Burnout syndrome is the most dangerous occupational disease of those who work with people. How can a psychologist take care of his professional health? What self-help methods are effective?

Much has been written about professional burnout, and very well. Ways to prevent and correct it are easy to find on the Internet. Then how is it that smart, well-read people, including doctors, teachers, psychologists, continue to suffer from professional burnout?

Each person has the right to his own path, and if he wants to suffer and suffer, then what can you do. Another thing is when a person sincerely wants happiness, but their own resources are not enough to find it. And the psychologist is the same person. And he also may not have enough of his resources. When this happens, it is worth setting a goal and understanding why he was in a state of energy deficit? This is the question to start with.

Most likely, a person received the ground for professional burnout in childhood, and work in a profession associated with close communication with people was only a starting point for exacerbating what was laid not today, not yesterday, but several decades ago.

It is important to understand what are you afraid of? What are you not sure about?

Behind this lies an even deeper layer of that What made you then in childhood and now in adult life deny yourself something? How were you motivated as a child to infringe on your needs, to drown out your true desires? It is important to understand what motivated your parents, why did they behave this way?

If you are still fulfilling their instructions, then you need to destroy their authority and ideality in your own eyes. You only need to see living people behind the images of your parents, living in your soul, controlled by your passions, and you will be able to get out of the labyrinth of other people's needs, as well as living a life that is not your own.

Professional burnout, in my opinion, happens to those professionals who give people what they themselves are in short supply. And giving the last, they firmly believe that everything will return to them and will pay off a hundredfold. Naive people! Alas and ah, not a single victim has justified itself. Whatever bonuses you receive, they still do not stop what you gave away, depriving yourself of the last crumbs of the most important thing for you.

It has always been and will always be so: people around do not understand that you are tearing away from yourself what you yourself are insanely in need of. They perceive what you do as completely natural and normal. For example, remember what people say when they are waiting in line for an appointment with a doctor in a regular clinic. Most of them do not even think about what kind of professional burnout the doctor is subject to on the other side of the door. On the other hand, no one owes the doctor anything, except for the state, which hires him and gives him certain benefits.

It is common for a person who goes to such a job to hope (we are not talking about everyone, there are pleasant exceptions) that someone will stop his expenses, but this does not happen, and as a result, emptiness and dissatisfaction form.

What should such a person do? He should stop giving away what he himself lacks. Share only what he has in abundance, and what he has little - keep for himself.

Professions that require you to communicate a lot with people are not suitable for everyone. But there is good news, when working through the layers of the unconscious, which cause a person to perceive his resources as scarce (or leading to the fact that he cannot learn to withdraw them from the deficit), you can move into the category of people who are able to engage in the above-mentioned activities without harm to themselves. .

Thus, the key problem of professional burnout begins in the same place as the habit of neglecting oneself for the sake of some seemingly more important things for a person. And it is also in the same place where there is a denial that not everything is subject to us, and the desire to turn a blind eye to the fact that everyone has limited resources.

Professional help to yourself on the path to maintaining your own mental health often helps in the fight against professional burnout.

Burnout syndrome is a process of gradual loss of energy, manifested in a state of exhaustion, physical fatigue, personal detachment and decreased job satisfaction. It is seen as a result of stress in the workplace (1).

For the first time the term "burnout" was used back in 1974 by the psychiatrist X. Fredenberger. He then studied the state of mentally healthy people who, by the nature of their activities, provided psychological services.

Since then, burnout at work has been studied and diagnosed in representatives of different professions and different ages, thereby confirming the fact that any person is subject to “burnout”, regardless of gender, age and occupation.

How to independently check for the presence of professional burnout syndrome?

You can check the presence or absence of signs of professional burnout syndrome yourself. If you have found at least one sign from the following, then we can talk about the beginning of the formation of the "burnout" syndrome. If you have a combination of several signs, in this case, this indicates an already formed “burnout” syndrome and this is a serious reason to pay attention to this, understand the causes and eliminate them to prevent consequences.

There are three key signs of burnout syndrome:

1. "Emotional and/or physical exhaustion"

Emotional exhaustion is manifested in feelings of overstrain and in a feeling of emptiness, exhaustion of one's emotional resources, a feeling of fatigue that does not go away after a night's sleep. After a period of rest (weekends, holidays), these manifestations decrease, but upon returning to the previous working situation, they resume.

2. "Personal detachment"

This symptom is expressed in the fact that a person begins to perceive his thoughts, feelings and even actions alienated without internal involvement. The work process becomes impersonal, formal. We sometimes refer to this state as "acting automatically." A person is fenced off by an invisible screen from any experiences, including a protective mechanism for saving already depleted reserves of strength and energy.

3. “Dissatisfaction with oneself” in relation to work

You can talk about the presence of this sign if success in work has ceased to inspire you. If you feel that the results of your work are not worth the effort you put in. There may be a feeling of being “trapped in a cage”, when you feel that you are not in your place, you do not see development prospects, job satisfaction decreases. It seems impossible for you to change your job or field of activity in the current circumstances of your life. But if the opportunity to change jobs presented itself, you would take it.

Rice. 1. Signs of professional burnout syndrome

As you can now see, chronic fatigue, dissatisfaction with your job, a seeming lack of prospects in your current workplace can be signs of the formation of a burnout syndrome that anyone can experience. Therefore, attempts to find the reasons for their internal state in allegedly "bad" work will not lead to success. Even after changing the place of work, field of activity or going into freelance, after some time the same condition will overtake you, adding new symptoms to the picture.

Therefore, the responsibility of each employee, regardless of the field of activity, should be the ability to find and eliminate the causes of their professional burnout.

What are the causes of burnout syndrome?

So, professional burnout is the result of stress at work. Consider several sources of stress in the work of a software developer.

1. Monotony in work

Monotonous and simple operations that must be performed in the course of activity quickly lead to boredom and apathy. And if this continues for a long time, then to a state of mental satiety (disgust for work). Monotony can be found in any work activity. But, Special attention ways to overcome monotony in work should be given to specialist designers whose activities are related to operating GOSTs and SNIPs, where it is difficult for new ideas to break through. Also, a feeling of monotony can arise with large amounts of work, when a person understands how much he has to do.

Ways to deal with monotony at work

The monotony of activity causes a lack of excitation in the nervous system. nervous processes especially when there is a lot of work to be done. Accordingly, it is necessary to periodically change your usual activities, create new conditions for yourself, to which you need to get used to in a new way. And as soon as you feel that you are used to it, change again. This applies to even the smallest things. This can be a change in the usual place for lunch, a change in the usual route to work and home, a change in the sequence of actions “turned on the computer, went for coffee”. Do the opposite, illogically, "poured coffee, turned on the computer." This is where the “miracles” begin, the brain will begin to stir and think: “What should I do now in my free time while the computer is loading?” This is the very moment when ideas and new ways of behaving are born, etc. And don't worry that it may seem counter-intuitive and uneconomical. These two minutes don't really save much, but they can be a preventive measure for your nervous system against monotony and protection against "burnout" at work. Isn't it logical to take care of yourself?

