The World Health Organization has officially declared “burnout” to be a medical condition. It has been considered as a workplace issue for a number of years, and experts want employers to change their cultures.
A former NFL coach, Dick Vermeil of the Philadelphia Eagles, left his job due to what he called “burnout.” It’s defined as a feeling of exhaustion, increased mental distance from a job, and reduced job performance. Charlene Rymsha is a therapist who focuses on burnout. She says more business leaders would do well to improve work-life balance for employees.
Rymsha says, “And I do think that, slowly but surely, that is becoming recognized. And surely, since last Tuesday’s announcement of burnout becoming a medical diagnosis by the World Health Organization—I think that is going to be, ideally, the biggest takeaway and actual step moving forward; that businesses are recognizing that, ‘Hey! Not only is it affecting the health and well-being of our employees, it’s also affecting our bottom line.”
Rymsha says overworked employees will eventually show common symptoms.
She says, “Physical exhaustion, to the point where even sleep or the weekend really doesn’t help you to recover. So that’s physical, as well as emotional exhaustion. And certainly, an irritability, where people have a shorter fuse than they normally do; getting pretty angry or annoyed much quicker. It varies per person, but these are some of the big pieces of it.”
Rymsha says the current climate in most American workplaces brings about constant stress. She says workers need to value rest as much as productivity and change their mindsets accordingly.
Charlene Rymsha's is the founder of Everyday Coherence, and author of "Say Goodbye to Burnout." Her information is found at http://www.everydaycoherence.com