Constant exhaustion, emotional emptiness, demotivation and difficulty concentrating at work, like at home... these symptoms are often the sign of burnout.
Recognized as a disease since 2019 by the World Health Organization, burnout is now considered the "disease of the century".
Victims of this overwork “suffer from cognitive dysfunction, and a feeling of disconnection from their friends and family”, describes Gordon Parker, Australian psychiatrist and lead author of the English book
Burnout: A Guide to Identifying Burnout and Pathways to Recovery
(
Burn-out: a guide to identifying it and the paths to recovery,
in French).
If the disease can affect anyone, the professor of psychiatry has shown that certain character traits increase the risk.
This is what he says in a press release, published on December 30, 2022.
Read alsoNeed a new impetus?
The 5 anti-burn-out tips to adopt at the start of the year
In video, how to evacuate your stress quickly at the office?
Unattainable goals
Gordon Parker believes that being a perfectionist could predispose to burnout.
"People with perfectionist traits are usually excellent workers, as they are extremely dependable and conscientious," he explains.
However, they are also prone to burnout as they set unrealistic and inflexible standards for their own performance, making it impossible for themselves to measure up.
Finally, if burn-out is often only associated with professional life, the stress and mental load felt within the home could also lead to burn-out, informs the professor.
The psychiatrist Aurélia Schneider, author of
The mental load of women... and that of men,
confirmed this in a previous article.
According to her, "perfectionism, comparison to others, who are thought to manage better than us, and poor self-esteem also predispose a person to mental overload", the final stage before burnout or the state depressive.
Read alsoAt less than 25 years old, they burned out
