There are frequent headlines about celebrities who need to be hospitalized due to an acute breakdown. But even in other high-performance professions or after serious accidents, people are often treated for extended periods due to psychological problems. These patients appear burned out, feel a sense of inner emptiness, and gradually lose their life energy. They are often visibly affected, looking exhausted and tired or losing significant weight. Affected individuals suffer from sleep disorders, headaches, painful muscle tension in the neck and back, digestive problems, frequent infections, or sudden circulatory issues. The cause is a malfunction in cortisol release, which leads to a weakened immune response over time. The body becomes more susceptible to infections and cardiovascular problems. It is a state of chronic stress with no end in sight. These physical symptoms can become so severe that they dominate daily life and further strain the emotional state of the patient. The individual enters a downward spiral of stress from which they can no longer escape on their own – ultimately leading to a collapse.
This condition develops slowly over a long period and is known as burnout syndrome. The causes are extremely varied and must be identified individually for each person. One artist might have a particularly sensitive nervous system that leads them into a pathological stress situation, while another person may set performance goals too high and fail due to their own perfectionism. Usually, there is not just one cause responsible for the condition.
On an immunological level, we now understand what happens to people in these phases. Due to various stimuli, impulses trigger the release of stress hormones in the body, which destabilize the immune system. Specific cells that suppress immune function increase, and life energy gradually fades. Those affected become increasingly powerless, and eventually all vital functions shut down. The actual cause of burnout syndrome is not the most important factor, because stress is the body’s response to any kind of strain. Constant release of stress hormones causes organs involved in the stress response, such as the adrenal glands, to swell and produce too much cortisol. The result is psychosomatic illnesses of all kinds.
October 9, 2018