Do you feel a big job-related burnout blazing on the horizon? If you’re noticing these serious signs of workplace stress, consider hiring a therapist to help!
When you’re not happy at your job, there could be a million reasons why. Some of the problems you’re having are temporary, while others are chronic and can cause you to feel stressed physically and mentally.
A job with a lot of responsibility, expectations, and demands that never seem to be satisfied makes it hard to go to work each day.
Typically, when someone stays at a job where they are unhappy, it’s for a good reason. In your case, you might love the work you do but hate the environment or dislike certain coworkers. In some places, the atmosphere is straight-out toxic, but you stay because you need the money.
If your job is causing you to feel stressed out and exhausted, don’t downplay your feelings. Chronic negativity in the workplace leads to overall burnout and leaks into your personal life. It’s a serious issue that you need to find a solution to.
One possible method of decreasing your stress is to get therapy. Through counseling, you’ll learn how to handle what’s making you upset and take control of your life.
1. Dealing With a Toxic Environment
Have you ever walked into a place and felt absolutely welcome and at home?
On the other side of that atmosphere, you’ve probably also been in a place where you immediately felt uncomfortable.
There are such things as “toxic” environments. Psychologists continue to study the effects of these places on a person’s physical and mental health. It’s a legitimate problem, and you may be dealing with the fallout.
A toxic environment includes anything that diminishes your health and wellbeing. It may come from a person (or people) who make you feel uncomfortable or belittled. Or, it could be because the place is a mess and you can’t relax.
Working with a trained counselor can help you recognize the signs of a toxic work environment and learn how to handle it.
2. Identifying the Internal Problems
Your own insecurities about your abilities can also cause workplace stress. You might not even realize that you’re subconsciously doubting yourself and engaging in negative self-talk.
If your stress seems to stem from anxiety about your job security and performance, chances are, it has more to do with your thinking patterns than your actual skills.
Your thoughts can intensify anxiety. There’s always a reasonable factor that causes you to feel uncertain. That one thing plants a seed of doubt in your mind that blows up through your own thinking, causing extra stress.
A therapist’s job is to help you identify your thoughts and pick out the ones causing you to doubt yourself. Once you recognize those self-defeating patterns, you can switch your perspective using techniques you learn in therapy.
3. Creating a Work/Life Balance
People tend to feel overly stressed at work when their job takes over their personal lives.
Some people choose to become “workaholics” because it helps them to avoid problems at home. Others end up working too much because they’re worried that they’ll lose their jobs if they don’t.
Either way, this imbalance in your life will cause you to feel stressed. Eventually, if you keep up at this hectic pace, you’ll end up in burnout.
Are You on the Edge of Job Burnout?
A form of workplace stress that is even more dangerous than the others is burnout. It happens when you’re so exhausted emotionally or physically that you end up sick or giving up on your tasks.
With job burnout, you suffer a loss of your own identity, putting your job first and neglecting your health. But even though you are working nonstop, you feel like you’re not accomplishing anything.
Symptoms of burnout include, but aren’t limited to:
- Difficulty getting out of bed when you know you have to go to work
- Feeling jaded, negative, or cynical in the workplace
- Snapping or becoming irritable with those you work with, including clients
- Lack of energy
- Procrastinating on tasks
- Difficulty concentrating
- Using external things to improve your mood, such as food, alcohol, and/or drugs
- Changes in sleep patterns
Burnout can result in depression, or depression can intensify burnout. Your job may not be the cause of your stress, or it may be the main problem. A therapist can help you get to the root of the issue before it affects your health and career.
4. Learning How to Relax
Some people can go with the flow and find ways to relax no matter where they are. Others could be lying on the beach in a tropical destination with a fruity umbrella drink in their hand and still be worrying about something.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not easy for a lot of people to relax. Their personalities are inherently anxious, always looking for the next thing to keep them busy.
Mixing this mindset with a high task load at work is a recipe for significant stress and burnout. If you can’t relax in your downtime and constantly seek out ways to stay distracted — it’s not a healthy lifestyle.
People who tend to live this way typically judge others for being able to relax. They might view them as lazy or not fulfilling their potential. In reality, they’re humans working on that work/life balance, as we all need to.
Therapy can help you understand why you feel the compulsive urge to be productive nonstop. This is highly essential if you want a successful personal and professional life.
Conclusion
Because stress in the workplace is often seen as “part of the job,” many people ignore chronic problems until it’s unhealthy. If you’re feeling like workplace stress is becoming more than what should be acceptable, it’s time to do something about it.
Your job may offer free therapy as part of their employee benefit plan. Most insurances cover mental health therapy now, and many counselors offer self-pay discounts.
Before your workplace stress becomes a major obstacle to enjoying your life, try therapy to see if it may help.
Author Bio:
Adam Marshall is a freelance writer who specializes in all things apartment organization, real estate, and college advice. He currently works with HQ to help them with their online marketing.
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