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To a great extent, burnout is the result of stress. Stress is
an individual non specific response to psychological or physical stimulus
in our environment. These stimuli may be positive (eustress) or negative
(distress). The degree of stress essentially depends on the interpretation
that a person assigns to the information received. This information
is filtered by our biological, genetic, psychological and cognitive
structures.
Too much stress, either because of its duration or intensity or a combination of both, exhausts our energies. One then becomes not only unproductive but counterproductive. An additional task, even minimal, appears insurmountable.
Generally speaking, there is a certain consensus around the idea that factors such as role ambiguity (École de Relations Industrielles, 1995), « the feeling of lack of control on one’s work environment and the perception that it is incoherent (Gilbar, 1998), lack of hardiness (Toscano & Ponterdolph, 1998) and finally the lack of cohesion between work expectations and its reality (Dierendonck & Shaufeli, 1998) set the stage for burnout.
A person’s present situation is rarely the unique cause of their weakened psychological state. Successive behavioural patterns that were conditioned by major events in a person’s life have created a complex image that leaves the person lost, unable to find their true self.
Copyright Psycho Physio International Inc. 2003-2010