If the monotony comes from the realization of a large amount of work, then the way to cope is to use methods of planning and structuring that are unusual for you. For people with a structural type of planning, a method of spontaneous planning based on emotional choice is suitable. People who plan chaotically, on the contrary, can try time planning with an alarm clock. The main thing is that it is unusual for you.

The best part about it is that you are only limited by your imagination. Changing habitual ways of performing automatic actions is an excellent prevention of stress and chronic fatigue.

2. Lack of social support

The role of praise, encouragement and censure in work activity has been studied by many researchers. In my opinion, there are three main principles in these studies:

First principle

Feedback from the manager, boss or colleagues is necessary to prevent "burnout". Both negative and positive ratings matter. The absence of any assessment of labor activity, i.e. unemotional, even attitude is reflected in the worst way on the results of work. "Unnoticed", that is, people who are not evaluated in any way begin to work worse and worse due to a decrease in the strength of the motive for the work performed, since they believed that no one needed it.

Second principle

It is necessary to avoid assessments of the whole person as a whole, both positive and negative (“You are doing well”, “You do not understand anything”). And accordingly, evaluate only specific actions or activities in connection with a specific task. With a positive assessment of actions, a person realizes that not everything has been done yet and success is not the basis for vegetating; with a negative assessment of actions, he does not lose self-confidence, his motivational potential does not decrease, he understands that failure can be overcome, because he has plenty of room for that.

Third principle

Financial incentives effectively and consistently motivate if the results of labor can be quantified. Knowledge work is extremely difficult to evaluate in numbers and indicators, so the material incentives for knowledge workers can be perceived as an expression of the personal attitude of the leader. This, in fact, is also not bad, as long as this attitude is perceived as positive, i.e. before the first financial deductions.

Coping with a lack of social support

Request feedback from the manager, boss and colleagues on the results of their activities. Make sure that the assessment relates only to activities and actions, and not to the person as a whole, to specify generalized claims and generalized praise. With praise, of course, the most difficult thing, it is already lacking. Many freelancers face a lack of social support. They may show signs of "burnout" if they do not learn self-support and self-motivation techniques.

3. Work in "open space" conditions

The impact on the efficiency of the presence of other people was noted by academician V.M. Bekhterev, distinguishing three types of people: socially excitable, socially inhibited and socially indifferent. A similar attitude to the presence of other people was noted by K. Jung in the typology of introvert / extrovert personalities. Let me remind you that K. Jung considered introversion / extraversion only from the point of view of a way to replenish energy reserves and the ability to focus attention. Those. introverts rest and replenish their energy reserves while alone. Extroverts relax in the presence of other people, in communication and interaction.

The specificity of programming work determines the common psychological traits of professional software developers. The experience of S. McConnell and S. Arkhipenkov - experts in the field of software development management, as well as my personal experience confirms that most professional software developers are introverts according to Carl Jung's typology. Those. replenish energy reserves, being alone, and the presence of other people for them is a stress factor that reduces energy reserves, respectively. At the same time, a person himself may not always be aware that he is losing energy if he is forced to work among other people, because. energy consumption occurs gradually during the day. However, you can find out your belonging to introverts or extroverts on your own by analyzing different situations from your past experience.

How to deal with open space work

If possible, organize your workspace in such a way that other people do not fall into your field of attention. If you have a choice, then you should choose a workplace in a quiet corner, impassable, preferably by the window, in order to be able to unload your eyes from the computer. If you do not have the opportunity to organize your workplace, then your rest at home should be as isolated as possible from the presence of other people for at least a few hours.

Organizing your life according to your typological features will allow you to replenish the supply of wasted energy in time, avoid chronic fatigue and emotional exhaustion, thereby protecting yourself from "burnout".

Rice. 2. Causes of professional burnout syndrome

The above material covers only a part of the main signs of the professional burnout syndrome, as well as some of the possible causes of stress in the work of a software developer. Of course, the analysis of how the work process affects our psychological state, incl. on professional burnout is impossible without taking into account the individual characteristics and life situation of a person. Strong emotional experiences in your personal life can contribute to rapid development burnout syndrome, even if there was no stress at work. Therefore, a highly qualified specialist should know how to cope with stress not only at work, but also know how to quickly get rid of overwhelming emotional experiences in his personal life.

Literature

1. Makarov V.V., Makarova G.A. Transactional analysis - Eastern version. - M., 2002.
2. Steve McConnell - Perfect Code. Master class / Per. from English. - M.: Publishing house "Russian edition", 2010.
3. Ilyin E.P. Motivation and motives - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000

Psychological burnout syndrome as a result of professional stress.

Life without stress is impossible. Every day we face one form or another of stressful situations. We manage to cope with some of them without visible losses, others are knocked out of the saddle for a long time, forcing us to long and painfully experience its consequences.

V last years more and more often it is said about the relationship and mutual influence of professional stress, and the syndrome of psychological burnout or burnout of workers.

• Introduction.

What is stress? Literally, this word is translated as “stress”, and quite often it denotes a wide range of human conditions that arise in response to extreme impacts. But it is always the tension of the whole human body, responding to the influence of various factors, both physical and psychological. For the first time the concept of "stress" was introduced by Hans Selye, who is considered the founder of the theory of stress, in 1935 - 1936. However, in the 14th century English poet Robert Manning wrote in one of his writings: « And this torment was manna from heaven, which the Lord sent to people who had been in the desert for 40 winters and were under great stress!” . But the word itself is still ancient, it has its roots in Latin language, where it means "tighten". So, through the modern appearance, the ancient meaning of the word comes through, quite accurately reflecting what a person experiences, being in certain, often unfavorable conditions.

Starting with Selye, stress is understood as a non-specific reaction of the body in response to any action (often unfavorable) and increased demands. At the moment of occurrence of a stressful situation, a number of psychophysiological changes occur in the body, which in some cases can lead to disorders in the physical, mental and social components of a person's integrity.

By introducing the concepts of "eustress" and "distress" Selye differentiated the understanding of stress. Eustress - positive emotional reactions of the body to the demands made on it, corresponding to its resources; distress - emotional stressful states characterized by negative experiences due to the lack of available resources for the implementation of the requirements. But in both cases, no matter what the stress is - positive or negative, it will always be a state of loss of balance. Thus, it can be noted that stress is inherent in our very life, it is an integral component of existence. It is impossible to completely avoid stress, but you can learn how to manage stressful situations, which is especially important in the conditions of the organization's activities, since prolonged stress leads to a symptom of professional burnout.

