Burnout

Burnout

Burnout is a term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest that results in severely reduced ability to function at work and even in many other aspects of life.  It is the result of severe and long-lasting stress. It is not in itself a medical condition but the associated depression, anxiety and other symptoms may warrant medical treatment and invariably any leave of absence from work will be by medical authorization.

Return to the last page, ‘How Stress Develops’ for a description of how burnout develops from prolonged stress.

Here now,  is an opportunity for you to evaluate your risk of suffering from burnout by completing the following assessment.

(Disclaimer: Please note that this scale is not a clinical diagnostic instrument and is provided for educational purposes.  It merely identifies some of the more common symptoms of burnout.  If you have any concerns about your state of emotional health, you should consult a mental health professional.)

Click on the button to access the questionnaire.

Refer to your saved copy of the assessment and count your total score and compare it with the following interpretation guidelines.

Interpretation Guidelines

0-25:              A score in this range suggests that you are probably in good shape and are at low risk of developing burnout.

  26-50:              A score in this range suggests that you may be experiencing a low to moderate risk of developing burnout.

  51-75:              A score in this range suggests you may be experiencing a moderate to high risk of developing burnout.

76-100:              A score in this range suggests that you may be experiencing a very high degree of risk of developing burnout.

A questionnaire like this can only give general guidance as in your personal situation there may be other considerations that affect the assessment of your risk of burnout. Hence the interpretation guidelines use words such as ’suggests,’ ’probably,’ ’may’ and ‘risk.’

If you have a high score.

Take urgent steps to reduce your stress levels.

Talk to a trusted adviser about what you are experiencing.

Burn out is often related to employment and even if not, it will affect your employment, so do speak to your employer, manager or the company’s human resources officer before the situation becomes intolerable.

Endnote

This questionnaire is based on a tool developed by the Headington Institute which is a free on-line training centre that was established in order to provide support for humanitarian relief and emergency response personnel worldwide. Find the original at http://headington-institute.org/files/testareyouburnedout2_edited_10092.pdf

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