Category: Mental Health

3 Key Workplace Burnout Indicators

One in four people report being burned out at work.

One in four people report being burned out at work.

Burnout is now recognised as a chronic medical condition, after being added by the World Health Organization to its official list.

Burnout is a state of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion at work.

It can be caused by unreasonable deadlines, unfair treatment, a lack of support from managers and being ‘on’ 24/7.

Professions with some of the highest levels of burnout include physicians, nurses, social workers, teachers and pilots.

It leads to a chronic lack of motivation, low efficiency and a feeling of helplessness.

The main cause of burnout is workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

The three signs of burnout are:

  1. feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion,
  2. increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job,
  3. and reduced professional efficacy.

Burnout has been linked to a range of physical problems, including immune system disorders, cardiovascular disease and insomnia.

The psychological effects of burnout can include anxiety and depression.

Indeed, the overlap between burnout and depression is so large that some psychologists have argued they are the same.

Burnout can be caused by many factors at work; however, one major cause is a mismatch between an employee’s needs and the demands of their job.

To give a simple example, some people like to have lots of social contact, but may be denied this in their job.

Others may prefer to work quietly on their own, but are forced to work in a noisy, social environment.

One study of burnout asked 97 Swiss people about the demands of their jobs.

It examined how much leadership and social interaction people got from their jobs and how much they implicitly needed.

The results showed that the greater the mismatch between their unconscious needs and what the job delivered, the greater their chance of burning out.

Mismatches were also linked to more headaches, chest pains, faintness and shortness of breath.

Professor Veronika Brandstätter, who led the study, said:

“We found that the frustration of unconscious affective needs, caused by a lack of opportunities for motive-driven behavior, is detrimental to psychological and physical well-being.

The same is true for goal-striving that doesn’t match a well-developed implicit motive for power or affiliation, because then excessive effort is necessary to achieve that goal.

Both forms of mismatch act as ‘hidden stressors’ and can cause burnout.”

Related

The study was published in the journal Frontiers In Psychology (Brandstätter et al., 2016).

The Silver Linings To Mental Illness: Finding Strength In Psychological Struggles (M)

Research challenges decades of exclusively negative thinking about mental disorders.

Research challenges decades of exclusively negative thinking about mental disorders.

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Why A Happy Childhood Isn’t Enough For Good Mental Health

Mental health problems can strike anyone.

Mental health problems can strike anyone.

A happy childhood does not guarantee against developing mental health problems later on.

Even people who experience many positive early childhood experiences can go on to develop anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.

This shows how mental health problems can strike anyone.

The research also reaffirms the connection between negative childhood experiences and mental health problems, like depression and paranoia.

While childhood experiences can set the tone for our lives, they do not determine our destiny.

Instead, our mental health often hinges on our ability to adapt to stressful circumstances in adulthood.

Those who struggle to cope are more likely to succumb to these conditions.

The conclusions come from a study that tracked over 300 children in Australia.

Ms Bianca Kahl, the study’s first author, said:

“This research shows that mental health conditions are not solely determined by early life events, and that a child who is raised in a happy home, could still grow up to have a mental health disorder.

There’s certainly some missing factors in understanding how our childhood environment and early life experiences might translate into mental health outcomes in adulthood.

We suspect that it’s our expectations about our environments and our ability to adapt to scenarios when our expectations are not being met, that may be influencing our experiences of distress.

If, as children, we learn how to adapt to change, and we learn how to cope when things do not go our way, we may be in a better position to respond to stress and other risk factors for poor mental health.”

Related

The study was published in the journal Current Psychology (Kahl et al., 2020).

Mental Health Is Only Affected By This One Aspect Of Weather

Is it the amount of wind, rain or sun that affects your mental health?

Is it wind, rain or sun that affects your mental health?

The one weather variable that really matters to mental health is the amount of sunlight hours.

Rain, air pollution, wind and high or low temperatures have relatively little effect.

It is the amount of time between sunrise and sunset that is linked to people’s mental health.

The study’s authors explain the results:

“Seasonal changes in sun time were found to best account for relationships between weather variables and variability in mental health distress.

Increased mental health distress was found during periods of reduced sun time hours.”

