What Is Burnout?
Maintaining Motivation from Achieving Excellence in the Sunday School, Vol. 2
By Jim Williams
Herbert J. Freudenberger is credited for coining the term burnout as it is presently used: a term that denotes a state of physical and mental depletion resulting from conditions of work. Freudenberger took a word used in the 1960s to refer to the effects of chronic drug abuse and used it instead to describe the psychological state of some of his volunteer co-workers. He used this term in an article entitled “Staff Burn-out,” which appeared in a 1974 issue of the Journal of Social Issues. Since 1974, there has been much discussion and debate over a precise definition of burnout.
Burnout Defined
Burnout is a psychological state which results from disillusionment from constant or repeated emotional pressures associated with intense involvement with people over long periods of time that have failed to
produce expected rewards. Burnout is cyclical in nature, rather than linear, and is developed through five stages of the “burnout cycle”: (1) enthusiasm, (2) stagnation, (3) frustration, (4) apathy, and (5) intervention.
The Causes of Burnout
Burnout is caused as a result of our own natural defense mechanism against frustration. Factors that contribute to burnout include inadequate training, an unrealistic expectation for success, overextension
emotionally, and inability to accept failure and limited successes. The burnout victim is always “on fire” for the cause, but can’t cope with long-term setbacks because of a desire for self-perfection. Burnout
victims are often perfectionists, and any failures they blame on them selves. When they don’t find success, they rationalize it as all their fault. The burden of a poor self-image, coupled with feelings of helplessness, aggravate the condition until burnout victims cannot get themselves out of their stagnation and apathy.
Burnout can occur because of spiritual problems, physical conditions, psychological problems, emotional problems, or environmental situations that persist over a prolonged period of time.
The Symptoms of Burnout
From its discovery by health professionals, burnout was hard to define and its causes hard to discern because of the number and variety of symptoms.
Here is a list of symptoms as described by social science professionals:
1. fatigue and physical depletion
2. feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
3. feeling emotionally drained
4. a negative self—image a sense of distress
5. a sense of distress
6. discontent
7. sense of failure in quest for ideals
8. negative altitudes toward life, work and other people
9. frustration
10. progressive loss of idealism
11. becoming cynical and blaming others
12. lateness to Position of responsibility (work or class)
13. absenteeism
14. deterioration in quality of performance
15. anxiety
16. irritability
17. sadness and/or depression
18. insomnia
19. headaches
20. high blood pressure
21. backaches
22. increased marital and family conflicts
23. ulcers
24. weariness in facial appearance
25. psychosomatic illnesses
Burnout has been nicknamed “staff infection” because, like the virus, it is very contagious. Once a person “burns out” he affects those around him.
It can travel from:
1. Student to student
2. Student to teacher
3. Teacher to student,
4. Teacher to teacher
Pupils with an apathetic attitude affect other students. Pupils who don’t care about learning affect the teacher. The teacher becomes apathetic and in turn affects other students. Students Teachers become apathetic and cynical and in turn affect other teachers.
The Burnout Cycle
1. Enthusiasm. In this stage teachers have high hopes, high energy, and unrealistic expectations. They don’t really understand how to teach. The teacher over- identifies with students’ responses. The teacher often will exhibit inefficient expenditures of energy.
2. Stagnation. The high hopes and excitement of teaching are gone. The emphasis turns to meeting person al desires.
3. Frustration The teacher calls into question his or her own effectiveness as well as the effectiveness of the role of the teacher. “What is the point in trying to teach children when they do not respond?” “Who can teach when the bus outreach packs the kids in like sardines?” Emotional, physical, and ehavioral problems can occur at this stage.
4. Apathy. This is a typical and very natural defense mechanism against frustration. it occurs when teachers are frustrated in their class, yet for various reasons they can’t or won’t quit. It is characterized by the teacher putting in the minimum required effort, avoiding challenges, and seeking, mainly, to just get by.
5. Intervention is whatever is done in response to or in anticipation of enthusiasm, stagnation, frustration, or apathy. Intervention breaks the cycle!
It may mean changing classes or quitting altogether. It may mean enrolling in a teacher training program to obtain more understanding or better teaching skills. It may mean stimulating an interest in the class. It may mean looking around for the nearest “workshop high.” It may mean, simply, taking a vacation.
Some interventions are more effective than others in the long run. The trick is to find the ones that produce lasting results.
Progression of burnout is not linear, but cyclical. It can repeat itself any number of times. The good point is that the cycle can be broken at any point (although apathy is harder to break than stagnation or frustration).
Intervention means the steps that are taken – consciously or not, constructively or not—to break he cycle of disillusionment. It can and should occur at any of the four stages of disillusionment.
False Interventions
False interventions are like a medical treatment that temporarily relieves the symptoms of a disease without curing the disease. An example is “workshop high.”
When teachers become lethargic, disgruntled, or simply stale from the same old routines, the quick fix is to schedule a workshop or seminar. When the seminar is over you’ll hear comments like, “It was fun meeting people” and “The speakers were really motivational.” At the very least, it was a break from the normal routine. However, the beneficial effects are short-term at best. It does make people “feel good” and they can get an emotional release, but when nothing really changes hack in the classroom, after a while the effects of the seminar and the emotional release it brought gradually subsides.
