Dealing with Occupational Burnout

Have you ever felt like work was dragging you down and making you feel tired, depressed and unsatisfied with your job? This is not an unusual thing for people to experience at some point in their lives. Just under half of the Australian workforce will experience high levels of occupational burnout or “job burnout” at some point in their life. Occupational burnout is a special type of job stress. It is seen as a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion often combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work.

What can you do about it?

Exercise has been found to be one of the most beneficial things to use to help decrease the effects of occupational burnout. When you exercise there are many reactions and responses that occur in the body, specifically in the brain. Regular exercise releases what’s known as the “feel good” or happy hormones. These hormones are known as endorphins and neurotransmitters. 

As the colloquial name suggests when these hormones are released it may help ease the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Exercise has shown to reduce immune system chemicals that can also have an impact on increasing depression. Increasing the body temperature has shown to have a calming effect on the body. When referring to occupational burnout, cardiovascular exercise can increase feelings of well-being, decrease psychological distress, perceived stress and emotional exhaustion. 

Furthermore, it has been found that resistance exercise had significant improvement in increasing well-being, personal accomplishment and reduced perceived stress levels. Another big reason why exercise improved occupational burnout is that is increases confidence. Setting physical goals, working hard to achieve them and finally reaching those goals is a great accomplishment and confidence booster. Overall, exercise has been found to improve symptoms of occupational burnout and improve your well-being and function.

If you are suffering from occupational burnout and feel like work is getting you down, come in and speak to one of our Exercise Physiologists at Optimum Health Solutions. Our Exercise Physiologists will help you design an appropriate exercise plan, set realistic goals, help you achieve them to help improve your confidence and improve your mood.

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