Loved ones coping with burnout need empathy

BERLIN (DPA): When someone close to you is experiencing burnout, they could use your support. Burnout develops after prolonged stress and can significantly impact one’s well-being.

While seeking professional help and being diagnosed is an important first step, relatives and friends can also help make things easier for the person affected.

Professor Petra Beschoner, a specialist in psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine, says understanding is the most important thing when someone close to you suffers from burnout.

“Ideally, relatives should educate themselves about the illness and organize professional help – also for themselves,” Beschoner, who heads a clinic in southern Germany, recommends.

“People who suffer from burnout often react cynically and irritably, which can be very stressful for their social environment. Those affected also withdraw. However, this should not be seen as a personal offense, but as a symptom of burnout.”

People tend to think that they need to handle those affected by burnout with kid gloves, Beschoner says. But this can be counterproductive, according to the expert.

“Relatives often tend to keep everything away from the person affected. But burnout patients, in particular, often define themselves by their responsibilities, so restricting their autonomy is not very effective,” she explains.

Some symptoms of burnout, like signs of exhaustion, overlap with those of depression. According to the doctor, it is therefore important that the diagnosis is always made by specialists or psychotherapists who have the necessary differential diagnostic experience.

According to Britain’s National Health Service, other symptoms of burnout include muscle pains, headaches, sleeping problems, weight gain or loss and memory problems.

On the emotional side, helplessness, irritability, numbness or tearfulness can also indicate burnout.