Professor Mark Beecher, the study’s first author, elaborated:

“That’s one of the surprising pieces of our research.

On a rainy day, or a more polluted day, people assume that they’d have more distress.

But we didn’t see that.

We looked at solar irradiance, or the amount of sunlight that actually hits the ground.

We tried to take into account cloudy days, rainy days, pollution . . . but they washed out.

The one thing that was really significant was the amount of time between sunrise and sunset.”

The researchers used data on the emotional health of 16,452 people, along with advanced weather information.

They looked at rainfall, solar irradiance, wind speed, wind chill and so on.

But in the end it all came down to daylight hours.

It also didn’t matter whether people had seasonal affective disorder, or SAD; the results were the same.

Professor Lawrence Rees, a study co-author, explained how the research began:

“Mark and I have been friends and neighbors for years, and we often take the bus together.

And of course you often talk about mundane things, like how are classes going?

How has the semester been?

How ’bout this weather?

So one day it was kind of stormy, and I asked Mark if he sees more clients on these days.

He said he’s not sure, it’s kind of an open question.

It’s hard to get accurate data.”

Related

The study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders (Beecher et al., 2016).

The Personality Type Linked To Poor Mental Health

This personality type affects around one in six people in the US.

This personality type affects around one in six people in the US.

People with personality disorders are at double the risk of developing mental health problems by 35-years-old.

People with personality disorders are more likely to be socially disadvantaged, separated or divorced.

By 35, people with personality disorders are almost twice as likely to be experiencing depression and/or anxiety.

Personality disorders affect around one in six people in the US.

The three most common personality disorders in the US are:

  1. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
  2. Paranoid personality disorder.
  3. Antisocial personality disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is one of the most well-known of personality disorders.

Those with OCPD are typically perfectionists who are also highly fearful or anxious.

They want to control everything and find it very hard to relax.

In contrast, those with a paranoid personality disorder are extremely mistrustful of others.

They are very sensitive and are always on the lookout for things that confirm their worst fears: that everyone is out to get them.

They assume others are hostile, they bear grudges and find it hard to have an emotional connection with others.

Finally, people with an antisocial personality disorder typically have no regard for other people’s feelings or judgements.

They see themselves as free of society’s rules and standards and are similar to what we think of as a psychopath.

→ More details on how to spot personality disorders.

Dr Paul Moran, who led the Australian study of 1,520 people, said:

“At the age of 24, personality disorder was already linked with social disadvantage, substance misuse and poor mental health.

Eleven years later, the presence of personality pathology predicted the occurrence of anxiety and depression, as well as the absence of long-term relationships.

What is most striking is that these associations were not due to pre-existing mental health, substance use or social problems.

People with personality disorder appear to be a distinctly vulnerable group with regards to future mental health and relationship problems.”

The study was published in the The Lancet Psychiatry (Moran et al., 2016).

Why Modern Industrialised Life Is So Bad For Our Minds & Bodies (M)

Human beings are mismatched with the modern, industrial world — and that is unlikely to change any time soon.

Human beings are mismatched with the modern, industrial world -- and that is unlikely to change any time soon.

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An Early Childhood Indicator Of Poor Mental Health Later On

A common childhood complaint that hints at depression and anxiety later on.

A common childhood complaint that hints at depression and anxiety later on.

Stomach aches, nausea and other gut problems in childhood could indicate mental health problems later on.

The study of children who were separated from their biological parents at a young age found they experienced more gut problems.

Brain scans revealed that gut problems were also linked to abnormal activity in parts of the brain that process emotions.

The finding raises the prospect that probiotics may help treat some people.

The gut-brain link is underlined by the fact that over half of adults with irritable bowel syndrome have a history of trauma or abuse.

This is twice the rate of those without childhood traumas.

Professor Nim Tottenham, study co-author, said:

“One common reason children show up at doctors’ offices is intestinal complaints.

Our findings indicate that gastrointestinal symptoms in young children could be a red flag to primary care physicians for future emotional health problems.”

The study included 115 adopted children and 229 children raised by their biological parents.

The results showed that children with disrupted childhoods were more likely to suffer from constipation, stomach aches, nausea and vomiting.

