Introduction
	Causes
	Symptoms
	Tips for surviving Stress burnout
	Role of Homoeopathy

Stress burnout can be defined as a condition in which overwork or prolonged exposure to stress results in psychological exhaustion and diminished work efficiency.

Job stress is a part of life for anyone and everyone who is doing a job. The stress may be related to performance targets, colleagues, seniors, work environment or just about anything at the workplace. However, as long as it remains within manageable limits, it does not confine a persons ability to perform his duties well. When this stress increases beyond a certain tolerable limit, it begins to reflect in the persons behaviour as well as his performance. It can also go a step further and lead to the development of psychological as well as physical illnesses.

The psychological illness that would most commonly be encountered in the current scenario is Burnout that essentially comprises of intense mental exhaustion and reduced efficiency at work. It has commonly been expressed as The High cost of High achievement.

Burnout essentially has its roots in 'stress' and hence it is imperative to diagnose this early on during the illness. Early diagnosis helps in instituting timely treatment and preventing the worsening of the situation.

Few of the common causes of Stress burnout are as follows:

1. Work-related causes:
   • Requirements not clearly specified
   • Tough targets to be achieved in shorter time duration
   • Dire consequences of failure
   • Lack of proper resources required for good performance
   • High workload at all times (no 'less-stress' periods in between)
   • Lack of recognition or appreciation for the work
   • Poor leadership qualities of the management
   • Stressful relations with colleagues or seniors at workplace
2. Lifestyle-related causes:
   • Lack of a balance between work and recreation
   • Lack of support and single-handedly managing everything
   • Lack of adequate social and emotional support
   • No hobbies for recreation
   • Lack of sleep
   • No time for personal attention or growth
   • No breaks from work
3. Psychological causes:
   • Being too much of a perfectionist
   • Pessimism
   • Not being well-matched for the type of the job
   • Easy excitability
   • Impatient nature
   • Lack of confidence in ones work

The features of Stress burnout overlap with a wide spectrum of disorders such as depression, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, etc. The differentiating point between these conditions and Stress burnout is that primarily there is no chemical imbalance in the body in case of Stress burnout as opposed to these conditions. Secondly stress burnout is reversible once the stress is removed from the system.

Few of the common features that are indicative of Stress burnout have been enlisted below:

• Chronic fatigue
• Irritability
• Indecisiveness
• Reduced productivity
• Increased absenteeism
• Deterioration of work quality
• Frustration
• Sadness
• Feeling hopeless
• Feeling trapped
• Sensation of being powerless
• Withdrawal, isolation
• Being Cynical
• Blaming others or organisation for your difficulties
• Escapist behaviours such as resorting to drinking, drugs, partying, shopping binges, etc
• Escapist behaviours such as resorting to drinking, drugs, partying, shopping binges, etc

Approach to treating Stress Burnout:
The primary approach to Stress burnout must be to prevent its occurrence by using effective methods of countering stress. This needs to be tackled at two levels:

• At the level of the job itself
• At the level of the worker

At the level of the job itself
Certain jobs, by themselves, tend to be more stressful than others. This can be tackled by job redesigning to a certain extent and modifying it to make it relatively stress-free.

At the level of the worker
Focussing on the workers and finding ways to help them cope with demanding job conditions.

• Take a break from your work every 2 hours- move away from your work area for some time
• Take regular vacations because they essentially re-energise and refresh you thus enhancing your creativity
• Set achievable targets for yourself
• If you begin to feel overburdened by any particular project, put it aside for some time and do something else that is not so challenging.
• Dont let frustration overpower you- if you cannot accomplish any particular task, ask for assistance
• Take up a hobby that is not related to your work; this helps in bringing balance into your life
• Commend yourself even for small achievements; enjoy your success no matter how small the accomplishment may be
• Work environment must be comfortable and pleasant. Poor work environment leads to lack of interest in work and ultimately
• Practice relaxation techniques in the office itself
• Be organised and prioritise you work; all work cannot be done at the same time, so do important things first
• Take adequate time for yourself and family

Homeopathy has excellent scope in the treatment of Stress burnout and most of its symptoms can be effectively managed. The medicine may not be able to reduce the stress per se, but it can effectively help a person to cope in a better way with the stress at work. The significance of working out alternative ways to deal with stress cannot be overemphasized- please refer the section on Tips for Surviving Burnout.

Another important point to be stressed is that people who suffer from Stress burnout are usually those who do not give vent to their feelings especially when they are upset or disturbed due to any reason. Homeopathy case taking usually helps them to vent out these feelings, which by itself acts as a natural catharsis of the pent up emotions.

The homeopathic medicines are prescribed based on the entire constitution of an individual and hence the treatment is termed as Constitutional treatment. It entails study of physical symptoms of the patient as well as particulars of his personality, mind, past and family history of disease, etc. The medicine that is selected after evaluation of all these details of the person treats the condition from the roots.

Timely treatment can also prevent the progress of Stress burnout to a more serious disorder such as Depression, Anxiety, Mood disorder, etc. Lastly it must be noted that Homeopathic treatment is without any side effects whatsoever and does not lead to any kind of dependency.