The term burnout was first introduced by the American psychiatrist H. Fredenberg in 1974. Burnout meant a state of exhaustion combined with a sense of one's own uselessness, uselessness.

V.V. Boyko gives the following definition of the term: “Emotional burnout is a psychological defense mechanism developed by a person in the form of a complete or partial exclusion of emotions in response to selected psycho-traumatic effects.”

In accordance with the views of K. Maslach and S. Jackson, burnout syndrome is considered as a response to long-term professional stress arising in interpersonal communications. The syndrome model can be represented as a three-component structure, including:

emotional exhaustion;

Depersonalization;

Reduction of personal achievements.

Emotional exhaustion is felt as emotional overstrain, emptiness, exhaustion of one's own emotional resources. A person cannot give himself to work as before, he feels muffled, dullness of his own emotions, emotional breakdowns are possible.

Depersonalization is a tendency to develop a negative, soulless, cynical attitude towards stimuli. The impersonality and formality of contacts is increasing. Negative attitudes that are hidden in nature may begin to manifest themselves in internal pent-up irritation, which eventually enters the outside in the form of outbursts of irritation or conflict situations.

Reduction of personal (personal) achievements - a decrease in the sense of competence in one's work, dissatisfaction with oneself, a decrease in the value of one's activity, negative self-perception in the professional sphere. The emergence of a sense of guilt for one's own negative manifestations or feelings, a decrease in professional and personal self-esteem, the appearance of a sense of one's own insolvency, indifference to work.

In this regard, the phenomenon of burnout syndrome can be considered in the aspect of practical, professional activity. The manifestation of this syndrome is most typical for representatives of the communicative professions of the “person-to-person” system.

As stressors - factors influencing the occurrence of a state of stress - are life situations, events that can be systematized by intensity negative impact and the time it takes to adapt. Accordingly, there are:

Daily difficulties, troubles, difficulties. The time for adaptation to them ranges from several minutes to several hours.

Critical life, traumatic events. Time for adaptation - from several weeks to several months.

chronic stressors. They can last for years.

In accordance with the identified types of occupational stress, the stress factors of labor activity can be classified as follows:

I. Production related to working conditions and organization of the workplace:

overload;

monotonous work;

microclimate of the working room (noise, vibration, illumination);

interior, room design;

organization of an individual workplace;

inconvenient work schedule, overtime;

safety.

II Factors related to the profession:

understanding of the goals of the activity (clarity, inconsistency, reality);

professional experience, level of knowledge;

professional training, retraining;

opportunity to express creativity

role status;

psychological climate in the team (relationships with colleagues, clients, interpersonal conflicts);

Social responsibility;

Feedback on the results of activities;

III Structural:

organization management (centralization, the ability to participate in the management of employees);

the ratio of structure and function, the goals of the organization;

violation of subordination, incorrectly built hierarchy;

specialization and division of labor;

personnel policy, promotion (too fast or too slow);

interpersonal relationships with management, conflicts;

IV Personal:

moral maturity and stability;

purposefulness and discipline, accuracy;

satisfaction of expectations and performance results (correlation of expectations and goals);

frustration (impossibility to satisfy) needs;

personality traits (emotional instability, inadequate self-esteem, anxiety, aggressiveness, risk taking, etc.);

features of the mental state (presence of fatigue);

peculiarities physiological state(presence of acute and chronic diseases, biological rhythms, bad habits, age-related changes).

The syndrome of professional burnout is a problem that has not yet been sufficiently studied in Russia, and therefore the problems of this topic have not yet received their due consideration. This was largely due to the peculiarities of domestic business, in which a person was by no means in the first place for a long time. Especially such a dismissive attitude towards a person can be seen in the field of trading business on the example of sales managers, sales consultants and salespeople, that is, the lowest link in the complex organizational structure of the company.

Professional burnout syndrome is a complex, multifaceted construct, consisting of a number of negative psychological experiences caused by long and intense interpersonal communications, emotionally rich or cognitively complex. Thus, the burnout syndrome is a response to long-term stresses that arise in the process of interpersonal communications, and this syndrome is most clearly manifested in representatives of professions related to the “person-to-person” system.

Burnout is a relatively stable condition, the symptoms of which are a decrease in motivation to work, increased conflict and increasing dissatisfaction with the work performed, constant fatigue, boredom, emotional exhaustion, irritability and nervousness, etc. Just as the reaction to stressful situations is different for different people, being an individual reaction, the symptoms of burnout syndrome are strictly individual and do not appear all at the same time, representing individual variations. The development of the syndrome depends on a combination of professional, organizational and personal stress factors. Depending on the proportion of one or another component of the process, the dynamics of the development of the syndrome will also differ. The process of professional burnout has an extremely negative impact on the activities of the organization as a whole, and each individual employee in particular, being sometimes disastrous for the existence of the institution and the person.

Speaking about the impact of the burnout process on the organization and the individual employee, we can note the mutual influence of these two factors. Whether burnout depends more on the personal characteristics of a person or on the organizational structure - the debate on this topic is not over. So, K. Maslach believes that to a greater extent, the burnout syndrome is influenced by working conditions and the characteristics of the organization. However, it seems to me appropriate to consider two factors - both personal and organizational, given their relationship and influence on each other.

Burnout syndrome is a process that develops over time. The onset of burnout lies in severe and prolonged stress at work. In the event that external and internal requirements for a person exceed his own resources, there is an imbalance in his psychophysiological state. A persistent or growing imbalance leads to the complete depletion of available resources and employee burnout.

The cause of resource depletion leading to burnout is unmanaged stress. In the absence of constructive measures to overcome the chronic state of stress in professional activities, a person develops a complex of negative experiences, impaired adaptive abilities that pose a threat both to his personal health and to the organization as a whole.

The development of the syndrome leads to the activation of protective mechanisms (coping reactions), psychological distance from the performance of professional duties: apathy, cynicism, rigidity of behavior, a decrease in the significance of achievements and performance results.

Recently, the victims of professional burnout syndrome are increasingly becoming not only representatives of helping professions: teachers, medical workers, psychologists and psychotherapists, social workers, but also representatives of business and commercial structures. The consequences of the syndrome negatively affect the activities of the entire organization as a whole.

If, as noted above, stress occurs when demands exceed available resources, it follows that either the requirements need to be modified or resources need to be increased. Very often it seems impossible to change the requirements due to objective reasons, especially if we are talking about the junior link in the management chain, ordinary employees of the organization.

Therefore, most often measures to prevent or overcome stressful conditions and employee burnout syndrome are aimed at replenishing, increasing the personal resources of the subjects of labor relations. But this requires a thorough preparatory process. Preventive measures can only be developed after the problem is recognized and studied. This requires not only time, but also an understanding by the management of organizations and enterprises of the need for such measures.

