Psychology - Burnout

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BURNOUT [pic] From the beginning of our work together, back in the Before You Embark section, we have noted that all teachers face a higher burnout risk than people in other professions. We will spell that out in more detail here, providing you with some terminology, some signs and symptoms, and some reminders about stages of burnout. One very useful definition of burnout which we have adapted from the seminal work of Herbert Freudenberger (1980), who coined the term "burnout," Christina Maslach (1982) and Bob Veninga and Jim Spradley (1981): |A debilitating psychological condition brought about by unrelieved work | |stress, resulting in: | |Depleted energy and emotional exhaustion | |Lowered resistance to illness | |Increased depersonalization in interpersonal relationships | |Increased dissatisfaction and pessimism | |Increased absenteeism and work inefficiency | The key word in this definition is "unrelieved," not "stress." As we have said, stress in school is to be expected; it is a fact of life. The key is to personally and systemically ensure that the inevitable stresses are addressed, lest the burnout risks escalate if the stresses spiral up unabated and unchecked. Before we go further, we want to go back to this notion of teachers being at greater burnout risk than people in other professions. Maslach's (1982) book title says it all: it is Burnout: The Cost of Caring. The very fact that you care about other people puts you at greater risk of burning out than if you did not care. It's another of those stress-related paradoxes we have mentioned throughout our work with you. |You enter the profession in the first place

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