Essay Example on Burnout: Psychological Exhaustion of Mental Health Counsellors

Introduction

Burnout is a psychological condition that results from mental exhaustion that is related to a long involvement in a matter that lacks a solution or has no clear means to understanding. (Rupert, P. A., Miller, A. O., & Dorociak, K. E. (2015)In most cases, this condition is mostly related to professional counselors who in the process of trying to solve a problem without a positive result end up being exhausted and fatigue. It is a common problem with most mental psychologists who are always in dire need for a solution to their sophisticated line or routine. The paper will thus look at the causes and the symptoms of burnout and the means of dealing with the condition. In a sharp focus, this article will focus on the application of spiritual wellness as a means of combating burnout in most professional. (Heinemann, L. V., & Heinemann, T. (2017).

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Causes of Burnout

In most cases, burnout is caused when a professional lacks autonomy. It is a situation when the professional feel like they have less power and control over their work. The other possible reason for lack of autonomy is when the professional feel like they do not have adequate time to complete the kind f tasks that lie ahead of them. (Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). The other cause for burnout among professionals is when their values and beliefs are not in line with the set principles and actions of the organization they are working in. The other possible cause is the feeling of having an excess of workload which becomes worrying, when the professional does not have the support of their superiors in the workplace, lack of stimulation in work, and lastly if the counselor does not have clear job expectations or goals that will help them in planning well for their work schedules. (Lee, C., An, M., & Noh, Y. (, 2015).

Symptoms of Burnout

The most common symptoms of burnout include having trouble with sleeping, feeling emptiness from inside, some physical complications such as headache, backache, lack or morale and motivation in the workplace, and the feeling of loneliness which is mostly when one feels driven away and wants to be out of touch with their colleagues. It is a condition that most professional in mental health go through, and as a result, the above symptoms tend to show. However, there are ways through which the condition can be contained through spiritual wellness. (Kula, S. (2017).

Spirituality has been in the recent past considered to be amen of preventing burnout. It is an approach that has been advised as a way to prevent burnout among professional. Research has shown that various spiritual factors can be used in limiting the negative effects mentioned above. Spiritual and spiritual factors in the prevention of burnout are mostly related to helping the victims of burnout to enhance their resiliency on their physical and emotional stressors. (Mousavi, S. V., Ramezani, M., Salehi, I., Khanzadeh, H., Ali, A., & Sheikholeslami, F. (2017). Some of the spiritual approaches to help prevent burnout include having more time to reconnect with God, having enough rest to help in the emotional stress. Self-reflection is another spiritual wellness that we advised because it helps in relieving stress. (Alkhateeb, O., Kraishan, O. M., & Salah, R. O. (2015). The other spiritual approach is through engaging with individuals whom you feel safe and real around with, these in most cases takes the part of family members and friends.

Conclusion

Burnout is a mental condition that most health officers and counselors go through in their workplaces. It is mostly characterized by fatigue and being exhausted. The discussion and research on burnout have recently taken the concern of the need for spiritual wellness as a means of preventing its effects. Spirituality is considered an effective means because it is mostly associated with emotional and mental wellness. The various spiritual measures, such as taking time to reconnect with the Supreme Being, are some of the measures that have been considered to be fruitful in limiting the negative effects of burnout. (Hammond, T. E., Crowther, A., & Drummond, S. (2018).

References

Alkhateeb, O., Kraishan, O. M., & Salah, R. O. (2015). Level of Psychological Burnout of a Sample of Secondary Phase Teachers in Ma'an Governorate and Its Relationship with Some Other Variables. International Education Studies, 8(6), 56-68.

Hammond, T. E., Crowther, A., & Drummond, S. (2018). A thematic inquiry into the burnout experience of Australian solo-practicing clinical psychologists. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1996.

Heinemann, L. V., & Heinemann, T. (2017). Burnout Research: Emergence and scientific investigation of a contested diagnosis. Sage Open, 7(1), 2158244017697154.

Kula, S., (2017). Occupational stress, supervisor support, job satisfaction, and work-related burnout: Perceptions of the Turkish National Police (TNP) members. Police Practice and Research, 18(2), 146-159.

Lee, C., An, M., & Noh, Y. (2015). The effects of emotional display rules on flight attendants' emotional labor strategy, job burnout, and performance. Service Business, 9(3), 409-425.

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P., (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103-111.

Mousavi, S. V., Ramezani, M., Salehi, I., Khanzadeh, H., Ali, A., & Sheikholeslami, F. (2017). The relationship between burnout dimensions and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) among nurses. Journal of Holistic Nursing And Midwifery, 27(2), 37-43.

Rupert, P. A., Miller, A. O., & Dorociak, K. E. (2015). Preventing burnout: What does the research tell us?. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 46(3), 168.