“The people concerned get used to and adapt accordingly” when it is not necessary, explains the psychologist.
The overwork does not make noise. He infiltrates everyday life, carried by an accumulation of tasks, obligations, pressures – especially in the professional framework. Added to this is the mental burden: children to manage, house to hold, multiple responsibilities to reconcile. This overflow ends up saturating the nervous system. When the alert signals are ignored, the body and the brain resist. And this resistance has a cost.
What makes overwork insidious is that it often affects the most invested people. “This commitment to work is necessary. If the work was not important to us, we would probably not be able to exceed our limits”explains Catherine Vasey, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist specialist in burn-out. The exhaustion is then built in silence. Day after day, hypervigilance is installed. Sleep becomes unstable, irritability increases, concentration falls. Stress, at this stage, is no longer an engine: it is a chronic aggressor who exhausts mental resources. Gold “Beyond 6 months of stress resistance, there is a risk that the organism is exhausted” warns the psychologist. It is not only about fatigue but a real psycho-emotional collapse. Hence the urgency to identify the first signals.
The overwork signals are physical, cognitive and emotional. The overworked person presents: muscle tensions (back, jaw), digestive and/or insomnia disorders. “Stress ends up weakening the immune system, the person can go as far as getting sick”adds Catherine Vasey. On the cognitive level, she has difficulties in concentration, memory loss and a feeling of “mental blur”. These disorders complicate the organization and push to compensate by overtime, strengthening overwork. Emotionally, the person becomes more sensitive, more likely, resulting in inadequate reactions. “The overwork signals should alert, unfortunately the people concerned will get used to it and adapt accordingly.” This attitude leads to a vicious circle which prevents restoring a balance.
To stop this infernal mechanism, the entourage often advises the nearby overworked to rest, “But it’s a trap”insists the psychologist. According to her, overwork does not tire, he “devitates”. “Resting the patient brings the patient back to a metro-work-dodo life when he should favor changes his ideas away from work.” What the overworked patient needs is to change air, to break the routine. For example, if the patient works in a noisy environment, it will be necessary to encourage him to do calm activities, why not outings in the great outdoors. Finally, our expert recommends preserving a good lifestyle, taking care of her sleep and by practicing regular physical activity. “The goal is to allow active recovery to find energy at work”she concludes.
Thanks to Catherine Vasey, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist specialist in burn-out, author of “Burn-out: detect and prevent it” (ed. Jouvence).
