Are you constantly stressed, tired, feeling exhausted or overwhelmed? Perhaps you are on the verge of stress burnout or are already experiencing stress burnout! Did you know that recent surveys by the National Institutes of Health cite stress and stress burnout as America’s #1 health challenge? Did you know that a recent British Medical Journal study concluded that uncontrolled work related stress and stress burnout doubles your risk of dying from heart disease?

Did you know that a recent John Hopkins University report estimated that 25%-60% of practicing physicians are currently experiencing stress burnout? Did you know that a study of nurses in the Journal Medical Care concluded that when nurse burnout was adequately addressed, patient care and patient satisfaction improved significantly?

Did you know that a recent study published in the Journal of Occupational and Health Psychology concluded that “burned-out women and depressed men are at a greater risk for future inflammation-related diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and strokes compared with their non-burned out and non-depressed counterparts”? Did you know that a recent American Academy of Family Physicians study concluded that 2 out of 3 of all office visits to family physicians were due to stress and stress burnout?

The phrase stress burnout was coined by Herbert Freudenberger. This term simply means that the consequences of not addressing stress burnout can be severe. The symptoms of stress burnout include depleted physical energy, emotional exhaustion, lowered resistance to illness, withdrawal from relationships, increasingly pessimistic outlook, increasing absenteeism and worsening job performance.

There are many causes of stress burnout. The top three stressor categories causing burnout are work related, lifestyle choices, and psychological. Top causes of job burnout are impossible or unclear job performance requirements, lack of recognition, poor pay, poor communication, poor management, and no “down time”.

Lifestyle choices leading to burnout include the popular limiting belief that “I work best under pressure.” An individual may be able to do this for a while, but over time, without any downtime, they may be overcome by multiple chronic stressors with negative health consequences.

There are many potential psychological causes for stress burnout. Among the top causes are perfectionist tendencies, pessimistic outlook, Type A personality—constantly impatient with free floating hostility towards others—and a poor job fit. While striving for excellence is a positive trait, when we start to insist that everything “be perfect”, we can become self critical and this unnecessarily increases our stress.

So, how can you avoid or deal with stress burnout? Implementing these tips will allow you to minimize the negative effects of stress burnout in your life.

• Recognition: Stop denying that your stress levels may be too high or that you are overwhelmed. Acknowledging stress burnout is the first step in combating it.
• Get Help: Use your support network by speaking to people you trust. Opening up this way allows you to let off steam and keeps you open to helpful suggestions from others.
• Get a check up: Consider getting a physical to be sure that you do not have any systemic imbalance. Doing so can also give you peace of mind.
• Nutrition: Do an inventory of your food intake. Are you consuming foods high in salt and sugar which cause your blood pressure to rise and your energy levels to crash?
• Your Schedule: Take an honest look at your schedule. Are you overscheduled? Are you allowing time for the “unexpected” and interruptions?
• Adequate Sleep: Recent studies demonstrate that not getting enough sleep increases chances for accidents, mistakes, and diminished job performance.
• “Down Time”: Allow yourself the pleasure of relaxing or just “doing nothing.” This, along with moderate exercise helps boost your mood and reduces stress.

Set new priorities on what you must do to avoid stress burnout. Staying positive and focusing on what you have accomplished instead of focusing on what can go wrong, can lead to keeping stress burnout at bay.