Dr Bridget Callaghan, the study’s first author, said:

“Our study is among the first to link disruption of a child’s gastrointestinal microbiome triggered by early-life adversity with brain activity in regions associated with emotional health.”

The researchers took a closer look at 8 children from each group, carrying out brain scans and gene sequencing.

These demonstrated that those with disrupted childhoods had less diversity of bacteria in their gut.

Brain scans showed that patterns of activity were also linked to the types of bacteria in their gut.

Professor Tottenham explained:

“It is too early to say anything conclusive, but our study indicates that adversity-associated changes in the gut microbiome are related to brain function, including differences in the regions of the brain associated with emotional processing.”

The research suggests probiotics may help some people, said Dr Callaghan:

“Animal studies tell us that dietary interventions and probiotics can manipulate the gut microbiome and ameliorate the effects of adversity on the central nervous system, especially during the first years of life when the developing brain and microbiome are more plastic.

It is possible that this type of research will help us to know if and how to best intervene in humans, and when.”

The study was published in the journal Development and Psychopathology (Callaghan et al., 2019).

These Childhood Memories Are Signs Of Good Adult Mental Health

These memories are linked to good mental health.

These memories are linked to good mental health.

Fond memories of childhood are a sign of good mental health in adulthood.

In particular, memories of warm parental relationships are linked to lower depression and fewer chronic illnesses in adulthood.

Dr William J. Chopik, the study’s first author, said:

“We know that memory plays a huge part in how we make sense of the world—how we organize our past experiences and how we judge how we should act in the future.

As a result, there are a lot of different ways that our memories of the past can guide us.

We found that good memories seem to have a positive effect on health and well-being, possibly through the ways that they reduce stress or help us maintain healthy choices in life.”

Affection and support

For the study, data was taken from two large samples, including over 22,000 people.

The results showed that people who remembered more affection from their mothers experienced less depression in later life, along with fewer physical problems.

Those that remembered more support from their fathers had lower depressive symptoms in adulthood.

Dr Chopik said:

“The most surprising finding was that we thought the effects would fade over time because participants were trying to recall things that happened sometimes over 50 years ago.

One might expect childhood memories to matter less and less over time, but these memories still predicted better physical and mental health when people were in middle age and older adulthood.”

A loving relationship with your mother was especially important, said Dr Chopik:

“These results may reflect the broader cultural circumstances of the time when the participants were raised because mothers were most likely the primary caregivers.

With shifting cultural norms about the role of fathers in caregiving, it is possible that results from future studies of people born in more recent years will focus more on relationships with their fathers.”

Related

The study was published in the journal Health Psychology (Chopik & Edelstein, 2018).

The Simple Instruction That Reduces Stress & Increases Optimism

Energy, optimism and the sense of feeling alive are all boosted by this mindset.

Energy, optimism and the sense of feeling alive are all boosted by this mindset.

The easiest way to kill stress and tension is to not be so hard on yourself.

People who are more compassionate towards themselves experience less stress.

Self-compassion is also linked to more:

  • optimism,
  • feeling alive,
  • and energy.

The conclusions come from a study of students coping with their first year at college.

Dr Katie Gunnell, the study’s first author, said:

“Our study suggests the psychological stress students may experience during the transition between high school and university can be mitigated with self-compassion because it enhances the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn, enriches well-being.”

Self-compassion has three components, the study’s authors explain:

(1) self-kindness, which represents the ability to be caring and kind to ourselves rather than excessively critical,

(2) common humanity, which represents an understanding that everyone makes mistakes and fails and our experience is part of a larger common experience,

and (3) mindfulness, which represents being present and aware while keeping thoughts in balance rather than overidentifying.”

Professor Peter Crocker, a study co-author, said:

“Research shows first-year university is stressful.

Students who are used to getting high grades may be shocked to not do as well in university, feel challenged living away from home, and are often missing important social support they had in high school.

Self-compassion appears to be an effective strategy or resource to cope with these types of issues.”

Develop self-compassion

One way to increase this sense of self-compassion is to carry out a writing exercise.

Think about a recent negative experience and write about it.

Crucially, though, you need to write about it while being compassionate towards yourself.

In other words: don’t be too critical and recognise that everyone makes mistakes.

The study was published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences (Gunnell et al., 2017).

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