How to recognise Burnout Part Two: How to spot the signs and symptoms of burnout stages 5-8.

Burnout is gradual.  It is insidious and creeps up on you.  Spotting the signs sooner helps to halt the downward spiral and prevents the progression to full burnout. 

It’s important to remember that burnout in doctors is not a linear process and the time spent in each stage is variable. You don’t always go from one stage to the next and symptoms and signs can sometimes be subtle.

However, any symptoms and signs of any stages of burnout is our body’s way of calling you to take action. A call to act sooner rather than later to stop burnout progressing to complete burnout (stage 12) and falling off the performance cliff.

What does Stage 5 look like? You will notice that you revise and change your values to focus on work more. You realise you’ve strayed from what’s important to you but instead of focusing on your reality, you focus on work as your self-worth is derived from work and your accomplishments. Friends, family and hobbies are now at the bottom of your list.

You are trying to cope. You may have headaches, anxiety, irritability, difficulty making decisions and a deepening fatigue. 

In Stage 6 of burnout, you begin to deny reality. You deny the problems that arise due to work stress.  You clash with your colleagues as your values have changed.  You are far less tolerant of others including your patients and family.  

You have no energy to engage with anything new, and just want to stick to safe and known routines. You notice that your empathy disappears, and you become cynical. There seems to be no point to anything, no sense of accomplishment anymore. What used to fuel you- job satisfaction, service, ambition, challenge – now seems meaningless. 

In Stage 7 you start to withdraw at work, at home and socially too.  You stop going to meetings, you stay in your office more, you avoid talking to your team. You stop doing the things that keep you well outside of work as you are exhausted. You feel isolated.  

You continue to smile and project competency at work, yet inside you are really struggling.

In Stage 8️ your withdrawal intensifies and you find it difficult to control your emotions. You feel tearful and anxious. You feel out of control and powerless- it’s all too much. You act out of character and often don’t recognise yourself. Even the simplest of decisions is exhausting for you. You realise you may need to take time off work…

Each of the symptoms and signs of the stages of burnout above are our bodies ways of calling us to take action to prevent full burnout (Stage 12). A call to act sooner rather than later to stop the downward spiral. 

Reaching out for help is sometimes that hardest thing for us doctors to do yet it’s absolutely the single most important step you can take to avoid your burnout progressing further.

We as doctors are so skilled at diagnosing our patients with their symptoms and signs, yet it is so hard for us to spot the stages of burnout in ourselves as it is insidious and not linear.  The time spent in each stage is variable and we can spend time in different stages like stage 2, then stage 5 then back to stage 2.  Often, we only spot we have full stage 12 burnout when we drop off the end of the performance cliff and have to take time off. 

If this is you and deep down you know something isn’t right, yet you feel overwhelmed to find solution or make a change, reach out for help today.  Talk to someone you trust at work, or contact your GP.

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