LIST OF USED LITERATURE.

1. Vodopyanova N.E., Starchenkova E.S. Burnout syndrome: diagnosis and prevention. - St. Petersburg, 2005.

2. Miteva I.Yu. Stress management course. - M., 2005.

3. Ababkov V.A., Perret M. Adaptation to stress. - St. Petersburg, 2004.

4. Kamenyukin A., Kovpak D. Antistress - training. - St. Petersburg, 2004.

5. Samoukina N.V. Occupational burnout syndrome. - January 12, 2005 / Based on materials from Internet sites.

6. Methodology for diagnosing the level of emotional burnout V. V. Boyko / based on materials from Internet sites.

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Introduction

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Modern psychological studies concerning social workers show their susceptibility to professional deformations (A. V. Budanov, 2011; B. D. Novikov, 2012; A. A. Rean, 2012; A. R. Fonarev, 2013; A. K. Markova, 2009; S. P. Beznosov, 2009; E. T. Lunina, 2010; K. A. Yudchits, 2011; S. E. Borisova, 2011; E. D. Yurchenko, 2011, etc.). One of the frequent negative manifestations among representatives of these professions is the phenomenon of "mental burnout". This syndrome occurs in situations of intense professional communication under the influence of many external and internal determinants and manifests itself as a "muting" of emotions, the disappearance of the sharpness of feelings and experiences, an increase in the number of conflicts with communication partners, indifference and isolation from the experiences of another person, loss of a sense of the value of life, loss of self-confidence, etc.

Against the backdrop of ever-increasing interest in the problem of professional burnout, it is important to pay attention to the features of professional burnout of social workers, professional activity which is largely associated with everyday interaction with people, their psychological and physical difficulties, including with colleagues in the course of their daily professional activities. Therefore, it becomes relevant to study the features of the manifestation of this syndrome, to clarify its symptoms and factors that determine its formation in the professional development of managers, in order to develop evidence-based health programs aimed at preventing occupational deformities and diseases, as well as restoring the psychoenergetic potential of workers.

V modern structure economic relations, the activity of a manager is complex, multifaceted. Management activity is extremely complex, representing a unity of objective and subjective variables, requirements for technological and communicative competence. On the one hand, managerial relations in the "leader-subordinate" system are determined by the characteristics of the socio-economic system of society, on the other hand, managerial relations are formed between people and therefore are determined by the peculiarities of their consciousness. The manager's activity is characterized by high intensity, saturation of actions, frequent intervention of external factors, a wide network of contacts at various levels, and the predominance of direct verbal (oral) communication with other people.

The main functions of managers, as you know, include: planning, forecasting, organizing and coordinating the interaction of subordinates, decision-making, control. In addition to purely “production functions” and the formal relations associated with them, characterized by high cognitive complexity, “socio-psychological” functions associated with the “human factor” and informal relations in the team: communicative, educational, disciplinary, psychotherapeutic and others. The latter, in turn, can be characterized by a special emotional intensity (Sventsitsky, 1986). The complex and responsible nature of the manager's activity determines the presence of various stressful situations that create the prerequisites for the emergence of a mental burnout syndrome.

1. Signs and factors of professional burnout

Professional burnout is a syndrome that develops against the background of chronic stress and leads to the depletion of the emotional, energy and personal resources of a working person.

For the first time the term "burnout" (burnout) was introduced by the American psychiatrist Freidenberger in 1974, it meant a state of demoralization, disappointment and extreme fatigue. Burnout is a state of physical and psychological exhaustion caused by prolonged exposure to emotionally overburdened situations. This interpretation is close to understanding burnout as a "chronic fatigue syndrome". Emotional exhaustion is manifested in a reduced emotional background, indifference, emptiness and fatigue.

In the explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Ozhegov, the verb "burn out" has two meanings: to burn out entirely; fade, lose color. Surprisingly, these two shades of meaning are also preserved in relation to the irreversibility/reversibility of the process of professional burnout. So, according to researchers Vodopyanova N.E. and Starchenkova E.S., "burnout is dangerous because it is not an episode, but the end result of the process of "burning to the ground." However, "with systematic work to update personal resources and optimize organizational (environmental) working conditions, the process of" burning out can be not only stopped, but also transformed into "productive combustion".

The reduction of personal achievements can manifest itself either in a tendency to negatively evaluate oneself, one's professional achievements and job opportunities, or in limiting one's duties in relation to others, which leads to a feeling of incompetence. The burnout syndrome is most typical for representatives of communicative professions ("person-to-person"), including for all categories of managers and personnel managers. Burnout develops, as a rule, in those who, by the nature of their activities, must communicate a lot with other people, and the result of the activity (moral and material) depends on the quality of communication. A characteristic feature of professional burnout is its dynamism, it is a process that develops over time, accompanied by the presentation of such external and internal requirements for a person that exceed his own resource. Intense physical and emotional stress, lack of time for the implementation of tasks, hyper-responsibility and perfectionism are risk factors that increase the likelihood of burnout, leading to a change in attitude towards the work being done. Work is perceived as a formality, as a difficult necessity, and not a source of satisfaction and self-actualization. Thus, professional burnout is special case deformation of the personality due to the implementation of professional activities. Professional burnout syndrome is an unfavorable reaction to work stress, which includes psychophysiological, mental and behavioral components.

The signs that make up the syndrome of professional burnout can be conditionally divided into three main groups: psychophysical, socio-psychological and behavioral.

The psychophysical signs of professional burnout include such as: a professional working manager

Feeling of constant, persistent fatigue, not only in the evenings, but also in the mornings, immediately after sleep (the so-called symptom of chronic fatigue);

Feeling emotional and physical exhaustion;

Decreased susceptibility and reactivity to changes in the external environment (lack of curiosity reaction to the novelty factor or fear reaction to a dangerous situation);

General asthenia (weakness, decreased activity and energy, deterioration of blood biochemistry and hormonal parameters);

Frequent causeless headaches;

Persistent disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;

Sudden loss or sudden weight gain;

Complete or partial insomnia (quick falling asleep and lack of sleep in the early morning, starting at 4 a.m. or, conversely, inability to fall asleep in the evening until 2-3 a.m. and "hard" awakening in the morning when you need to get up for work);

Constant lethargy, drowsiness and desire to sleep throughout the day;

Shortness of breath or shortness of breath during physical or emotional stress;

A noticeable decrease in external and internal sensory sensitivity: deterioration of vision, hearing, smell and touch, loss of internal, bodily sensations;

Perhaps occupational burnout is one of the reasons for the decline in life expectancy in Russia, especially among men.

