Workplace Burnout Syndrome is finally being recognized in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Burnout can happen to anyone

Originally published on Global Voices

This article by Amir Barleci was originally published on Balkan Diskurs, a project of the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC). An edited version has been republished by Global Voices under a content sharing agreement.

This is how a 58-year-old worker (who has chosen to remain anonymous) from Sarajevo begins his story. He tells Balkan Diskurs how he changed jobs due to burnout and was forced to seek medical help.

“I worked on many tasks, from working in the department that was initially my main priority in my career, to later handling orders, working in the warehouse, overtime hours, and so on, all for the same pay without a raise. I encountered bullying from my manager because he didn’t understand that I couldn’t handle so much work,” explained the worker.

He also received a formal warning for shopping in another shopping center in his free time. The stressful environment led to burnout and a lack of motivation for work.

Chronic exposure to workplace stress is known as burnout, and its basic characteristics include fatigue, lack of motivation, apathy, general lethargy, loss of interest and willpower, and social withdrawal. Although it manifests individually, the causes are related to the collective work environment. Experts in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have been dealing with this phenomenon for the last decade.

Đana Lončarica, a psychologist and psychotherapist, explains that burnout is generally work-related exhaustion that also impacts other aspects of life and human functioning. In some cases, as she emphasizes, medical help is needed.

She explains that groups of people particularly sensitive and susceptible to professional burnout syndrome are those who work in jobs requiring significant effort and overtime. Additionally, personality traits play an important role, as some individuals can be perfectionists by nature and therefore have high expectations of themselves. Lončarica says that those who have difficulty establishing clear boundaries and balancing personal and professional obligations are equally susceptible to burnout.

“It is important to be aware that burnout can happen to anyone, especially in situations where we do not take care of our mental and physical health,” she adds, emphasizing that findings from neuroscientific research show that people's brains need rest and engagement in leisure activities during free time.

Professional burnout in our twenties

When our 58-year-old worker in Sarajevo could see things spiraling out of control, he decided, after consulting with his family, to change his work environment and seek psychological support.

“Working with a psychotherapist has helped me gain new insights and set clear boundaries when it comes to handling work tasks,” he said.

However, it is not just workers in their late fifties who are at risk. Reflecting on psychotherapeutic experiences with clients, Dr. Lončarica says today, an increasing number of people in their late twenties and early thirties are approaching her with burnout.

“The problem of professional burnout is also reflected in private life, and sometimes affects primary needs as well. Most often, clients have problems with insomnia, and this can have a negative impact on their mood, which should be distinguished from depression,” she says.

She pointed out that it is sometimes necessary to seek psychiatric intervention, precisely because of this insomnia, which becomes very pronounced; in some clients it has been known to last for a month or longer, which certainly had an unfavorable effect on both their private and professional lives.

The difference between burnout and stress, as she explains, lies in the fact that stress is part of everyday life and is not only negative, but can be used productively.

“In burnout, there is a lack of motivation, a decrease in energy, as well as overall fatigue that adversely affects other aspects of life,” Lončarica adds.

The multiple stages of burnout

There are several stages of burnout. Dr. Lončarica says that it all begins with the so-called honeymoon phase, during which people feel joy about new tasks and challenges. After that comes the reality phase, where individuals begin to notice their poor working conditions and strained interpersonal relationships, including poor relationships with their superiors, a major contributor to the onset of burnout. The disillusionment phase occurs when people realize they don’t have what they want, or when working conditions and relationships are completely compromised.

Finally, there comes the alarm phase, during which symptoms manifest in everyday behavior, and there are changes in the quality of both professional and personal life.

“It is important that we recognize our needs, fatigue, exhaustion, or sadness, and that we know how to verbalize them, and if we cannot, it is necessary to seek professional help,” Lončarica emphasizes, stressing that the foundation of healing lies in being honest about ones’ emotions and needs.

While the 58-year-old worker from Sarajevo was forced to change employers and seek help, there is data indicating that not every employer in Bosnia is a threat to their workers.

Numerous surveys have found the employer Dm-drogerie market (dm) as one of the most desirable employers in BiH. Ines Bajrić, Manager of the Human Resources Development Department at dm, says that managers and team leaders are focused on individual development aligned with the company’s goals and needs.

She emphasized that as managers they should build trust and nurture transparency, credibility, and consistency, as this plays a very important role in the team’s resilience to sudden change.

“Managers should provide support, understanding, and encouragement for individual and team growth.   We believe that this is crucial for everyone in the team to be more independent and self-responsible, all with the aim of fostering an entrepreneurial mindset within the collective spirit,” says Bajrić.

The four-day week: A new work model?

Reflecting on the topic of a four-day workweek, modeled after companies in Western Europe, Bajrić believes that through automation and digitalization processes, people should have more time for their private lives. She says:

At dm, we have our international initiatives where we are working on a new work model. A hybrid work model or remote work does not always mean working from home; it can also encompass other work contexts, such as being at the beach and setting one’s own work pace, sometimes working four hours, and sometimes more. It is extremely important to have trust in our colleagues and to be able to rely on them to consistently complete their part of the work.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has included Workplace Burnout Syndrome in its International Classification of Diseases manual, meaning that healthcare professionals can diagnose it as a medical disorder. As of January 1, 2022, Workplace Burnout Syndrome is a recognized occupational disease in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to experts, diagnosing burnout is complex, and there is still much room for improvement, particularly in the education of specialists. In BiH, diagnosis is only possible in Tuzla at the Clinical Department for Occupational Diseases.

Written by Balkan Diskurs