After recovering from burnout, an illness triggered by chronic stress, my logical mind set out to understand why it happened and how to prevent it in the future. The deeper I delved into research, the more my curiosity grew—and so did the complexity of the issue. Burnout seemed influenced by countless factors, making it difficult to determine which ones mattered most. I was eager to identify not only the key risk factors but also to understand how significantly each one increased the possibility of burnout.
Fortunately, I discovered some fascinating research, including a particularly insightful study that answered some of my questions. The research study 1 focused on ranking the importance of 22 burnout factors. These factors were categorized as individual, work-related, non-work-related, and intersecting (both individual and work-related). The findings highlighted that burnout is influenced not only by work factors, but by a mix of many factors, including individual ones, as shown by other more recent studies.
What struck me most was the finding that of the 22 factors, the one with the greatest impact on burnout was an individual one: the tendency towards negative emotions (neuroticism). I was surprised by how significantly this factor increased burnout risk—almost twice as much as the next highest factor on the ranked list! This suggests that a tendency towards negative emotions substantially raises burnout risk. Conversely, a tendency towards positive emotions should significantly reduce it. Therefore, addressing emotions should be a key focus in burnout prevention.
However, as I delved deeper into these findings, my inner critic started to point the finger at me. My logical mind resisted believing these findings, I had always seen myself as a positive person, looking for solutions and encouraging others. Could it really be true that I was prone to negative emotions?
Driven by curiosity, I sought to understand how negative emotions could trigger stress and increase burnout risk. Luckily, I found another intriguing study that explored individual factors in predicting burnout, shedding light on the role of perfectionism and its link with negative emotions.
Conducted by M. Zeijen in 2024 2, this study tracked factors over time, providing valuable insights into burnout timely prevention. The study revealed that high personal demands, or perfectionism, were strongly associated with a higher risk of burnout a year later. High personal demands involve holding unrealistically high-performance standards, irrational beliefs about failure and its consequences, and an extreme need for control. Individuals with high personal demands are more likely to perceive their (work) environment as demanding, leading to a higher risk of burnout.
My conclusion is that high personal demands (or perfectionism) lead to increased negative feelings, which in turn contribute to burnout. Reflecting on my own experience, I realized that while I was outwardly positive, I could be harsh at times and perfectionistic with myself, which left me feeling drained. It wasn’t until I started paying closer attention to my inner dialogue that I truly recognized the extent of the negative emotions it caused and how much they were affecting me.
It’s important to note that individual factors are not the sole cause of burnout. Research indicates that while individual factors account for less than half of the overall impact 3, they significantly influence how we perceive and interact with our environment. Over time, these factors can influence other burnout risks factors. Viewing situations through a perfectionistic lens can amplify worries and make them seem far more stressful than they need to be.
By this, I don’t mean to place blame on individuals or downplay the significant impact that work-related factors have on burnout. Both personal and workplace factors play crucial roles in burnout. It’s not about pointing fingers—it’s about understanding and implementing the most effective preventive actions to positively impact our well-being.
So, How Does Perfectionism and The Inner Critic Contribute Burnout?
Stress from Negative Emotions: Perfectionism (and self-criticism) is exhausting. It demands immense mental energy and often fuels negative emotions, which in turn trigger stress—especially when we become stuck in these feelings. This can lead to emotional exhaustion, the aspect of burnout most closely linked to serious negative effects on our health, relationships, and performance at work 4.
Weakened Ability to Set Limits: Perfectionism undermines our ability to establish and respect personal boundaries, crucial for managing stress and maintaining health.
To illustrate the impact of perfectionism on burnout, let me share a personal experience. A month after returning to work from maternity leave and grappling with sleep deprivation, the Covid pandemic struck. At that time, I was already experiencing symptoms of high level of stress, though I didn’t recognize them as such. My inner critic comments were, “You’re failing at work… You need to prove yourself again. You must work harder!” and “All working moms feel exhausted; it will get better if you just keep going”. Instead of taking a much-needed break to recover and be able to make the needed changes in my professional and private life, I pushed myself to keep going almost in the same way. Perfectionism, fueled by my impaired logical thinking from high stress levels, and a lack of knowledge about stress and proper support, kept me on this path. While other external factors, such as changes in the organization, my role and challenging life events, largely contributed to my burnout, I realized that my perfectionism had played a significant role in my emotional exhaustion and in recognizing and setting personal boundaries.
The challenge with stress is that it clouds our ability to think clearly, fueling our inner critic. This creates a vicious cycle—more stress leads to harsher self-criticism, and more self-criticism increases stress. Timely prevention is crucial, before stress has caused significant cognitive and emotional damage, leaving people unable to set boundaries or see alternatives.
Looking back, I realize that the right guidance at the right time might have made a difference for me. At the height of my stress, I simply couldn’t see more options or make sound decisions. This is where the right support becomes essential.
What is Perfectionism?
Striving for high standards and having ambition isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, “Perfectionistic worrying” can be harmful to our health. It often involves:
- Focusing on flaws and mistakes rather than acknowledging successes.
- Feelings of self-doubt.
- A fear-driven mindset, where failure feels like rejection and success seems tied to gaining approval and/or affection.
- Rigid and inflexible thinking.
- A tendency to avoid mistakes and the uncomfortable emotions they bring.
- Constantly judging ourselves, others, and situations.
Perfectionism results from a mix of genetics, upbringing, and societal influences. The good news is that we can address these tendencies by developing specific competencies.
What Can We Do About It?
