Are you a victim of organisational restructuring burnout?

(ORB)
(The devastating effects and consequences of organisational restructuring)
The psychological, physical and social effects of structural change on employees, families and their communities are often underestimated. I write this paper (note this is my FIRST draft) for my friends, family, colleagues and management / executive alike; to not only raise awareness, but in hopes that by doing so, others will not become victims themselves. This paper is also an attempt to reach out and perhaps a suggestion that current strategies of restructuring are not working, new supports and strategies must be considered. Psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North have theorized that the burnout process can be divided into 12 phases, which are not necessarily followed sequentially, nor necessarily to experience all of them. 1: A compulsion to prove oneself The beginning is often excessive ambition: their desire to prove themselves at work turns into grim determination and compulsion. They must show their colleagues and above all themselves that they are doing an excellent job in every way. 2: Working harder To meet their high personal expectations, they take on more work and buckle down. They become obsessed with handling everything themselves, which in turn demonstrates their notions of irreplaceability. 3: Neglecting their needs Their schedules leave no time except for work, and they dismiss as unimportant other necessities such as sleeping, eating, and seeing friends and family. They tell themselves that these sacrifices are proof of heroic performance. 4: Displacement of conflicts They are aware that something is not right but cannot see the sources of their problems. To deal with the root causes of their distress might set off a crisis and is thus seen as threatening. Often the first physical symptoms emerge at this stage.
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5: Revision of values Isolation, conflict avoidance and denial of basic physical needs change their perceptions. They revise their value systems, and once important things such as friends or hobbies are completely dismissed. Their only standard for evaluation of their self-worth is their jobs. They become increasingly emotionally blunted. 6: Denial of emerging problems They develop intolerance, perceiving colleagues as stupid, lazy, demanding or undisciplined. Social contacts feel almost unbearable. Cynicism and aggression become more apparent. They view their increasing problems as caused by time pressure and the amount of work they have not by the ways they have changed.

7: Withdrawal They reduce social contact to a minimum, becoming isolated and walled off. They feel increasingly that they are without hope or direction. They work obsessively by the book on the job. May seek release through alcohol or drugs. 8: Obvious behavioral changes Others in their immediate social circles can no longer overlook their behavioral changes. The once lively and engaged victims of overwork have become fearful, shy and apathetic. Inwardly, they feel increasingly worthless. 9: Depersonalization They lose contact with themselves. They see neither themselves nor others as valuable and no longer perceive their own needs. Their perspective of time narrows to the present. Life becomes a series of mechanical functions. 10: Inner emptiness Their inner emptiness expands relentlessly. To overcome this feeling, they desperately seek activity. Overreactions such as exaggerated sexuality, overeating, and drug or alcohol use emerge. Leisure time is dead time. 11: Depression
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In this phase, burnout syndrome corresponds to depression. The overwhelmed people become indifferent, hopeless, exhausted and believe the future holds nothing for them. Any of the symptoms of depression may be manifest, from agitation to apathy. Life loses meaning. 12: Burnout syndrome Almost all burnout victims now have suicidal thoughts to escape their situation. A few actually carry them out. Ultimately, they suffer total mental and physical collapse. Patients in this phase need immediate medical attention. I myself am a victim of Organizational Restructuring Burnout. I have considered quitting nursing; leaving Australia and starting over back home in Canada, lost all hope and felt like giving up. The impact of ORB actually caused me to lose sight of the career I love and have been told by many am exceptionally skilled at (in my specialty of Mental Health). How Ironic then? A Psychiatric Nurse becomes the victim of a condition he or she should be aware of? I ask you to think about that statement, for it is in fact a paradox. During organizational restructuring, what is one area in health care where the impact of same often affects the most? But Mental Health (in so far as a job) is far from the only area affected. When an organization endures change ALL areas of day to day functioning can be affected. That being said, ORB does affect the mental health of almost everyone regardless of their profession, role or function in any given organization. The next step in identifying ORB is to differentiate same from Organizational burnout (OB). I will use Psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail Norths model as the framework for the creation of a subtype if you will. To avoid being redundant I will not rewrite word for word each of the 12 steps; rather highlight the differences one might experience during ORB vs OB. ORB results in the introduction of a new first step; Fear and uncertainty. With job cuts, redundancy packages, downsizing and eliminating of so called unessential services, the workplace experiences lateral violence, rumors and anxiety spreads; competition becomes inevitable. Transference of anger is often seen and as staff becomes suspicious of one another. An environment of every person for themselves develops. This allows for new policy and structure to be implemented without question, as there no longer remains unity among employees. The few who do speak out stood down. Now we see A compulsion to prove oneself. Unlike OB, when one is experiencing ORB the motivation to prove is fear based driven by the necessity to survive or in other words; the need to keep employment. Often one has a family to support, bills to pay so on and so forth. Not working is simply seen as unacceptable.
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Working harder Is no longer about doing more work and in some cases ORB results in employees working less, purposely sabotaging their outcomes in a desperate attempt to either retaliate or create the appearance for the necessity of more staff. Sadly this often has the opposite outcome. More and more organizations are moving towards activity based funding. Neglecting their needs ORB often results in apathy, ambivalence, anger, retaliation, revenge and the traditional symptoms as described in OB.

Displacement of conflicts and or creation of new conflict As one sees in OB conflicts are often displaced; however ORB creates a new dynamic as frustrated employees transfer their frustrations inappropriately.

As mentioned above this is my first draft. I have not cited my sources and take not credit for the creation of a new ideas or concept. I am simply stating this to avoid allegations of plagiarism.

Conrad Westendorf

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