5 Causes of Emotional Burnout

To help you find the root cause of your problem, here are five possible reasons why you're feeling burnout.

Number one, no end in sight

Does it feel like just dragging your literal and figurative feet along each day to function as normally as you can? When you're in a burnout, you would feel mentally and psychologically exhausted. The irony is that you know your routine for the day, but you're lost. You might feel like you don't know your direction in life because you can't see the end game, which is your purpose for being. Burnout happens even to the best of us. In a message, accompanying his song, Abyss, even BTS member Jin, described his experience this year as a burnout.

Number two, inability to change

Does the thought of switching jobs or trying something new seemed like too much work? Do you see the process of change as daunting? Routine might feel like a drag and yet it feels stable, since you don't have to think much, just going through the motions of day to day life. This complacency in the midst of dissatisfaction is a temptation to resist change. Deep down inside, there is a paralysis to the habitual spot. Change can happen if you can pull your willpower from the depths of your burnout to awaken you mentally and emotionally to better your situation.

Number three, lack of support system

Is everyone else too busy in their own lives? Or are you reluctant to reach out? Communication with family and good friends sure can make a difference. However, burnout makes it seem like they're too busy with their own lives. You might find it hard to open up because you're still grappling how to describe your burnout. The fear is that they might not understand you and you're not ready to hear their interpretations of your burnout. Taking a chance on trusted people can give you new ideas and spur you along to recovery. In BTS member Jin's case, he was able to approach his boss about his burnout. According to his post, Mr. Ben Sehuck, his boss, encouraged him to put his experience into a song and he would gather the right people to help him and make sure it was the song he wanted lyrically and musically. Way to go Jin's boss.

Number four, lack of self-confidence

Did you know during burnout, the hardest person to please is oneself? For real, you might be the first one to put yourself down. You might be so bogged down that you tell yourself that you can't do this right, and you can't do that right either. You might miss identify yourself as the job or the routine or the duty or the obligation and no longer the person who you are. Thus if the job fails for example, you take it as a personal failure, which affects your self confidence even more. Self-confidence goes hand in hand with self-worth and self-esteem, like puzzle bricks. One needs to stack and build the strength to recognize one's talents and uniqueness, to challenge and compete with the self again, and break out of that rut of self doubt.

Number five, physically unhealthy

Do you often feel like not eating at all? Or sometimes do junk food seem so comforting that you binge on them instead of eating healthy choices? Oh boy, with burnout, the thought of health does not seem important to you. For some people, the right amount of sleep is rarely achieved during burnout. So this accumulates the longer the burnout is experienced, thus, exercise is not in the picture because you feel so tired already. Overall, the energy is zapped from you and when your body is weak, it drags your mental and emotional wellbeing down as well.

Please remember, there is hope in overcoming burnout. It is temporary if you tell yourself that you can bounce back. Helpful resources, people and organizations are accessible to help you make the moves. You certainly can do it one step at a time. You can also refer to seek help from a professional if self-help seems to be difficult to accomplish. Do any of these describe your experience?