Burnout
A burnout is a specific stress related reaction or state of mind which mostly occurs with people in certain social professions, such as social workers, care givers or teachers. We find a lot of working women and managers suffering from burnouts.
In most cases, for example when the cause is external, a burnout is caused by high work pressure, a negative working atmosphere, limited ability of control (as in days off, breaks, expresing your own creativity), or a low salary. Naturally there are also internal causes related to a burnout which influence the aforementioned causes: negative self image, perfectionism, idealism, authority issues, not being able to ‘let go’ and unsufficient healing of physical or mental traumas.
In general there are three possible responses in case of a burnout, which doesn’t always occur at the same time:
- Emotional exhaustion
- Depersonalization (the feeling you’re not in your own body or mind)
- Diminishing competences or personal performance
Symptoms which corresond to this are:
- Exhaustion
- Sleeping disorder
- Worrying a lot
- Forgetfulness, diminishing memory ability
- Headache, neck pain
- Poor appetite
- Not envying to do the job
- Feelings of guilt
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Obsessive thoughts
In Holland about 10% of the population is suffering from a burn out. These are mostly people with professions in catering and education. Especially between the age of 35 and 55.
There also seems to be a connection between your educational level and the work you do: the higher your educational level, the greater the risk of workstress.
Long before someone suffers from a burnout you can detect signs of it in the brain activity. These signs show if the brain is functioning in a ‘surviving’ mode. In that case the EEG shows lower and/or higher activity for certain brain frequencies. These high or low frequencies even occur when this person is in a relaxing or calm state of mind. Really trying to relax physically and mentally is in that case not possible anymore. Your body and mind grow more tired everyday and to be able to keep performing as you’re used to, your symphatic nerve system (which gets activated when you’re scared, are in a dangerous situation or need to defend yourself) gets more active. You actually use more of your energy supply than you can recharge and you slowly burn out. The above-mentioned symptoms make your work and life more and more difficult.
Neurofeedback cannot only help you to prevent this situation, but can also improve it. Neurofeedback makes you carefully push your autonomic nerve system back to normal and a healthy balancing position. You can really relax again, you’ll be able to sleep better, old and unprocessed traumas will fall into place and you’ll get more energy and a more positive self image.
Neurofeedback makes you able to do your job again and improves your attitude towards yourself and the world around you. The sooner you recognize the symptoms of your burnout, the sooner you’ll be able to take the appropriate measures.
For a good and lasting result, you’ll need about 20 to 30 sessions. In case you’re suffering from a burnout for a long time now, more sessions might be necessary.