We all deal with stress daily, but how you handle that stress can make a difference in your life. Extreme stress can lead people to feel burnt out. While some people channel that stress into positive activities, others look to drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism. Research shows that stress can lead many people to drugs or alcohol for relief.1 We will examine the signs of stress, burnout, and overdoses.
We’re going to look at the signs of stress and burnout and how these feelings can lead to drug addiction and sometimes overdose.
Continued after video:
What Can Lead to Burnout?
For many people, it’s not one specific event that leads someone to feel burned out. It’s more of a compilation of factors. According to the American Psychology Association, burnout is the feeling of physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion.2 This is often accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes. Many people don’t realize they’re reaching the burnout phase until it’s too late.
Stress vs. Burnout
Some people confuse feeling stressed with being burned out. Stress refers to your body’s ability to respond to different pressures. While some stress can make some people perform better, it can lead others to feel overwhelmed and have difficulty coping. 3
Prolonged stress can lead to burnout. When people are feeling burned out, they are overwhelmingly exhausted and seem to have a sense of not being as effective as they would like to be.
Signs of Burnout
Several signs of burnout can include: 4
- Mental and physical fatigue
- Pure exhaustion
- Lowered immunity to illness
- Emotional detachment
- Sleep deprivation
- Trouble concentrating
- Irritability
What Causes Burnout?
The factors that lead to burnout are going to be different for everyone. The main factors tend to include:
- Job stress
- School stress
- Poor self-care
- Taking on more than you can handle
Job Stress, Burnout, and Addiction
Job stress leads to major stress and burnout. Consider these statistics from the 2021 American Psychology Association’s Work and Well-being Survey: 5
- 79% of employees survey reported feeling work-related stress in the month before the survey
- Nearly 3 in 5 employees reported negative impacts of stress, including lack of motivation, interest, and effort
- 36% reported feeling emotionally exhausted
- 44% reported physical fatigue
When you compile all of these factors, many people may feel burned out due to their jobs.
What Causes Job Stress?
Job stress can come from feeling overwhelmed at work and feeling pressure to perform. When people feel overwhelmed, especially at a fast-paced job, they may turn to drugs or alcohol to try to stay on task.
Others may feel stressed and burned out if they’re not earning enough to cover expenses. This can lead someone to have to get another job. This can throw off the work-life balance even more, compounding the stress level.
Other factors that can make someone feel stressed at work and turn to drugs or alcohol can include peer pressure. If colleagues are going out for a drink after work, you may feel obligated to join.
Burnout, Substance Abuse, and Addiction
When people feel burned out, they may turn to drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism. If someone continually uses these substances to unwind, they can develop a tolerance which can lead to addiction and, in some cases, overdose.
While some people may socially drink or use substances to cope, others have problems that are far larger than that.
Consider these statistics: 6
- 20% of employees and managers say that a co-worker’s alcohol consumption put their own safety at risk.
- As of September 2016, 24% of employees reported consuming alcohol during the workday at least once within that previous year.
These types of behaviors can indicate signs of substance abuse and addiction. As we know, substance abuse can also lead to overdoses.
How to Avoid Burnout and Overdoses, and Addiction
Reduce Stress in Healthy Ways
This can include exercise, meditation, and other outlets such as art. Any healthy activity that makes you feel more relaxed can help.
Carefully Examine Your Career Choice
If you are constantly feeling burned out, it may be time to look at your career choice to determine if that’s what you want to be doing for the rest of your life.
Take Time for Yourself
Taking some time off can help reduce burnout, which often leads to bad choices.
Seek Help
Finding someone to talk to, whether it be a friend or a professional therapist, can help you get a clear perspective on things and receive helpful advice.
Seek Addiction Treatment in Arizona at Desert Cove Recovery
If burnout has led you to develop a substance abuse disorder, Desert Cove Recovery is here to help. We offer drug and alcohol treatment programs that are tailored to the individual. Our staff recognizes that each person’s addiction is different and that their treatment needs to reflect that.
Drug and alcohol treatment programs at Desert Cove Recovery can include a detox plan as well as different forms of therapy to help each person recover and get on their path to sobriety.
We also offer a variety of holistic treatments to help heal the mind, body, and spirit. Many of these techniques can help to lower stress and teach people how to cope without drugs or alcohol.
For more information on the treatment programs at Desert Cove Recovery, call us today or reach out to us online. Our team is here to help you anytime you need it.
Sources:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2732004/ [2] https://health.clevelandclinic.org/signs-of-burnout/ [3] https://psychcentral.com/stress/stress-vs-burnout#differences-and-similarities [4] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-right-mindset/202011/the-surprising-difference-between-stress-and-burnout [5] https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/01/special-burnout-stress [6] https://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2016-09-26/understanding-the-link-between-stressful-occupations-and-addiction