The socio-psychological signs of professional burnout include such unpleasant sensations and reactions as:

Indifference, boredom, passivity and depression (low emotional tone, feeling of depression);

Increased irritability to minor, petty events;

Frequent nervous "breakdowns" (outbursts of unmotivated anger or refusal to communicate, "withdrawal");

Constant experience negative emotions for which there are no reasons in the external situation (feelings of guilt, resentment, suspicion, shame, constraint);

Feeling of unconscious anxiety and increased anxiety (feeling that "something is not right");

Feelings of responsibility and constant feeling fear that "it will not work out" or the person "will not cope";

A general negative attitude towards life and professional prospects (like "No matter how hard you try, nothing will work anyway").

The behavioral symptoms of professional burnout include the following actions and forms of employee behavior:

Feeling that the work is getting harder and harder and harder and harder to do;

The employee noticeably changes his working regime of the day (early comes to work and leaves late, or, conversely, comes to work late and leaves early);

Regardless of the objective need, the worker constantly takes work home, but does not do it at home;

The leader refuses to make decisions, formulating various reasons for explanations to himself and others;

Feeling worthless, disbelief in improvement, decreased enthusiasm for work, indifference to results;

Failure to perform important, priority tasks and "getting stuck" on small details, spending most of the working time in a little conscious or unconscious performance of automatic and elementary actions that do not meet official requirements;

Distance from employees and customers, increasing inadequate criticality;

Alcohol abuse, a sharp increase in cigarettes smoked per day, the use of drugs.

Symptoms of professional burnout can be "infectious" and manifest themselves not only in individual workers. Often there is professional burnout of organizations, which manifests itself in the fact that the vast majority of employees have an internal physical or emotional state with the same signs, as well as the same forms of behavior. In such cases, individual differences between workers are noticeably "erased", they become unnaturally similar and identical, as if "on the same face." People become pessimists who do not have faith in positive changes at work and the ability to change something with their own efforts.

The reasons for the professional burnout of the organization are constant contradictions in the strategic and tactical leadership; excessive, unrealistic demands on employees; transfer of responsibility to employees who do not have authority; lack of objective criteria for evaluating the results of work; inefficient system of personnel motivation and stimulation.

Signs of professional burnout of organizations: inadequately increased staff turnover (from 100% or more per year, that is, almost all employees leave during the year, and some work for less than a year); reduced motivation to work, too frequent "smoke breaks" and "tea" breaks; professional dependence of personnel on managers, which manifests itself either in an increased and inadequate critical attitude towards management, or in a sense of helplessness without active help from management; too high conflict of staff and a difficult atmosphere in the company.

Both for an individual employee and for an organization, the state of professional burnout can be unconscious or misunderstood and assessed. It is difficult, almost impossible to see one's own unfavorable state for both a person and an organization, therefore there are no conditions for starting corrective and restorative measures in time. It is possible to single out two large blocks of organizational and individual factors influencing the occurrence and process of the syndrome of professional burnout.

organizational factors.

The group of organizational factors, which includes the conditions of the material environment, the content of work and the socio-psychological conditions of activity, is the most representative in the field of burnout research.

Working conditions. The main emphasis in the study of these factors was placed mainly on the time parameters of activities and the amount of work. Virtually all studies paint a similar picture, indicating that increased loads activities stimulate the development of burnout.

Working hours. The increase in the length of the working day, frequent overtime work, as well as irregular working hours, which take on a "chronic" form, have a direct impact on the occurrence of burnout. Breaks from work have a positive effect and reduce burnout, but this effect is temporary: the burnout level partially increases three days after returning to work and fully recovers after three weeks. The presence of links between this group of factors and burnout is to some extent explained not only by their actual influence on this phenomenon, but also by their objective content, the possibility of quantitative measurement and unambiguous understanding.

The content of labor. This group of factors includes quantitative and qualitative aspects of working with clients: the number of clients, the frequency of their service, the degree of depth of contact with them. Data on the interaction between burnout and the number of clients, their number served over a certain period, is not unambiguous, although theoretically one can assume a positive relationship between these variables, which is confirmed by a number of studies. However, there are also studies in which such a relationship between these variables was not found. Apparently, the lack of communication can also be mediated by other factors, in particular, the duration of this contact.

The degree of autonomy and independence of the employee in their activities and the ability to make important decisions is an important factor that interacts with burnout. Almost all studies confirm a negative correlation between these variables and burnout, although it is noted that the relationship between the latter variable is closer.

Socio-psychological factors. Perhaps one of the most important among the socio-psychological factors considered in the context of burnout is the socio-psychological relationships in the organization, both vertically and horizontally. The decisive role in this is played by social support from colleagues and people who are higher in their professional and social position, as well as other persons (family, friends, etc.). In almost all studies on this problem, there is a negative relationship between burnout and social support representatives of almost all professions related to the provision of professional assistance to people. The most significant for employees is support from supervisors and administration. Moreover, some researchers emphasize that intrapersonal conflicts in a group of workers (i.e., horizontally) are much less psychologically dangerous than conflicts with people occupying a higher professional position. The above studies emphasize the importance of such a factor as feedback, the absence of which correlates with all three components of burnout, leading to an increase in the level of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, reducing professional self-efficacy.

On issues related to other features of socio-psychological interaction in a vertical team, there are several studies devoted to studying the influence of leadership style on the tendency to burnout among subordinates. There is little correlation between the two variables, with democratic leadership being less likely to contribute to burnout.

An important factor is the stimulation of employees; this problem was considered in line with the category of remuneration of employees for their work - material and moral, in the form of approval from the administration and gratitude of the recipients. Almost all researchers note that insufficient reward (monetary and moral) or its absence contribute to burnout. At the same time, some researchers note that in preventing burnout, it is not the absolute amount of remuneration that is important for employees, but its correlation with their own labor expended and the labor of their colleagues, which in this context is referred to as fairness. There are studies showing that additional rewards for doing certain work increase the feeling of professional effectiveness, while punishment leads to the development of depersonalization.

Finally, the last of the organizational factors that have a close relationship with burnout is role conflict and role duality. In all studies devoted to this aspect of the problem, a positive relationship is emphasized between these characteristics and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, as well as negative correlations with professional effectiveness.

individual factors.

A number of researchers paid special attention to individual factors, preferring them to organizational ones. Research in this area gives the following idea of ​​the influence of individual factors on burnout.

Socio-demographic characteristics. Of all socio-demographic characteristics, age has the closest relationship with burnout, which is confirmed by numerous studies.

It is noted that young people (19-25 years old) and older people (40-50 years old) are most susceptible to emotional burnout. The relationship between gender and burnout is not so straightforward. A number of studies note that men are more prone to burnout than women, while other researchers come to completely opposite conclusions. There are studies showing a link between marital status and burnout. They note more high degree predisposition to burnout of persons (especially males) who are not married. Moreover, bachelors are more prone to burnout, even compared to divorced men.

