LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine): The number of employees and the self-employed that will have to deal with a burnout during their career is increasing visibly. If you look at the statistics, you immediately notice that more women than men get burned out. What is the explanation for this?
Sudden diagnosis, long history
Burnout can happen to anyone. Long-term stress and the accompanying chronic adrenaline can cause you to sleep poorly, to become less able to cope with crowds, to become more emotional, to become overtired and overworked and ultimately to be mentally exhausted. Despite the sudden diagnosis, it has often been going on for some time: those who do not recognize the signals in time have a high risk of heading for burnout .
Increasing number of cases
The figures from the RIZIV, the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance, show that in four years the number of people sitting at home with a burnout or depression has increased by about 40% , on average by about 10% each year. Although we still have to wait for the figures for 2022, the figures are expected to rise further, especially now that the pandemic has created a lot of additional uncertainty and high tension in the labor market.
Men vs Women
In addition to the increasing number of burnouts, the exponentially high number of women who are burned out is also striking . In concrete terms: on December 31, 2020, 9,869 men were temporarily incapacitated for work at home with a burnout, as opposed to 23,533 women. These figures show that women therefore seem to be more susceptible to burnout than men, but is that true?
Higher risk in women
The high number of women may be explained by a number of specific factors.
In most cases, for example, as household project managers , women are still (largely) responsible for the family and the household. Especially in times of corona, the line between teleworking and private life for women is often very thin and it is almost expected that they will work an extra shift at home after official working hours.
There is little or no time to rest and catch your breath, so that the stress level builds up for a long time and the resilience gradually decreases.Â
The new digital way of working and the associated digital tools also unconsciously cause a lot of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and the continuous influx of information via WhatsApp, mail, Zoom or other digital platforms keeps the mind chronically alert. Combine that with certain character traits such as perfectionism , control and a high commitment to work, and unfortunately you have an exponentially higher risk of burnout as a woman.
