Recognizing burnout, the causes and remedies

In the book 'The Burnout Epidemic,' author Jennifer Moss examines the common issues that contribute to the declining mental health of workers and explains why techniques like self-care might not be enough to improve it.

Moss, who told CTV News that she started the book before the pandemic began, says burnout has become an even greater issue. In her second published piece, she discusses burnout's root causes and ways to solve it.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE BURNOUT

She said burnout shows up in three major ways.

"One of them is just fatigue, exhaustion, that feeling of complete depletion by the end of the day or may even the next morning feeling like you haven't rested every day. And it's like walking in cement to get started in the morning," Moss said.

"It also shows up in this lack of feeling effective in your work like you're not good at your job anymore, you're sort of emotionally and mentally distanced from your work."

Feeling cynical and negative is another way burnout presents itself.

"This feeling like we have no hope or no control over our environment and it's making us feel… a lack of efficacy, which is a big root cause of burnout," she added.

ROOT CAUSES

"Well there's six root causes of burnout and really this goes by the definition that the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization go by," Moss said.

She is a member of a small group of scientists and economists, called the Global Happiness Council, that supports the United Nation's Annual Global Happiness Policy Report. Her first book, Unlocking Happiness at Work, was published in 2016.

Overwork is one of the biggest root causes of burnout, she said.

"We're seeing that cult of overwork happening within the pandemic, but it was a problem way before the pandemic happened," Moss said.

Lack of fairness, when vulnerable groups are disproportionately impacted, is another cause.

A lack of community and feeling left out can come from experiencing loneliness, isolation or systemic discrimination.

Not feeling valued and having a lack of rewards for efforts are other root causes of burnout.

Finally, having a mismatch between values and skills.

"So do you feel like you're not good at your job anymore? That's a big one. A lot of people in health care and teaching sort of are feeling like 'am I even good at this? Why am I even doing this job? And that is one of the things that happens when we have a mismatch of values to our organization," Moss said.

HOW TO REMEDY BURNOUT

Solving burnout should not rest solely on the individual, she said.

"One of the things I keep saying is that it is an organizational problem to solve, it's a 'we' problem to solve," Moss said.

While it is important to practice self-care, she said, it is not the only thing that will solve it.

"We need to make sure that organizations are putting in the policies and the infrastructure to create solutions for those root causes," Moss said.

"We cannot do enough yoga that's going to solve for systemic discrimination. We cannot listen to enough meditation apps that are going to deal with 70-80 hour work weeks. So, there's a two-pronged or multi-pronged approach to this and that means everyone needs to participate."