What is Burnout?

We live in a time of people feeling overwhelmed, hypervigilant, over stimulated, sensory overload and inundated with information. Just writing this sentence caused me to want to stop and take a break. However, the word burnout is finding its way back into conversations at all levels of employment. But do people really know what the term burnout means? And if they do, are they aware of signs and symptoms associated with this term? Let’s begin with the definition as found in the 1997 book The Truth About Burnout by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter and their most recent work entitled The Burnout Challenge: “People with burnout experience ‘cursing’ exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and alienation, and a sense of ineffectiveness. Burnout occurs when people experience combined crises on all three dimensions, most of the time.” Maslach and Leiter also write; “We also need to focus on prevention strategies if we want to truly lower the risk of burnout.”

While burnout is a phenomenon that impacts us all, the effects on the lives of African Americans is different and unique. Burnout is “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration,” according to Merriam-Webster. Check out this 4 min read from Thrive Global about What Happens to cause burnout, Signs of Burnout and How to Fight Burnout. https://community.thriveglobal.com/african-americans-and-burnout-what-you-need-to-know

Please contact your primary care physician if you, or someone you care for, have any symptoms and/or concerns you may be experiencing burnout.

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