Why no one used to have a burn-out and now does

Whether you hear it from teachers, actresses, or businesswomen: it can happen to anyone. It's not about the job, it's about the time we live in.

Burn-outs are flying at you these days. If it's not your colleague who has it, then it's a friend, acquaintance, mother, or partner. Or you are the one. But about ten years ago, no one had this problem. In fact: in ambitious New York, they don't even know this word. Are we just being dramatic here in the Netherlands?

No. Because it really exists, a burn-out. Officially, it is described as quite extreme overstrain related to work stress. That leads to mental exhaustion. Suddenly, you really can't get out of bed. getting out of bed and going to the supermarket is already too big of a task. It's not something medical that can be measured like a broken leg, but that's actually the case with any psychological condition. A psychologist can certainly diagnose it.

But where it often goes wrong is that some people quickly claim they have a burn-out, while they only have complaints. There are indeed students and people who work hard and experience a lot of stress and find it very tough, but there are also people who, after years of hard work, can't read a newspaper without bursting into tears. There is a difference. So let's be careful with the word. You don't just have a burn-out. You can also have ailments without the diagnosis. Just as unpleasant, but different from really being unable to do anything. And why do we have it more now than before? It's not so. We had it before too, but we just didn't call it that and it was simply called ‘work stress’, or something like that. So nothing strange about it.

And you are never just being dramatic, let that be clear. We all sometimes can't handle it for a day, a week, or a month. And crying is sometimes just very nice, it relieves. Everyone does it, you know. No worries. But if you can't hold on for too long, then listen to yourself and take it easy. That's the only thing that helps.