Data on the relationship between work experience in the specialty and burnout are rather contradictory. In most studies, there is no significant correlation between these variables, and only a few studies reveal a negative relationship between them. In particular, there is a slight negative correlation between total work experience and work experience in a given medical institution and burnout among psychiatrists.

There is some evidence of a positive relationship between the level of education and the degree of professional burnout. However, this trend is observed only in relation to depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion does not depend on this factor. The reduction of professional achievements gives a completely opposite picture, having highest values in subjects with an average than higher education. The influence of other socio-demographic variables on burnout - ethnicity and race, place of residence, socio-economic status, salary level - has been studied to a much lesser extent.

Personal characteristics. The study of personality characteristics in their relationship with burnout is an important area of ​​study of this phenomenon. A number of scientists believe that personal characteristics have a much greater influence on the development of burnout, not only in comparison with demographic characteristics, but also with the factors of the working environment.

"Personal Resilience". This characteristic in foreign psychology is defined as the ability of a person to be highly active every day, to exercise control over life situations and to respond flexibly to various kinds of changes.

2. Professional burnout in the activities of a manager

Among the personal factors predisposing managers to the development of burnout syndrome, foreign researchers note such factors as introversion, low self-esteem, low empathy, type A stress response, workaholism, certain motivational characteristics, etc. Numerous studies have identified three main factors the occurrence of professional burnout among employees management activities.

The first factor that reduces the likelihood of burnout syndrome is formed by: an orientation towards cooperation and compromise, a high motivation for self-development and professional growth, a creative approach to solving professional problems, high level communication skills. Personal factors preventing mental burnout include: high sociability in small groups, social courage, radicalism.

The second factor that determines the likelihood of developing emotional exhaustion and depersonalization includes low self-esteem, emotional instability, low activity and inability to unite the team, and a tendency to avoid difficult communication situations.

The third factor of mental burnout is the “blurring” of personal goals and values, low level managerial skills, inadequacy of self-esteem, characteristics in terms of "conservatism - radicalism".

The results of the factor analysis suggest that the personal and stylistic characteristics of managers determine both the various types of their "professional burnout" and the impact they have on management strategies, interaction with subordinates, and the health of specialists. The development of this issue is very relevant for determining ways to prevent burnout syndrome and relieve the negative effects of stress in interpersonal relationships.

A generalization of studies of various groups of Russian middle managers made it possible to identify three groups of personal and behavioral characteristics that reduce the risk of burnout among managers.

Personal factor. Sociability and social courage, high expressiveness, practicality - rationality, average values ​​of conformism and suspicion, emotional stability, adequate self-esteem, optimism, hyperthymism, professional experience, high qualification, high motivation for self-development and professional growth.

Models of overcoming behavior. Prosocial models, expansion of social contacts, search for social and professional support, confident active problem-oriented and emotionally focused actions (distancing, positive reassessment, rationalization, self-control and self-control), orientation to constructive ways of conflict management according to K. Thomas (compromise, cooperation), the breadth of the repertoire of overcoming behaviors and the flexibility of their application in according to the situation.

Managerial skills. Creativity in approach to solving professional problems, a high level of communication skills, the ability to rally a team, a high level of management skills.

Conclusion

In order to avoid the occurrence of professional burnout syndrome, employees in managerial activities need to constantly increase their knowledge, this can be done at refresher courses, retraining, additional education etc.

An important aspect in the professional activity of a manager is the self-regulation of the emotional state. The need for self-regulation arises when a social worker is faced with a new, unusual, intractable problem for him, which does not have an unambiguous solution or involves several alternative options. Self-regulation is necessary in a situation where a social worker is in a state of increased emotional and physical stress, which prompts him to impulsive actions, or if he is in a situation of evaluation by children, colleagues, and other people. To relieve tension, it is necessary to learn how to manage both cognitive processes and personality: behavior, emotions and actions. You can use the exercises developed by G. Dyakonov. These exercises are focused on restoring the resources of the individual. Knowing himself, his needs and ways to satisfy them, a person can more effectively, rationally distribute his forces during each day or a whole year.

The employee must listen to his feelings and experiences and answer the questions: why am I no longer interested in this job? Why do I not believe in the success of my work? Emotional burnout is only partly due to stress. In many cases, the reason is much deeper - it lies in the employee's motivation to perform a particular job. And if the right motivation is found, interest in work will return, the employee will set priorities, stress will disappear. It is possible that the employee, having determined for himself the areas of interest and motivation, will decide on his own to change the position, and sometimes the company. Such a step can also be a solution to the problem, and the task of the head and the HR manager is to help him choose a suitable position in the company or support him in his search for other options. The main thing for the employee in this situation is to act.

It is also recommended to rationally organize your work time providing a harmonious balance between work and leisure. At work, find different approaches to solving the same problems, expand or change your job responsibilities or powers, participate in new projects, engage in education and self-education. In his free time from work, devote time to his loved ones, engage in his own interests and hobbies, and his physical health.

The syndrome of professional (emotional) burnout is a psychological defense mechanism developed by a person in the form of complete or partial exclusion of emotions in response to selected psycho-traumatic effects. "Burnout" is partly a functional stereotype, since it allows a person to dose and economically spend energy resources. At the same time, its dysfunctional consequences may occur, when "burnout" negatively affects the performance of professional activities and relationships with partners.

Emotional burnout is dangerous for its consequences. If you do not pay attention to the signs of burnout that have appeared, then such major troubles as depression, nervous breakdowns, and psychosomatic disorders will follow.

Professional burnout is more prone to employees who, by the nature of their service, are forced to communicate a lot and intensively with various people, acquaintances and strangers. First of all, these are managers, medical and social workers, consultants, teachers, police officers, etc.

Employees who have an introverted character, whose individual psychological characteristics do not agree with the professional requirements of communicative professions, “burn out” especially quickly. They do not have an excess of vital energy, are characterized by modesty and shyness, are prone to isolation and concentration on the subject of professional activity. It is they who are able to accumulate emotional discomfort without "dumping" negative experiences into the external environment.

It has been noticed that the symptoms of professional burnout can be "infectious" and manifest themselves not only in individual employees, but also in the whole organization. In this case, burnout is manifested in the fact that the vast majority of employees have an internal physical or emotional state with the same symptoms, as well as the same forms of behavior.

However, there are people who experience burnout syndrome with less health risks and a less pronounced decrease in efficiency. First of all, these are people who have good health and consciously, purposefully take care of their physical condition. Also, these are people who have high self-esteem and confidence in themselves, their abilities and capabilities.

