In terms of mental health, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a number of psychological issues, including, stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. Mainly, these effects may appear due to the lack of social interactions, significant change in the lifestyle of an individual, or the need to stay at home. While these outcomes may be regarded as normal emotional reaction to such a situation of social ambiguity, it needs questioning the main principles of overcoming these issues and eliminating their impact on the human’s life.
Burnout syndrome has become a significant concern in recent years. It affects the overall life satisfaction, job productivity, emotional state of the individual, and other aspects of the human’s social life. Burnout syndrome may be defined as a medical condition of physical and mental fatigue associated with work or care providing activities (Elhadi et al., 2020, p. 2). Most often, it involves cognitive fatigue, the feeling of depersonalization, and a diminished sense of success. Despite the fact that the burnout syndrome may be caused or exacerbated by work (Lastovkova et al., 2018, p. 161), this phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic may be caused by the forced change of work conditions (since many employees began to work from home,) or its loss.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly contributed to the deterioration of the psychological state of many people. According to the study by Mion G., Hamann P. et al., only 25% of respondents claimed they were in their normal state of mind since the epidemic began, more than half said they were weary, and one-third said they were depressed (2021, p. 177). The state of overwhelmness should also be added as the psychological effect of pandemic. As a result, the individuals were facing the issues of their usual mode of work, communication, and close contact with people.
Mostly, the burnout syndrome during the pandemic is evidenced among healthcare workers. This might be due to a number of factors, including a lack of personal protective equipment, a lack of suitable medicines, and the danger of infecting family members. Fear of contraction and anticipation of little support for the pathogen, in addition to the financial challenges that physicians face, put healthcare professionals in a difficult position in many countries. Importantly, many healthcare specialists exhibit the signs of emotional distress as a result of witnessing pandemic-related deaths, which in turn, leads to developing the burnout syndrome. They are under a lot of stress, which is harming their mental health and overall quality of life.
In general, it should be noted that the symptoms of burnout syndrome can be experienced both in the workplace and in any kind of intellectual activity. In this way, the educational institutions need to develop the interventions for improving the quality of life for both students and employees. Some of the policies need to speed care and reduce burdens on the employees during the pandemic, which should continue beyond this crisis.
References
Elhadi, M., Msherghi, A., Elgzairi, M., Alhashimi, A., Bouhuwaish, A., Biala, M., Abuelmeda, S., Khel, S., Khaled, A., Alsoufi, A., Elmabrouk, A., Alshiteewi, F. B., Hamed, T. B., Alhadi, B., Alhaddad, S., Elhadi, A., & Zaid, A. (2020). Burnout syndrome Among Hospital healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic and Civil War: A cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.579563
Lastovkova, A., Carder, M., Rasmussen, H. M., Sjoberg, L., Groene, G. J., Sauni, R., Vevoda, J., Vevodova, S., Lasfargues, G., Svartengren, M., Vargen, M., Colosio, C., & Pelclova, D. (2018). Burnout syndrome as an occupational disease in the European Union: An exploratory study. Industrial Health, 56(2), 160–165. https://doi.org/10.2486/indhealth.2017-0132
Mion, G., Hamann, P., Saleten, M., Plaud, B., & Baillard, C. (2021). Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and burnout severity in french RESIDENTS: A national study. The European Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpsy.2021.03.005