If the seminar only makes them feel good without bringing about changes, then the seminar did not adequately meet their needs. These kinds of seminars can be addicting. The teachers have to go to a seminar or workshop to get a fix.
It is essential for anyone organizing a Sunday school teacher’s seminar or workshop to structure it so that participants carry away more than a temporary high, and for participants to come to the seminar with that goal in mind.
Sunday schools need an effective burnout awareness training program. An effective training program should include in-service training to develop better teaching skills, with class rotation during the training phase to help teachers decide for themselves which age group they feel more comfortable teaching. Teachers and staff need periodic breaks.
Most of the time those who suffer burnout also suffer from the symptoms of stress. Not all stress is bad. We need stresses to motivate us to achieve our goals. However when stresses overwhelm us, they can be destructive.
Stress Symptoms
Body Symptoms
Flushing Constipation
Sweating Fatigue
Dry mouth Loss of Appetite
Shallow breathing Nervous chill
Chest oppression and pain Insomnia
Heart palpitation Breathlessness
Pounding pulse Flatus (passing gas)
Increased blood pressure Belching
Headache Abdominal cramping
Backache Irritable colon
Feeling of weakness Dizziness or faintness
Intestinal distress Paresthesias (illusory
Vomiting prickly-skin sensations)
Diarrhea
Feeling States
Agitation Panicky Feeling
Shakiness Depression (feeling blue)
Easy tiring Irritability
Cognitive States
Worry Forgetfulness
Dread Nightmares
Inattention Fear of Death
Distractibility
Motor Symptoms (muscles involved)
Muscular tightness Uncoordination
Tremors Sighing
Tics (spasms) Freezing, feeling immobilized
Increased startle reaction
Life Changes
Changes in one’s life can also affect the stress level of a person. These in turn can lead to burnout. Two researchers, Dr. Thomas Holmes and Dr. Richard Rahe, developed a scale to measure the amount of stress-related changes a person experiences. The scale is called the ‘Life Events Survey’, and it list forty three events that involve life change. A value has been assigned to each ‘life event.’ If you feel that you are under considerable stress, you might like to evaluate yourself with this survey. You simply have to fill out the survey, total the score, and see how you compare to the average person. It is found in most psychology textbooks today and in many other books on the subject of stress and burnout. Martin Shaffer includes this survey in his book Life after Stress, which is referenced in the bibliography.
Sunday School Teacher Burnout
Just as teachers in public schools can experience burnout, so can Sunday school teachers. Experiencing burnout doesn’t mean that you’re backslidden. To burnout and to backslide are not the same! Backsliding
denotes a spiritual condition. Burnout can happen regardless of a person’s spiritual status.
Burned-out Sunday school teachers feel emotionally drained. They begin to dread having to go into the class room. Sunday mornings are more endured than enjoyed.
As human beings, there is no way that we can function at peak efficiency all the time. The Bible says, “To every thing there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and Paul warned Timothy to be prepared in both “in
season and out of season” (II Timothy 4:2).
Judi Maki in her teacher training seminar entitled “The Ideal Teacher” gives us insight about how Sunday school teachers, in general, feel:
Have you ever met a Sunday school teacher in any department who has got it all together? Their style of teaching is perfected. They have applied all the basic skills. Their techniques are polished, no discipline problems here, no cobwebs to be found in the corners of their rooms, no further need of training, no further need of improvement? Of course you have not! And neither have I! As I travel giving teachers training, I have met and observed many teachers, watched them work, decorate, and teach. Know what
I discovered? There ain’t no such creature! Not on this earth anyway!
We read about this dream of a teacher—this ideal person who uses ideal resources and in which ideal results are produced on an ideal scale. By the way, the word ideal means ‘ model” according to Webster’s Dictionary
But there simply is no one out there that is complete, finished, or perfect. There is no ideal classroom, no ideal curriculum, and NO ideal teachers. Job 9:20 confirms this: “If I justify myself, mine own mouth
shall condemn me: if I say I am perfect [ideal] it shall also prove me perverse.”
Actually, the truth is, I have met many teachers who feel just the opposite. They feel frustrated, discouraged, unqualified, and lacking in the tools they feel they need to be the ideal. Not that they do not know what is expected, they just feel that they fail miserably on the job. Listen to what they say:
“How can I love some of the children in my class when I have trouble loving my own son?” ‘They look to me to be an example, yet I know I am such a poor example. I do not read my Bible as I should or pray enough.” I know I need to spend time with them outside the classroom, but I don’t have the extra time to read a story to my own children.” “I don’t know what wrong with me! I’ve lost control of my class! I can’t handle teaching anymore! My nerves feel like they have been dragged across a grating board! I’m uncreative, uninspired, (except when I’m yelling at the kids), and very frustrated!”
Perhaps you have one or two statements you could add to the list. Take heart, teachers! In God’s great plan, realizing our weaknesses is actually the stepping stone to being effective and the beginning of a real
ministry. And remember we will always remain discouraged until we realize we are inadequate and always will be. That is what makes our job so exciting—the glory of God is in His use of frail earthen vessels (that’s
us!).
This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”
