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A relaxing holiday season?
Looking back on the recent holiday season - which we hope all of our readers were able to enjoy in a spirit of peace and harmony - we hope you will permit us a few observations on the well-known "burn-out" phenomenon. This has been the subject of considerable discussion in recent weeks and months in Germany. At the close of last year, the Federal Minister of Labor even declared war on this malaise, promising changes in the labor safety laws.
The "Health-Report" prepared by the Association of Company Health Insurance Plans here in Germany reveals that in recent years psychic disturbances have accounted for continuously increasing share of sick leave and disability retirement. The amount of work time lost due to psychological problems, in relation to sick leave as a whole, has risen steadily from year to year. burnout is indeed a well known phenomenon, but the syndrome has yet to be clearly defined as a disorder and has yet to be assigned its own code in the International Classification of Diseases. The number of days off work due to this diagnosis has noetheless constantly risen since 2004.
Accelerating dynamics are among the most significant changes in the modern world of work. But the outcome may not be that companies "overspeed" - where the employees and the firm´s own capacities are permanently overtaxed.
Burnout may be that final state in a line of development that began with idealistic enthusiam, which then led through a frustration phase, and on to the point od disillusionment and apathy. Performance collapses and the abiliy to work may be restricted for month on end. Inpatient treatment is often indispensable. Psychotropic medications can usually treat the symptoms fairly quickly, but they do not eliminate the patterns that triggered the breakdown. Patients often feel as though they are "paralyzed".
We can only hope that the specialists in the fields of occupational health and safety will find the means and the ends needed to effectively counteract this phenomenon.
