Burnout causes related to work, lifestyle and personality type

In most cases, burnout causes relates to our working life. However, anyone who feels overworked and undervalued for a long time is at risk for burnout — from the hard-working manager who hasn’t had a holiday in a long time, to a stay at home mother looking after her two children and an aging mother. There are, however, other factors than only these job-related which contribute to burnout, including lifestyle and certain personality characteristics.

burnout causes work-relatedWORK-RELATED burnout CAUSES INCLUDE:

  • Feeling of little or no control over work
  • Lack of recognition or rewards for good performance
  • Unclear or too high job expectations
  • Monotonous or unchallenging work
  • Extreme lack of structure and/or high-pressure environment.

burnout causes lifestyleLIFESTYLE burnout CAUSES INCLUDE:

  • Not enough time for relaxation and social life
  • Being expected to be too many things for too many others
  • Taking on too many responsibilities while others are not helping enough
  • Insufficient sleep
  • Lack of close, supportive relationships.

burnout causes personalityPERSONALITY TRAITS WHICH CAN CONTRIBUTE TO BURNOUT INCLUDE:

  • Perfectionism: nothing is ever good enough
  • Pessimistic view of self and the world
  • The need for control; reluctance to, or inability to delegate
  • High-achieving, Type A personality

According to writers and researchers, burnout is caused by long-term involvement in situations that are emotionally demanding (Pines and Aronson) and/or devotion to a cause, way of life, or relationship that failed to produce the expected reward (Freudenberger). Burnout can also be seen as an indicator of the discrepancy between one’s character or personal values and one’s duties at work (Maslach).

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