Burnout

By Fable Fox

I want to talk about burnout. First, I want to copy and paste a part of an article; I was allowed to do so. This part of an article are taken from coping.org.

[ Coping.org is a Public Service of James J. Messina, Ph.D. & Constance M. Messina, Ph.D ]

The Burnout Test

What is burnout and are you experiencing it?

Rate each of the following feelings from 1 to 10 as it applies to your life where values mean:

1 = never experienced

5 = occasionally experienced

10 = frequently experienced

_10__ 1. overstressed, tightness in back and shoulders, having difficulty sleeping

_10__ 2. feeling of being "under supported", sensing that others are "uncaring"

_10__ 3. a sense of being lackadaisical

_10__ 4. chronic feeling of "being sick", overtired, or having general fatigue

_10__ 5. state of "having concerns on my mind", being worried

_10__ 6. asking "Why do I stay here?"

_10__ 7. feelings of guilt

_10__ 8. disillusionment on the job or with home life

_10__ 9. feeling of being "let down"

_10__ 10.speaking of work or home setting as if I am not the "real me" when there.

_10__ 11. feeling of helplessness, feeling like a victim

_10__ 12. desire to be allowed to be the "real me" at home or on the job

_10__ 13. feeling that many expectations are heaped on me

_10__ 14. blaming others for everything (to my defense, I have a reason!)

_??__ 15. lack of caring for family, co-workers, others

_??__ 16. a feeling of self-righteousness

_10__ 17. feeling and acting very defensively

_7__ 18. maintaining an unapproachable attitude

_7__ 19. questioning personal values and judgments

_8__ 20. feeling of being intimidated by people

_10__ 21. asking "Is this all there is?"

_10__ 22. lack of interest in the outside world

_9__ 23. cutting self off from family and/or friends

_20__ 24. saying "I'm working harder than ever before but experiencing fewer successes." (Yeah, twice the limit)

_10__ 25. feeling unappreciated

_10__ 26. escaping into increased workload (just happened lately, hmmm... interesting)

_10__ 27. desiring to run away

_10__ 28. continuous state of depression

_10__ 29. not willing to take time for a vacation because there is so much work to do

_10__ 30. frustration with the system

_??__ 31. feelings of paranoia

_10__ 32. not looking forward to coming to work in the morning (who does? heh.. heh..)

_10__ 33. daydreaming or fantasizing during the day

_10__ 34. sense of failure in everything you try

_??__ 35. tendency to catch more colds, and to stay sick longer; having psychosomatic illnesses

_7__ 36. withdrawal from important relationships

Interpretation of Results

Each of the above feelings has been used to describe burnout. If you have rated three or more items 8 or higher, you are a candidate for burnout.

[ end of questionnaire taken from Coping.org. The number is my score. ]

So I guess hell yeah, I'm experiencing burnout. I'm sick and tired. I'm really sick and tired. Ever wonder why the guy who drew 'Scream' cut his ear of? (what was his name?) Maybe because he can see the future and realize that his drawing makes money only after his death? When he was alive, his brother supported him, and at a time, he no longer could afford models, so he started painting still life. Oh, Superman creator, AFAIK, died in poverty. And then what was it regarding monopoly?

I guess not everybody is lucky. There are people who worked hard day and night, never tasted success (or received a break), and died just like that. The irony is, the future proves that they worked hard enough to be successful, it just that they didn't.

Some people never received the opportunity. The chance. The break. I've been working since childhood (I grew up in a 3rd world country where a child labor law exists, but has never been enforced, like many other laws there are). And I never rest. Not even one day. Ever. And still not getting any, or much.

Oh, who was it that got jailed for stating the fact that earth is not the center of the universe. Galelio? Whatever. Sometimes you get burned for being right. Just like Hang Nadim (search at Wikipedia.org), you can help people and in return they (by they, it's the people you helped) throw you to the sea.

I'm tired of reading self help book that promise you happiness, success and riches. It seems that only its author ends up rich, succesfull and happy.

I just browsed the book by Donald Trump and that Robert guy titled "We Want You To Be Rich". I don't want to talk about the book, there are more than enough comments on it all over the Internet already. However, there is a small story regarding a guy who started a soda business called 3UP. It didn't work. So he started 4UP. Still failed. Then 5UP. Not getting anywhere. After that it was 6UP. Failed big time and he decided to quit. Somebody started 7UP and ended up succesfull. Of course this story, AFAIK, is a joke on the name 7UP, but it talks about never quitting.

The thing is, when should you throw the towel and get it over with? How do you know it will end up succesful or not? Maybe if that painter guy had called it a day, he would be living a happy life doing something else instead of committing suicide. Maybe the Superman creator wouldn't have died in poverty.

Maybe, and just maybe, Eddie Guererro, Chris Benoit and Heath Ledger would still be alive.

PS - Actually, I'm the fan of the first two.

Fable Fox