The burnout of job seekers: how to protect yourself

It is an idea of ​​subject which came to us with the confidence of a candidate. “Although unemployed,” he felt compelled to clarify, he had found himself on the verge of burnout. It was his doctor who made the diagnosis and told him, to his surprise, that he was not an isolated case. This finding hardly surprises Anne Everard, author of a Burnout guide (ed. Albin Michel) after a similar experience. ” To describe a burnout, I compare each of us to a roadblock, she explains. When we are under pressure, the level goes up. But if we don't pay enough attention to this pressure, one day the dam gives way and one can be overwhelmed. And the phenomenon is not limited to work, far from it. “The sources of a burn-out can be professional, of course, but they can come from elsewhere, as soon as there is a situation of persistent stress and which undermines the person concerned for several months, without being able to evacuate him. . A feeling that many job seekers will recognize.

“A job seeker is often subjected to different pressures: that which he puts on himself, sometimes that of relatives and of course financial questions if he is at the end of his rights or not compensated.”

Recognize the symptoms

First appeared in the United States in 1976, the term burn-out literally refers to the idea of ​​burning inside. This name was first used by a psychoanalyst, surprised to see an increase in the number of his patients under tension and cracking down due to various pressures. But although the subject is serious, our experts insist on a reassuring fact: a burnout does not happen overnight.

“It is exhaustion due to chronic stress that has lasted for several months, warns psychologist Catherine Vasey, author of Burn-out: detect and prevent it (Jouvence ed.). The challenge for everyone is to put things in place on a daily basis to prevent this imbalance.. To protect herself, this specialist recalls a first relatively simple measure to implement. “”Knowing that stress is evacuated by an expenditure of energy, even moderate physical activity can help us decompress. You can play sports but also walk or take the stairs instead of the elevator. “

Two complementary options are available to us to regulate our stress. “We can evacuate it through physical activity but also bring it down,” adds Latifa Gallo, coach specializing in emotional and stress management. We can practice relaxation, yoga or even indulge in even simpler pleasures such as taking a good bath with essential oils. “

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Set limits during your research

For his job search, a candidate must develop an action plan, but without leaving his health there.. “A job seeker is often subjected to different pressures: that which he puts himself, sometimes that of relatives and of course financial questions if he is at the end of his rights or not compensated”, observes Latifa Gallo. Author of 50 golden rules against burnout (ed. Larousse), she then invites those concerned to arrange their day with moments of breathing.

To avoid burn-out, you must also and above all keep time for yourself. “If you are stressed by a situation that is likely to last, you have to start acting on the effects of this anxiety”, insists Catherine Vasey. Concretely, you have to protect yourself in your private life and keep in place, without feeling guilty, the activities that you love, relax and set limits yourself. “Being stressed out because you're looking for a job happens to a lot,” Latifa Gallo says. What is more exhausting still, it is the mental solicitations which one allows. The coach therefore recommends being wary of new technologies, disconnecting your phone from time to time and not checking your voicemail more than necessary. “You have to think of yourself to protect yourself but also to be more efficient …”