Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It creeps up, with symptoms so gradual that most people don’t even realize they’re in the thick of it.
So what does burnout look like? Here are seven behaviours that could indicate you are struggling.
Your emotions are high, often over small issues
A person experiencing burnout often has a very difficult time regulating their emotions, so they will commonly be easily frustrated, impatient, angry or upset.
Burnout-fuelled frustration, impatience or anger often shows up in a harsh tone or snapping at others, especially if you’ve repeatedly asked someone to take care of a task. If you catch yourself blowing up in this kind of situation, saying things like “this isn’t rocket science!” or “I don’t understand why you can’t remember to do this!” you could be dealing with burnout.
Similarly, heightened emotional responses from burnout might be expressed through crying. You might break down crying after the slightest negative feedback from a patient or constructive criticism from a manager or colleague. Or you might tear up over a minor inconvenience, such as forms kept in the wrong place or a few missing details on a referral.
It’s important to pay attention to changes in how you respond to frustrations, criticism and the like. If you used to be able to shrug off a situation or deal with it reasonably, but it now upsets you intensely, there’s a good chance that escalation in emotional response might be linked to burnout.
You misinterpret things
Burnout can lead you to misinterpret situations that put a negative spin on them.
Say you’re coming in a bit late and a colleague jokingly says something like, “Oh, look at you coming in at 10 past nine — must have had a relaxing weekend!” While most people would recognize the good-natured teasing, someone in burnout could internalize this as a criticism. It could prompt negative thoughts, such as, “She thinks I’m lazy” or “They think I’m not pulling my weight… Who else is noticing?”
This negative self-talk and self-doubt is common in burnout and piles on to the emotional exhaustion you’re already feeling.
You’re going through the motions, but disengaged from your work
People struggling with burnout typically lose their passion for the work they once loved — and it can have an impact on both doctor and patient.
For example, while listening to a history from a patient, you may find yourself irritated because they are taking a long time to get to the point. This is a sign you’ve lost the empathy and compassion for what they’re going through.
Disengaging can also impact your interest in doing new things. For example, you might feel completely uninspired by an initiative you’re invited to participate in, and even if you reluctantly get involved out of obligation, the excitement and enthusiasm you once had for new projects is missing.
Health care is a vocation, so if you’re feeling like it’s just a means to an end these days, then it’s time to worry about severe burnout.
Your work ethic changes
Being a good citizen at work means showing up on time, meeting your commitments and taking responsibilities seriously. But as burnout builds, you’ll likely experience an insidious decline in each of these areas.
As physicians, we should be reviewing test results on a regular basis to ensure we’re dealing with our patients’ urgent health issues without delay. If you’re typically a fastidious doctor but you’re experiencing burnout, you might review test results less often, skipping days or even weeks at a time. It’s a sign of intense overwhelm.
Even if you are on top of test results, your burnout may look like being routinely late for clinic or meetings, not providing updates for your manager or missing deadlines.
You dread going to work
It’s not surprising that people experiencing burnout associate work with a feeling of dread.
If you’re a family doctor or specialist who works Monday to Friday, you may notice yourself growing anxious on Sunday evenings, while physicians who work shifts may notice a similar feeling the last evening of their days off. This anxiety can manifest physically with symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, headaches, pain or gastro-intestinal upset.
You might also wake up every morning with a sinking feeling. If you once looked forward to a busy day caring for patients but now routinely wake with the thought, “Ugh, I have to go to work,” it’s time to consider whether you’re burnt out.
You avoid checking your email and voicemail
Checking email or voicemail are simple tasks, almost benign things to do — a lot of us check for messages before we even get our day underway. So avoiding these to-dos is concerning.
Someone in burnout may be avoiding their email and voicemail because they’re overwhelmed with the thought of what will be asked of them. Every request for a meeting, invitation to get involved in a project, question from a colleague or document sent for review is one more thing on the pile that is weighing heavily already.
You may also find you’re avoiding email and voicemail because you’re retreating in general. If you feel like you want to get away from any means of people reaching out to you, it’s a sign of something quite serious.
You vent at every opportunity
Venting about frustrations from time to time is normal, but when you’re dwelling on the same issues repeatedly, it’s an indicator of burnout.
It’s common for a person struggling with burnout to vent habitually, often steering the conversation toward their frustrations. Sound familiar? You might notice you vent a lot about a colleague you find annoying, under-staffing in your ward or a policy at your hospital or clinic that gets in the way of taking care of patients or creates an unsafe work environment.
If you find yourself hung up on an issue (or even a few issues), having the same conversation again and again with no resolution, it’s very possible the issue is burnout. You might also be feeling helpless or hopeless about the situation, and you likely lack the objectivity to see a way forward.
This is one of the more difficult symptoms to see in yourself because you may not even realize how much you steer discussions toward your frustrations — particularly if you gravitate toward other people who are dealing with burnout.
Once you recognize any of these behaviours and examples, speak with someone you trust — a family member, colleague or health care provider — about the possibility that you’re struggling with burnout.
It’s not always easy to see the bigger picture when you’re grappling with this level of exhaustion, stress, cynicism and helplessness, so an outside perspective can provide clarity. Once you’re aware of the root problem, you can begin to work on making sustainable changes that bring your life back into balance.