Bibliography

1. Batarshev A.V. Psychology of personnel management. - M.: 2011.

2. Vodopyanova N.E., Starchenkova E.S. Burnout Syndrome. - St. Petersburg: 2010.

3. Ozhegov S.I., Shvedova N.Yu. Dictionary Russian language; - M.: 2006.

4. Frankl V. Say "Yes" to life. - M.: 2007.

5. Fromm E. "To have" or "to be". - M.: 2011.

6. Ababkov V.A., Perret M. Adaptation to stress. - St. Petersburg, 2011.

7. Kamenyukin A., Kovpak D. Antistress - training. - St. Petersburg, 2011.

8. Miteva I.Yu. Stress management course. - M., 2010.

runov D. Combustion syndrome: a positive approach to the problem / D. Moscow: MGU Publishing House 2008.

10. Trunov. Journal of Practical Psychology. - M.: Publishing house of Moscow State University, 2008.

11. Methodology for diagnosing the level of emotional burnout V. V. Boyko / based on materials from Internet sites.

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In recent years, in the domestic and foreign literature in psychology, the problem is often considered mental burnout and related chronic fatigue syndrome. In our opinion, it is of great importance practical solution this problem in the field of activity of personnel managers, employees of personnel authorities and managers of various levels, etc. This topic needs close attention, since the negative consequences of mental burnout, which are analyzed in the article, are reflected in the performance of not only an individual employee, but also organization as a whole.

Burnout mental- a mental state characterized by the occurrence of chronic fatigue and emotional indifference caused by own work, and combining emotional emptiness, depersonalization and reduction of professional achievements.

A brief digression into the problem

For the first time, the term "emotional burnout" was proposed by the American psychopathologist Herbert Fredenberg in 1974 when conducting research in representative groups of workers who felt gradual emotional exhaustion, loss of motivation for their main activity and reduced ability to work.

Unlike professional deformation, mental burnout is more often considered a complete regression of professional development, since it covers the personality as a whole, destroying it and negatively affecting the efficiency of labor activity. An analysis of the subjective sensations of people at the stage of emotional burnout indicates that they differ from similar sensations associated with "normal" physical fatigue. The phenomenon of emotional burnout, firstly, is directly related to professional activities, and secondly, it is irreversible and does not disappear after sleep and other forms of rest. psychological science the identification of this phenomenon with such conditions as depression, fatigue, stress is denied.

Herbert Fredenberg considers those who are most prone to sympathy, humanity, who are idealists, introverts and have a low level of mental stamina to be the most exposed to emotional burnout. However, a person's stay in this state depends not only on his individual psychological characteristics. The phenomenon of emotional burnout is primarily associated with organizational factors, which will be discussed later.

In 1981, a well-known researcher of the problem of professional burnout, Edward Morrow, proposed a rather original term that reflects the internal mental state of an employee experiencing the distressing effects of burnout - “the smell of burning psychological wiring”.

According to modern research, mental burnout- this is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, manifested primarily in the professions of the social sphere.

Distress(from English. distress- grief, suffering, exhaustion) - stress that negatively affects the body and can completely upset a person's behavior and activities. Chronic distress generates serious dysfunctional and pathological disorders in the body. Depersonalization- a change in self-consciousness with a characteristic alienation of one's "I" and a painful experience of the lack of emotional involvement in relationships with relatives, colleagues, etc. Reductionism(from lat. reductio- return, movement back) - a conscious or unconscious methodological setting aimed at reducing the phenomena of one order to a qualitatively different order, which unreasonably simplifies approaches to solving an existing problem, ignoring it.

Signs of professional burnout

Most researchers who study this problem consider the following signs of professional burnout:

feeling of indifference, emotional exhaustion. At the same time, the severity of feelings regarding those events that were previously perceived pleasantly, joyfully decreases. This applies not only to experiences associated with professional activities, but also with recreation, hobbies, communication with others. Even the food that was liked before is perceived as rough, tasteless;

depersonalization (in some sources - dehumanization). This refers to a certain degree of cynical attitude towards colleagues, persons with whom one has to work and communicate, to one's professional activity in general, which leads to conflicts with colleagues and the environment. Depersonalization tends to develop in stages. First, a person begins to feel negative emotions towards the indicated persons, then anger, which can lead to affective outbursts. For employees, this can manifest itself in an increase in the number of conflicts in the team, with managers, ignoring business partners, buyers, and clients. An attitude is being formed towards them not as individuals with whom a common important work is being done, but as a means of achieving a specific goal by any means;

feeling of own incompetence, insufficient professional skill, uncertainty in positive results of professional activity. There is a reduction in professional achievements.

In the presence of all these signs, a condition arises that the famous modern Russian psychologist Leonid Kitaev-Smyk assesses as associated with the loss of life values, indifference, and therefore the most socially and economically dangerous for society. A person outwardly can maintain aplomb and respectability, but be with an “empty” look and lack of interest in the world around him.

One of the indicators of emotional burnout in professional activity is a state of mental stress caused by conflicts, difficulties in solving complex social problems leading to chronic anxiety, a feeling of constant discomfort, frustration, pessimism.

Chronic stay in a state of increased anxiety and the discomfort caused by it negatively affects the health of the individual, is accompanied by appropriate symptoms and leads to the emergence of unconscious experiences, anxiety, and various disorders. According to the US National Institute of Health and Occupational Safety (NIOSH), over 35 million people in the world today suffer from burnout-related problems. Research by the consulting group My Voice shows that UK companies spend around £13m a year to pay workers who fall ill due to all kinds of work overload.

A person's stay in a state of constant anxiety leads to the development of pre-neurotic states and a hypertrophied perception of the world around him as one that carries a danger. In this regard, there is a threat to his mental health, and this negatively affects the performance and professional orientation of the employee.

Who is most prone to emotional burnout?

There are many factors that affect the emotional state of an employee and lead to his emotional burnout.

Firstly, from emotional burnout, representatives of those professions who, by type of activity, are forced to communicate a lot and intensively with different people, suffer the most. First of all, these are medical and social workers, consultants, teachers, law enforcement officers, psychologists, personnel managers.

Secondly, the “risk group” includes people experiencing a constant intrapersonal conflict: they have low wages, poor working conditions, are not provided with housing, etc. In addition, the formality of the reporting system and performance evaluation, the mismatch of professional qualities and individual psychological characteristics managers to their positions, which lead to the adoption of erroneous managerial decisions, become serious reasons for the employee to enter the “risk group”.

Thirdly, employees whose professional activities are carried out in conditions of constant instability and fear of losing their jobs are more exposed to emotional burnout.

Fourth, against the background of constant stress, signs of emotional burnout appear in cases when a person is in a new, unusual environment in which it is necessary to act quickly and effectively. Often in such situations, a new employee is acutely aware of his incompetence. In this case, signs of professional burnout may appear after six months of work.

Fifth, residents of megacities, living in conditions of imposed communication and interaction with a significant number of strangers.

