WORK-RELATED EMOTIONAL-STRESS - THE BURNO UT-SYNDROME

In a variety of helping professions emotional stress can lead to ''bur nout''. The syndrome is characterised by emotional exhaustion, attitud inal hardening (loss of empathy) and a sense of decreased accomplishme nt. Longterm consequences of burnout can be mental problems such as de pression or psychosomatic disorders. Affected employees are less produ ctive and sick more often. They may even quit their jobs or need early retirement. In spite of this considerable loss of working force often neither those affected nor the employers are aware of the problem in time. Burnout seems to be caused by disproportionally high efforts (ti me, emotional involvement, empathy) and poor satisfaction (negative ou tcome) in addition to stressful working conditions (high demands). It affects mainly nurses, physicians, social workers, teachers and other similar professions. In order to prevent burnout, awareness of the pro blem must be promoted. Examples of job-specific measures for nurses an d teachers are given. Their goal is to lower the professional stress a nd improve satisfaction. Social support and improved team cooperation can further protect against burnout.