Lack of Hope causes burn-out!
Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stressed that burn-out syndrome has been a popular matter of discuss in recent years and now it is seen even in children and Prof. Tarhan stated that a ‘root cause analysis’ must be done to find the reason of the syndrome that can be seen in emotional, mental and physical dimensions. Highlighting that humor is an excellent strategy to cope with the burn-out syndrome, Tarhan said, “Being an extravert also reduces the syndrome. Those whose behaviors, emotions and thoughts are consistent experience burn-out syndrome later. When a person loses their hope, the burn-out begins. One of the reasons that burn-out increases today is that people are always in the center of attention.”.
Humor helps with the burn-out...
President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan made important remarks on the born-out syndrome which comes to the agenda frequently and shared advises on it.
The burn-out syndrome becomes prevalent globally
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the burn-out syndrome has been recently discussed a lot and he said, “There is a global spread. It was being discussed less 30 years ago; however, now we are seeing it even in children. ‘Why did it increase? What do we mean by the burn-out syndrome?’ It must be evaluated very well. Not every lack of energy must be called as a burn-out immediately. The burn-out syndrome was first defined during the 1980s. When it was defined, it was defined as an occupational hazard regarding the inadequacy of the occupation. In other words, this case is seen when a person wears out their inner resources, character strengths due to the reasons such as decrease in occupational performance, being unsuccessful, exhaustion, lack of energy, inability to work productively related to the occupational inadequacy.
It decreases productivity in workplace
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan expressed that depression symptoms can be also mentioned when a person wears out their inner resources and Tarhan said, “Symptoms appear according to stages such as lack of interest, stagnation, unliveliness or rage, anger. If the burn-out syndrome becomes organizational, that is, within the institute, mistakes are made. If it is seen in the workplace, it reduces the quality and productivity. If it is seen in the society, it is an indicator of a big transformation. If it spreads, it can become a way to react sociologically. If the burn-out syndrome is common among people in a company, the cause must be found by performing a root cause analysis and solutions must be produced. This applies to both managers and individuals.”.
It is seen in emotional, physical and mental dimensions
Noting that the burn-out syndrome begins emotionally with the though and discourse by saying ‘I cannot do this, I cannot handle it’, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, “A person overestimates everything. They feel like they drag their feet when they go to work. It first begins emotionally, then it reaches a physical dimension with the lack of energy. Later, this becomes something mental. It is perceived as the understanding and perception process of the brain works slowly. If a person experiences a stress that they cannot control, that person behaves unusually. The stress that is manageable keeps us alive, improve us and in that way, a person sees it as a danger.”.
Lack hope causes burn-out
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said that firstly alter state happens towards stress seen as danger and continued his words as follows:
“In this alarm, brain reacts in fight or flight mode. If the brain reacts with fight respond, all blood sugar and fat stored in the body that increase the energy are pumped into blood. The blood sugar increases or the brain just says flight and the blood sugar decreases and that person faints. The body reacts physically in this way. This is called as ‘Sympathetic Activation’ in the literature. Brain activates the sympathetic part of the autonomy nerve system. It pumps the spare energy storage for couple of hours. However, if this lasts longer, it starts not to responder after a while since the resources are run out. Apathy begins. However, the resistance increases if a person has high hopes by thinking ‘Relax, the danger is passed, everything is under control. You can overcome this’ when parasympathetic nervous system is activated. There would be a stress alarm. The burn-out would not happen. A person must lose their hope to experience burn-out. Once they lose hope that they will be treated fairly and their expectations will be not met by the institution they work, if there are emotions weakens the trust, then, the burn-out emerges.”.
A smart manager can develop motivation techniques
Noting that there is usually alertness and resistance, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, “if a person overcome the resistance, they overcome that alarm by getting stronger. The effect of stress seven has its benefits. We call it as constructive stress. It improves the person and makes them stronger. However, when it turns into burn-out, the destructive stress emerges. The person must not become hopeless in order for stress not to transform into burn-out. There is a covert reaction in burn-outs. It seems like there is no burn-out; however, there is apathy. Indifferent and ironic behaviors, unwillingness, not caring for the job are seen. The institution becomes a community of smart and lazy people. When we refer to laziness, we refer to the apathy and insensitivity at the stage of resistance of the burn-out syndrome. The burn-out syndrome reduces the productivity of the work at that moment. In a case like this, a smart manager notices this immediately and they can develop mediation techniques by determining the cause.”.
Consistent people experience the burn-out more lately
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan expressed that people can create solutions easily as an individual and said, “For example, if we hold a glass of water for 10-15 minutes, we do not notice it at all. However, our arm starts to ache after half an hour or an hour. When it takes longer, we become not be able to hold the glass. When a person gets tired, they ask for a help from the other hand. This kind of approach must be done for the mental stress. If a person experiences an overload on a certain topic, that person thinks with different region of their brain, and their attention and focus of interest change When a person does this, the tired part of their brain recovers. If a person is emotionally consistent, they know how to behave, where to get angry or where not to get angry, the burn-out syndrome is experienced more lately or it is hard to experience it. Of course, a person needs to learn the stress management since childhood in order for this. These individuals are emotionally stabile people and they can endure the burn-out.”.
Stress cannot be got rid of but it can be managed
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan emphasized that it is not possible to eliminate stress but it is possible to manage it and said, “Stress is managed and it is transformed into energy. It takes the person to their goal like riding a bicycle. However, if you overload it, you tumble down over. If the person’s expectation and the institution’s expectation are high, it is seen more. If the family structure and social support are weak, it is seen more. Not only in Türkiye but also in the world, new generation is a conformist generation. Old generations were getting mature in poverty. They were exposed to stress in an early age and they could achieve to survive despite that stress and poverty. This is more difficulty. If a person is used to comfort all the time, they feel like something they deserve is taken from them when their comfort is lost. In that case, they cannot accept it. Indifferent and negative behaviors appear more.”.
Being extravert reduces the syndrome
Highlighting that being extravert reduces the burn-out syndrome Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, “if a person is misfit, we see the burn-out syndrome a lot. There are people even start to argue at the threshold of the door. If the person is also not open and transparent and they cheat what they do, if they cannot create a safe space in the place they go, they do not feel safe at the workplace, if they think constantly that they will be stonewalled, the burn-out syndrome is seen there a lot. The fear dominates. When fear increases, trust increases. In a place where trust decreases, anxiety increases. As a result, peace is gone.”.
A person’s motivation increases if they feel safe
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the productivity increases in a workplace when there is honesty, transparency and trust and Tarhan said, “A person’s motivation increases if they feel safe. They can use their inner resources more. That’s why, open, transparent relation and freedom of expression are stressed persistently in developed countries and it is not a coincidence that self-confidence is emphasized instead of fear. There is a passive burn-out in fear and oppression cultures. It is experience as laziness. In a society where there is high safety, contrary opinions are not alienated. People feel safer that they will not be treated unfairly. In these societies, creating solution is easier.”.
Humor is an excellent strategy against the burn-out
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, “Today, one of the reasons that the burn-out syndrome increases that people are constantly in the center of attention” and added:
“Since people are in sight, they have high ideals and expectation in the society. Their tendency on being conformist is high. To be a distinguish person in a society requires not to make a mistake and to be alert all the time. Since this feeling causes danger, a person cannot relax. They cannot wonder around outside. They feel suddenly exhausted with a small criticism. If a person is in the center of attention or a distinguished member of a society, that person must be enduring to the criticism, as well. Tiredness, fatigue and sleeplessness are really something tough. It is interesting that humor is an excellent strategy to cope with the burn-out syndrome. We can say that the humor increases the endurance.”.
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)