#29 — Nesh Nikolic on Stress & Burnout

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In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic is interviewed by Mary Andreadis on understanding stress and burnout and mechanisms for managing.

Nesh Nikolic is a Canberra-based clinical psychologist with over 15,000 hours of one-on-one therapy experience. He has trained in a number of therapy modes including Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Schema Therapy and he is also recognised by Medicare Australia as a qualified provider of specialist clinical psychology services. His therapeutic passion lies in utilising Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for his clients and has trained clinicians around Australia in ACT.

Nesh holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology and is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), Association for Contextual Behavioural Science and Fellow of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists.

Mary Andreadis is a Melbourne-based provisional psychologist. She has completed a Bachelors and Honours Degree in Psychology and is completing a Masters Degree in this field to become a qualified psychologist. Mary has worked as a mental health community support worker, counsellor and facilitated monthly anxiety support groups. Alongside all of this, she also writes a blog at MindIntertwined.com.

Links:

Strategic Psychology (Nesh’s practice)
Mind Intertwined (Mary’s blog)

What Is Burnout And How Can You Overcome It?
By Mary Andreadis

We all know what it’s like to feel stressed. You might have felt it around exam time at university, or perhaps when going through a particularly demanding period at work. Stress is a very common experience however feeling burned out can take this stress to an entirely new level.

What is stress?

Stress essentially refers to the range of cognitive, emotional, physiological and behavioural responses we experience when we face perceived threats and challenges. However, it is important to keep in mind that stress is a very common human experience and although it is often spoken about in a negative context, not all stress is bad. In fact, the term eustress is a term used to describe positive stress, or rather a type of stress that is challenging in a way that is motivating, satisfying or enjoyable. This may come from starting a new job, getting married or having a child. Distress on the other hand, refers to negative stress and is usually what we refer to when we use the word ‘stress’. This type of stress is often anxiety provoking, is perceived to be outside of ones coping abilities and may lead to psychological and physical problems. This might be induced by the death of a loved one, separation from a spouse or financial difficulties.

What is burnout?

Burnout is essentially a state of emotional, physical and psychological exhaustion, usually caused by high levels of stress over a prolonged period of time. Many of the symptoms of burn out actually look quite similar to those of depression, including fatigue, exhaustion, loss of passion, headaches, negativity, hopelessness and thoughts of suicide.

What causes us to burnout?

Many of us become burned out due to our jobs. While there is not one particular job that can cause burn out, researchers have suggested six workplace conditions which can lead to this experience. These include workload, control, reward, community, fairness and values. When difficulties begin to arise in one or many of these domains, we become more susceptible to burnout.

It is not however, only jobs that can burn us out. We may also become burned out as a result of unfulfilling relationships, carer responsibilities, study, daily responsibilities and many other situations. It is clear that burnout can change the way we feel but it turns out these effects may be even more profound with research suggesting that burnout may lead to a faster rate of deterioration in physical health.

Are certain people more susceptible to burnout?

Given the right circumstances, the majority of us can experience burnout, however there are a few characteristics that may increase one’s likelihood of reaching this state. Research has suggested that burnout is linked to one’s core self-evaluation. People who have a low core self-evaluation generally lack confidence in their own abilities, skills and resources to effectively manage stressful situations. These people are more susceptible to burnout as they perceive life’s challenges to be out of their coping abilities.

People who are high on ‘perfectionism’ may also be at a greater risk of burnout. These people tend to set very high standards for themselves (particularly regarding their workplace performance), which are difficult to meet. For many of these people, their work-ethic and work-performance are at the very core of who they are and so failure to meet this excessively high standard often results in feelings of failure.

How can we deal with burnout?

A group of chief medical officers (CMOs) at 35 large hospitals were assessed for their levels of stress and what they do to cope with their feelings of stress and/or burnout. Although most of the CMOs reported that their stress levels were high, the majority were not burned out. So how could this be the case? Well, the one common theme is that of emotional intelligence.

It is important that each situation of burnout is addressed in its uniqueness and that effort is made to understand the stressors that are contributing to one’s burnout. While taking a break and going on a holiday might work for one person, for another person this may increase their feelings of stress as they spend their time off worrying about all of the work that is piling up back home. Similarly, exercise is a great outlet for many people, however for others it might be yet another chore to add to an already overwhelmingly busy schedule.

Being aware of our emotions, thoughts and attitudes can allow us to understand what it is that is causing our feelings of distress and thereafter explore practical strategies to address these.

References

Alarcon, G., Eschleman, K., & Bowling, N. (2009). Relationships between personality variables and burnout: A meta-analysis. Work & Stress, 23(3), 244-263. doi: 10.1080/02678370903282600

Kim, H., Ji, J., & Kao, D. (2011). Burnout and Physical Health among Social Workers: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study. Social Work, 56(3), 258-268. doi: 10.1093/sw/56.3.258

Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W., & Leiter, M. (2001). Job Burnout. Annual Review Of Psychology, 52(1), 397-422. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397

Stoeber, J., & Rennert, D. (2007). Perfectionism in school teachers: Relations with stress appraisals, coping styles, and burnout. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 21(1), 37-53. doi: 10.1080/10615800701742461

Wiens, Kandi J, "Leading through burnout: The influence of emotional intelligence on the ability of executive level physician leaders to cope with occupational stress and burnout" (2016). Dissertations available from ProQuest. AAI10158565. https://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI10158565

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