You are here in the subtopic Therapy of burnout. General information on the subject can be found at burnout.
There is no uniform therapy for burnout sufferers. Often, those affected only come to a psychotherapeutic practice after years of self-healing or repression attempts.
First of all, the consequences of developing burnout are often treated. For example Anxiety, social phobias or depressions.
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There are also no specific drugs for burnout sufferers. Symptoms such as depression, sleep disorders and anxiety can be treated with medication, but it must always be ensured that burnout sufferers are at increased risk of addiction, including for sedatives, for example.
Serve frequently Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) for this purpose. Side effects can occur when taking the SSRIs. Nausea, diarrhea, Loss of appetite, and insomnia Erectile dysfunction are possible.
As part of an absolutely necessary psychotherapy, the specific problems of the patient (strong feeling of sickness, lack of self-worth, social phobias, anxiety states, etc.) are addressed and treated. These therapies can often last for years by psychologists or psychiatrists and are always individually tailored to the patient and his foreground problem.
In behavioral therapy, dealing with conflict and stressful situations is specifically practiced. As a result, those affected do not end up in a state of complete overload in everyday life.
Attending self-help groups can also be useful. Here the sick person can find out that other people are also affected by the problem of burnout and exchange ideas with them. This can be beneficial for self-esteem.
Also physical fitness should be encouraged with a healthy diet and lifestyle. Not to be forgotten are also regular ones Rest and relaxation breaks, both in private life and at work. It is often helpful there to simply switch off the mobile phone for a few hours. The social contacts in family and friends should take up more space in life again, as they provide emotional support.
The duration of therapy one Burnout syndrome cannot be clearly defined. The most important factors in the prognosis of the duration are the stage at which the burnout was recognized and diagnosed, whether professional help was sought immediately, what the person's awareness of the disease is and how well he / she works in the therapy. If, for example, the situation is such that burnout is recognized at an early stage and the patient visits the family doctor, who can then refer him to a suitable doctor right away, it may well be that a rapid crisis intervention and short-term therapy are already sufficient to help the person affected sufficiently and to avert a worsening of burnout. In any case, the aim is to show the patient new and more suitable problem and conflict solution strategies, to train him in his self-awareness and thus to offer him help to help himself - also to prevent burnout from occurring again.
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In any case, it is important that those affected by burnout receive professional help in the form of a Psychologists seek out. Since the causes of burnout can be very diverse, the therapeutic approaches are also very different and adapted to the individual needs of the individual.
$config[ads_text2] not foundBasically, a distinction can be made between behavior therapy, psychoanalytic and other depth psychological procedures, individual and group therapies and, for example, so-called body therapies that are supposed to help the patient through sport and movement. As a rule, the psychologist works with the patient to create an individually tailored program that can pursue several aspects and therapeutic approaches, for example weekly individual sessions with the psychologist together with autogenic training and a self-help group. Medicinal therapy can be considered as a support.
Especially when the depressive symptoms burnout syndrome is very pronounced and this makes it very difficult to work on a therapy, you can think about the use of medication in cooperation with the treating doctor. The "harmless “ Natural remedies would be for example Johannis herbs, Lavender hops, Lemon balm and Passion flowerwhich, due to their slightly antidepressant effect, can make calming and relaxation easier for the patient. Some patients also report that a specially tailored diet with amino acids and micronutrients was good for them.
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Drugs from the group of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), which are also used in the context of depression.
The increased level of the messenger substance serotonin can contribute to psychological stabilization and make it easier for burnout patients to turn to the actual psychotherapeutic treatment of burnout.
Because, and this is important, the sole drug therapy of burnout may alleviate the symptoms, but leaves the actual cause of the disease untouched and is therefore not to be classified as productive. And especially with antidepressants, side effects that can sometimes be significant are not to be neglected.
SSRIs often lead to undesirable among other things Shaking hands and dizziness, sweating and nausea, weight gain, fatigue, mood swings and loss of libido.
It is therefore generally advisable to avoid medication such as antidepressants and to seek professional help in the form of a psychologist in good time.
Unfortunately, there is no standardized first-line therapy method for burnout syndrome. The therapy must always be tailored to the individual affected in order to be able to cater to his or her very special needs. An important component here is to rethink and review your own work and life situation. A so-called Behavior therapy be.
Behavioral therapy is based on the basic assumption that problematic behavior was often consciously or unconsciously learned and through in the course of life cognitive conditioning became more and more solidified. Accordingly, it should also be possible to unlearn these behaviors again, or better said to relearn them - and this is exactly the goal of behavioral therapy.
This means that behavior therapy, unlike a depth psychological process, does not look for the reasons and causes for certain fears, but rather tries to address these fears with the help of “training methods” such as Introspection, Feedback, Praise for desired behavior to fight. A sub-form of behavior therapy is the cognitive behavioral therapy, in which very similar training methods are used to try to uncover and break through unfavorable thought patterns and ways of thinking.
Together with the burnout patient, the therapist tries to understand how undesirable behavior (Constraints, fears etc.) is maintained and what can be done to unlearn it again.Often the so-called SORKC model applied:
$config[ads_text1] not foundS. (Stimulus): Which situation or which circumstances trigger the particular behavior?
