How Perfectionism Leads to Burnout —and What You Can Do About it

There are few conditions as exhausting—and common—as burnout. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, 76% of American workers report experiencing the end-of-their-rope fatigue and frustration that are the hallmarks of the condition at least some of the time. Burnout cuts across age, gender, and socioeconomic lines, and has only grown worse over the past three years as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing burnout. Even though no one is safe from it, one group of people—perfectionists—are at particular peril, according to Dr. Gordon Parker, professor of psychiatry at the University of New South Wales in Australia and lead author of the recent book Burnout: A Guide to Identifying Burnout and Pathways to Recovery. Plant the seed of work-related stress in the soil of the perfectionist personality, and burnout is likely to sprout. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “The individual brings predisposing behavioral factors to the table, and then a stressful event or events brings on a first episode,” Parker says. “We see it in conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and we’re now saying that there are certain people—particularly those who are disposed to being very reliable and dutiful—who are at very high risk of developing burnout.” Principal symptoms of burnout include a sense of depletion, fatigue, and exhaustion; a cynicism or emotional distance from your job, whether it is in the wo...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Evergreen healthscienceclimate Psychology Wellbeing Source Type: news