occupational health and safety standards.

Psychologists Freudenberger and North say that the burnout process has 12 phases (not always sequential), characterised by:

A compulsion to prove oneself;

Working harder;

Neglecting one's own needs;

The displacement of conflicts (the person does not realise the root cause of the distress);

The revision of values (friends or hobbies are completely dismissed);

The denial of emerging problems (cynicism and aggression become apparent);

Withdrawal (reducing social contacts to a minimum, becoming walled off; alcohol or other substance abuse may occur);

Behavioural changes becoming obvious to others;

Inner emptiness;

Depression; and

Burnout syndrome.

So how do we cope with burnout? Many of the remedies related to burnout are motivated not from an employee's perspective, but from the organisation's. However, if coping strategies can help, then both organisations and individuals should try to adopt them.

Below are some of the more common strategies for with dealing with burnout.

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) were designed to help employees to deal with the primary causes of stress. Programmes include counselling and psychological services for employees. Some organisations still use EAPs, but their popularity has diminished with the advent of stress management training.

Stress Management Training (SMT) is used to get employees to work through stress or to manage their stress levels so that they don't suffer from burnout.

Research links certain interventions, such as narrative writing or topic-specific training, to reductions in physiological and psychological stress.

On an individual basis, employees can cope with the problems related to burnout and stress by focusing on the causes of their stress.

Appraisal-based coping strategies deal with individual interpretations of what is and is not a stress-inducing activity. There have been mixed findings on the effectiveness of appraisal-based coping strategies.

Social support has been seen as one of the largest predictors of a reduction in burnout and stress for workers.

Creating an organisationally supportive environment, ensuring that employees have a supportive work environment which does not aggravate stress, and encouraging employees to take leave regularly can help to prevent burnout.

Leave is a great de-stressor. Employees have to understand that leave does not mean an expensive getaway. All that's required is time off work, the chance to stay at home and enjoy doing things we never have the time to do. You need time away from work stress.

Switch your cellphone off or change your SIM card so that people at work can't get hold of you. You don't need to spend money to relax.

Just spend time with your family and yourself. Go on walks, ride your bike. Spend time in your garden.

Doctor Ricky Montalbano is the managing director of Ambusave Academy. Contact him at 011 915 4915 or at drricky@ambusave.com.