O (Organism): What are the biological-psychological causes of the organism?
R. (REACTION): How exactly is the undesirable behavior expressed?
K (Contingency): How and according to which principle does the undesired behavior lead to positive but also negative consequences?
C. (Consequences): And what of these are the consequences that ensure that the behavior continues to be sustained?
In order to examine the life and work situation of the person concerned, one looks primarily at the following points:
With regard to the patient's attitude towards himself, in particular his attitude towards his workplace, the following aspects are discussed, among others:
Often it is perceived by patients as pleasant and supportive, new Relaxation techniques and learn other ways to relax, such as shoulder and Neck massages, gymnastic exercises, yoga, Autogenic training or deep awareness.
Support groups are an extremely practical aid, especially in the area of burnout. There are various types of self-help groups for:
The idea behind the self-help groups is to encourage a positive exchange between different people on a specific topic. On the one hand, people with the same or similar problems and backgrounds come together who would otherwise not have run into each other so easily and can exchange their experiences. Above all, self-help with burnout means yourself to actively deal with one's own situationto recognize your own problems and to take their solutions into your own hands.
For many of the burnout patients it is initially unfamiliar to speak openly about their problems. But in almost all cases this telling is felt to be very relieving, as those affected finally have the feeling of being in a group of people who have problems similar to themselves and understand them. Come to self-help groups Affected from various social circles together. Some of them may have had years of therapy behind them, others may not be so sure whether they are suffering from burnout or and would therefore like to get in touch with other affected persons before they see a doctor. However, it is by no means the case that only the “younger” benefit from the “older”, as the exchange takes place in both directions and the large number of participants enables many different aspects of the same topic, namely burnout, to be highlighted.
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For example, a person affected by burnout can work in a self-help group social support that he has missed, perhaps unconsciously, in his life so far. The awareness that it is very similar to others, that other people also have to contend with adverse conditions at work, unbearable spouses, excessive household demands and financial fears for their livelihood is very relieving for many. They know that there are people who understand them and whom they can confide in without having Stigma or even contempt to have to calculate.
Here their worries and fears are understood and even shared and it can be seen how other patients deal with comparable situations, what helps them and how they approach the problem. It is often the case that in a burnout you get a so-called tunnel vision for your own situation, you criticize yourself, devalue yourself, only look pessimistically into the future and put yourself under increasing pressure, which you will not sooner or later will be able to withstand more. And then it's good to have someone who you can confide in, whom you can tell about your fears and who you don't have to worry about being judged. And that is exactly what is done in self-help groups.
How those affected find their way to self-help groups can be very different. Some received the address from their doctor, others from friends and relatives, others might have read a flyer or simply looked for ways to help themselves with burnout in their city on the Internet. In many cities there are now central offices that coordinate and mediate self-help groups on a wide variety of topics. It is advisable to look for a local group, as this is the best way to ensure that you can attend the meetings regularly. There are also numerous privately organized self-help groups on burnout on the Internet.
In general, it is a good idea to attend the joint meetings two or three times before deciding to join the group. It is important that you feel comfortable, that you are in good hands and understood and that you are also sympathetic to the other participants - after all, burnout is an important and very intimate part of life and should be treated accordingly.
Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of “burnout” are often difficult to reintegrate into their workplaces. Due to the long-term stress situation, the "normal" occupational stress or the demands of an average job represent a problem for a long time after the onset of the disease and the end of the therapy, which can also lead to new states of exhaustion. Therefore, a total or partial inability to work after suffering burnout is not uncommon.
However, by reducing responsibility at work and accompanying therapy, many people affected can also be able to return to work.
In general, it can be said that better recovery and a subsequent return to work can result if the burnout syndrome can be recognized and treated at an early stage.
Chances of recovery and prognosis are of course also dependent on personal characteristics and resources, as well as on the extent (strength and duration) of the chronic stress state.
As with all mental illnesses, there is therefore no uniformly valid prognosis for burnout.
Whoever recognizes early enough that he himself is potentially at risk of burnout is quite able to prevent the development of the disease.
This must be done on two levels. On the one hand, the external stress factors described under "causes" must be reduced. The person concerned must learn to give up / reject responsibility and thus delegate work. Disputes or conflicts with colleagues, but also in the family area, should be avoided or resolved at an early stage. In the professional and in the private sphere, the endangered must make it clear that he cannot take on all tasks. If the risk of revision becomes clear, tasks and projects must be rejected or the work shared. Recovery and regeneration phases must be requested and adhered to. Certainly this is not always possible, so that in extreme cases a change of job has to be considered. Stress-reducing measures such as progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobsen or autogenic training, as well as a healthy balance to work and stress such as regular hobbies or sport, are also beneficial.
Counteracting the incipient burnout on an internal level is quite difficult. The person concerned has to learn to say “no”, to reconsider his own requirements and expectations and to admit mistakes to himself or even to ask for help from others. Without professional guidance in the sense of psychotherapeutic support, this is often very difficult to achieve.