This list of professions and factors can be supplemented. It is generally accepted that burnout syndrome develops in those people whose profession requires a long stay in extreme conditions, constant advanced level neuropsychic stress without proper rest. And we are talking not only about purely physiological factors associated with working conditions: heavy physical exertion, vibration, increased speed, a significant amount of information that overloads the visual, auditory and kinesthetic analyzers. First of all, these are: psychological and organizational difficulties, the need to constantly be “in shape”, the impossibility of choosing a contingent for professional communication, the lack of sufficient emotional relaxation, a significant number of contacts during working hours, unreasonably irregular working hours, and the absence of positive factors.

Psychologists believe that those who are forced to communicate with people who are in a negative emotional state and have various physical and mental defects are especially quickly affected by the negative manifestations of the syndrome.

Burnout stages

Modern research has determined that the formation of a professional burnout syndrome in an employee goes through three main stages.

First stage: at the level of performing functions, independent behavior, forgetting at the right time words, terms, facts of making entries in registers, etc. There are interruptions in the performance of simple motor actions (systematic erroneous typing of letters on a computer keyboard or replacing some letters with others when writing manually ). These actions are sometimes taken calmly or can cause irony, however, they are an alarming signal that is ignored in most cases. But such “insignificant” at first glance mistakes, for example, in the work of nuclear power plant operators, can lead to tragic consequences.

Depending on the nature of the activity, the degree of neuropsychic stress, individual psychological characteristics, the first stage can form within 3-5 years from the beginning of a certain activity.

Second stage: decreased interest in work, need for communication (including outside of work), increased apathy, discontent. At this stage, the appearance of negative psychophysiological manifestations, such as headache, increased systolic pressure, pelvic pain, etc. The number of respiratory diseases increases, increased irritation appears. The period of formation of this stage on average is from 5 to 15 years.

Third stage: directly personal burnout. It is characterized by a complete loss of interest in work and life in general, emotional devastation, lack of vitality. A person tries to communicate with animals as much as possible, to retire. Suicidal thoughts may appear, which in some cases are realized. Negative psychosomatic manifestations and disorders are intensifying, which will be discussed later. This stage is formed from 10 to 20 years.

Burnout symptoms

In general, the symptoms characteristic of the syndrome of professional burnout can be conditionally divided into three main groups: psychophysiological, socio-psychological and behavioral.

TO psychophysiological symptoms relate:

a feeling of constant fatigue that does not disappear after sleep (a symptom of chronic fatigue);

feeling of physical and emotional exhaustion;

decrease in the level of perception and reactivity to changes in the external environment (lack of reaction of interest to the factor of novelty or fear to a dangerous situation);

general asthenia (weakness, decreased activity and energy, deterioration of blood biochemistry and hormonal parameters, frigidity, impotence);

causeless headache, skin irritations, tachycardia, dryness, bad taste in the mouth, persistent gastrointestinal disorders, etc.;

sudden loss or increase in body weight;

complete or partial insomnia (rapid falling asleep and no sleep after 4 a.m. or inability to fall asleep in the evening before 2-3 a.m. and difficulty waking up in the morning);

marked deterioration in vision, hearing, internal and external sensory sensitivity.

Natalia Samoukina, a leading researcher at the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, and some other authors express a well-grounded idea that professional burnout is one of the main reasons for the decline in life expectancy in the Russian Federation, especially among men.

Over the past 5 years, among the men who died in this country, over 80% were people of working age (from 15 to 59 years).

Among socio-psychological symptoms distinguish the following:

indifference, boredom, passivity and depression (decreased emotional tone, feeling overwhelmed);

increased irritation, affectively negative reaction to trifles;

an increase in the number of nervous breakdowns, "immersion in oneself";

constant experience of negative emotions for which there are objectively no reasons (feelings of guilt, resentment, suspicion, etc.);

a feeling of unconscious excitement and a state of increased anxiety;

a feeling of hyper-responsibility and fear (“I can’t”, “I won’t succeed”);

a general negative attitude towards life and professional prospects.

TO behavioral symptoms relate:

the appearance of a feeling that work is becoming harder and harder;

changing the working regime (early to work and late to go home or come late and leave before a certain time);

diligence constantly, without an objective need to take work home, but not to do it at home;

refusal to take responsibility, to make decisions;

decrease in optimism about work, indifference to its effectiveness;

non-fulfillment or postponement of important (priority) tasks and "braking" on small details, spending a significant amount of working time on solving objectively less important problems;

distance from colleagues and clients, increasing the level of inadequate criticality;

abuse of alcohol, sleeping pills or other sedative drugs; a sharp increase in smoking, the use of narcotic drugs.

Among the reasons that most negatively affect the work of employees and lead to professional burnout are the following:

monotony of activity, especially in cases where its necessity can be subjectively considered doubtful;

investing in the work of significant personal resources in the absence (insufficiency) of recognition and positive assessment from management, colleagues, society;

strict regulation of work time, especially with unrealistic deadlines for its implementation;

joint work and involvement in it of "unmotivated" persons for such activities, certain failures on this basis or the absence of noticeable results for a long period;

tension and conflict in the professional environment, lack of support from colleagues and the presence of constant criticism;

insufficient conditions for self-expression of the individual at work, especially in cases where such attempts are not encouraged, but are veiled or openly limited;

prevention of experimentation and innovation;

lack of opportunities for further training and professional development;

the presence of unresolved conflicts in personal life.

Organization burnout

The gradual formation of these symptoms of professional burnout among employees can lead to a kind of professional burnout of the whole organization. The signals of this burnout are the presence of the same psycho-emotional symptoms in many employees, behavioral manifestations inherent in the burnout syndrome. As a rule, in most cases this is due to general pessimism in the organization, dissatisfaction with the results of work (certain events) expressed by employees. Faith and hope for the opportunity to change something on their own is lost.

Based on the works of Natalia Samoukina, other authors and our own observations, we can conclude that the main reasons for the professional burnout of organizations are frequent changes in managers at all levels, annual organizational and staff changes, constant conflicts between strategic and tactical leadership, increased demands on employees, delegation of authority. for those who, due to their professional and individual psychological qualities, are not able to perform these functions, the lack of objective criteria for evaluating performance and an inefficient system of motivation and incentives for personnel.

LITERATURE

Samoukina NV Effective motivation of staff at minimal financial costs. - M.: Vershina, 2007.

Martynova T. N., Busovikova O. P. Siberian psychology today: Sat. scientific works. - Issue. 2. - Kemerovo: Kuzbassvuzizdat, 2003.

Orel V. E. The phenomenon of "burnout" in foreign psychology: Empirical studies / Journal of Practical Psychology and Psychoanalysis. - No. 3. - 2001.

Kitaev-Smyk L. A. Psychology of stress. - M.: Nauka, 1983.