As shown by research, one of the best antidotes to perfectionism is self-compassion 5. This involves treating ourselves with kindness, understanding, and patience, instead of engaging in harsh self-criticism. Acknowledge that making mistakes is a normal human experience and approach failures with empathy rather than judgment. It’s important to note that self-compassion isn’t about self-pity or making excuses. It’s about nurturing a healthier mindset that builds resilience and helps protect against burnout.
Mindfulness (balanced awareness) is another valuable competence. Observing our thoughts and emotions without judgment helps us understand and challenge negative beliefs, shifting focus to positive aspects. Maintaining a balanced awareness of painful thoughts and emotions, rather than becoming overly attached to them.
Mindful Self-compassion can be seen as an effective emotional regulation strategy, where our painful or distressing feelings aren’t suppressed but instead acknowledged with kindness, understanding, and a sense of shared humanity. This approach helps us transform negative emotions into a more positive emotional state, providing clarity on our situation and enabling actions that bring meaningful change to ourselves or the environment in a thoughtful and effective way (4).
To illustrate what a more compassionate inner dialogue might sound like, let’s revisit the example of what my inner critic was telling me, and reframe it with a kinder, more compassionate voice:
What my inner critic said:
“You’re failing at work… You need to prove yourself again. You must work harder!”
Reframed with a compassionate inner voice:
“I understand you’re feeling upset about not performing as you used to. With time, you’ll get back on track, but right now, it’s important to prioritize your well-being. Maybe it’s time to share how you’re feeling with someone and seek help?”
We can strenghten our mindfulness and self-compassion competences in different ways, and one particularly effective method is through creative expression and creative coaching—something I learned on during my recovery from burnout. At the time, I didn’t realize I was applying mindfulness and self-compassion principles, but looking back, that’s exactly what I was doing.
Moreover, research shows that engaging in creative expression activities helps relieve the stress caused by emotional inhibition (when we get stuck in an emotion), which in turn leads to improved well-being, more energy, excitement and enthusiasm 6 7.
If you’re curious about how creative coaching works and why it’s so effective, check out this other blog post of mine.
Strengthening Other Personal Resources
Research also highlights that personal resources like optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience contribute to lower burnout levels (2). At the same time, being able to communicate our needs and limits in a constructive way is crucial in burnout prevention.
- Optimism: Focusing on positive outcomes and visualising success.
- Self-efficacy: Believing in our capabilities, recognising our strengths and past successes to build confidence. By doing this, we activate our motivation, mental resources, and actions needed to handle challenging situations.
- Resilience: Boosting our confidence in our ability to successfully influence and manage our environment. Learn from adversity, reframe experiences, and accept what is beyond our control.
- Constructive communication: Choosing the right moment, calmly describing the problem without judgment, expressing how it makes us feel, explaining why it causes stress, clearly stating our desired outcome while being open to solutions, and highlighting the positive and negative consequences of action or inaction (DESC method).
Conclusion
Did I get all the answers? Not quite. But my logical mind was satisfied to start piecing together this complex puzzle, while my creative side began envisioning how a creative evidence-based well-being and burnout prevention program could be. There’s still much to learn and accomplish—my journey is far from over!
In conclusion, understanding the intricate relationship between perfectionism, negative emotions, and burnout can be transformative for both personal growth and professional well-being. By recognizing how high personal demands and self-critical tendencies contribute to stress, we can take proactive steps to mitigate their effects. Embracing mindful self-compassion, while strengthening personal resources like optimism, self-efficacy, resilience, and constructive communication can create a more balanced and fulfilling life. Remember, burnout is a complex issue influenced by multiple factors, but with the right strategies and insights, we can navigate and prevent it more effectively. Let’s use this knowledge to foster a healthier mindset and cultivate resilience in ourselves and others.
With Compassionate Creativity & Logic,
Yamille
Sources & Notes:
- Bianchi R., Manzano-Garcia G., and Rolland J.P. (2021), “Is Burnout Primarily Linked to Work-Situated Factors? A Relative Weight Analytic Study”. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.623912 ↩︎
- Zeijen M.E.L., Brenninkmeijer V., Peeters M.C.W., and Mastenbroek N.J.J.M. (2024). “The Role of Personal Demands and Personal Resources in Enhancing Study Engagement and Preventing Study Burnout”. The Spanish Journal of Psychology.https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2024.10 ↩︎
- Research by Dr Evangelia Demerouti shows that 70% of the causes of burnout lie within the organization, while only 30% lie with the individual. However other research study by Bianchi 2021, shows that work factors represented 26–32% of the explanatory power of the examined model whereas individual-level, non-work factors summed 48%-55% of that power and intersecting factors (both work/individual) 16%-19%. My view in this study is that intersecting factors are mostly work related (the feeling that work impacts private life), thus when adding them to the work related factors they sum 45%-52% of explanatory power. My conclusion of this study is that around half of the explanatory power is work related and the other half individual + non-work related. ↩︎
- Nagoski, Nagoski, “Burnout Solve Your Stress Cycle”, (Vermilion,2020) ↩︎
- Research by Dr Kristin D. Neff and by Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000 ↩︎
- Pennebaker J.W., Smyth J.M., “Opening Up by Writing It Down, How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain”, (New York, Guilford, 2016) ↩︎
- Conner, T. S., DeYoung C. G., & Silvia P. J. (2017). “Everyday Creative Activity as a Path to Flourishing”. Journal of Positive Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1257049 ↩︎
Thank you for sharing Yamille! Very insightful post!
I’m happy to hear you found my post insightful, thank you so much for your kind message Peggy!