Behavioral Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

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When the stress from work, school, responsibilities or just life in general becomes too much, one may experience burnout. You may experience feelings of sadness, hopelessness, disinterest and pessimism. In addition, burnout manifests itself in a wide variety of behavioral symptoms. These may include the following signs.
One of the biggest signs of burnout is a withdrawal from responsibilities. According to helpguide.org, you may stop doing the things that were once very important to you. For instance, if you have a very stressful job that was once the focus of your activities, you may skip days for no reason at all. Even activities you enjoy may be forgotten or missed without reasonable cause.
Even if work is not the cause of your burnout, you still might do poorly because of your general lack of motivation and interest. Tardiness can increase. The quality of your work may also not be as good. People might start to notice these problems. In younger individuals the same symptoms can be seen with school.
Some people will spend more time alone when they are experiencing burnout. They may want to be in isolation, away from anybody and everybody. As interest in social activities wanes, these actions may manifest themselves into antisocial behaviors.
Procrastination is another symptom that is typical of burnout. Tasks that were once easy seem impossible to perform. You may work at a much slower pace than you normally do. You may wait to start a project, even if you know that it is important for work. As work deadlines are missed, more trouble can occur. That can exacerbate the situation even more.
According to the Mayo Clinic, sleep changes are another behavioral sign of burnout. For some this manifests itself as insomnia. You may stay awake late at night. You may also sleep more than usual. Some will take long naps during the day because they cannot motivate themselves to get out of bed.
Some will turn to behavioral measures to try to “make up” for the difficult emotions they are experiencing. They may eat more food or less unhealthy food. Drugs or alcohol can also be a crutch for sufferers of burnout.
Remember that not everyone will experience all of the behavior symptoms of burnout. The extent of the signs will vary as well. If you believe that you may have burnout, consider taking the steps to get treatment and help yourself get relief. In severe cases, a mental health counselor may be able to help.