Several occupational pathologies identified over the past decades have been caused by overwork. the burnout or physical, emotional or mental exhaustion syndrome is the first to be assimilated by psychiatrists, and is becoming more and more widespread within a work environment. However, a new little-known syndrome has surfaced recently, it is the bore outwhich manifests as exhaustion resulting from boredom.
Boreout is a mental disorder that can lead to several physical illnesses. It is a form of chronic exhaustion caused by boredom and characterized by three main factors: a negative experience, a lack of stimulation and an insufficient workload. This syndrome is triggered by a lack of work, boredom and, therefore, a lack of satisfaction in a professional environment.
This generally concerns people working in companies and in particular workers in the tertiary sector. This theory also has summer presented in the work entitled “Diagnosis Bore-out”, two Swiss-German authors, Peter Werder and Philippe Rothlin, organizational consultants.
For Hafid Halhol, a doctor specializing in nutrition and health, this syndrome is the result of the absence of meaningful and useful tasks, rather than the effect of stress, which is the main problem for many workers. It comes mainly from boredom, lack of challenges and disinterest.
He explains in this sense that the authors question the common belief that an unmotivated employee is lazy, on the contrary, they confirm that the employee has lost interest in his tasks and has been suspended, therefore people with this syndrome are usually ” dissatisfied with their professional situation and suffer a lot from this situation and the lack of solidarity from management and colleagues too. Their frustration may stem from their inability to contribute to the development of their business, to use their skills and knowledge, or to be able to provide recognized effort.
This phenomenon has been overlooked by researchers and employers alike because of the social stigma attached to the boron out and the extremely serious pathologies that this phenomenon can trigger with the automation of tasks, specifies Dr. Halhol.
According to Werder and Rothlin, 15% of administrative employees are bored and sick at work. As with burnout, the harder it is to admit, the more stressful it becomes and leads to a vicious cycle where workers suffocate in slow motion.
Common symptoms of boredom are fatigue, irritability and listlessness. In addition, a person often feels shame and hides his condition through private activities, such as reading the newspaper, looking for another job, moving around the company without having a goal to achieve or a real task to accomplish.
According to the Moroccan professional burnout treatment network called “Burn-Out Treatment”, the physical symptoms are summed up in fatigue, sleep disorders, feelings of exhaustion, pain related to tensions , increased blood pressure, rapid breathing and fatigue. While emotional and behavioral symptoms present as loss of concentration, indecisiveness, memory problems, feelings of panic, irritability, feelings of helplessness, pessimism, distrust, feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem , work disengagement, depression and so on.
Boreout can certainly lead to a fall on any side in any individual. In this regard, several psychologists and specialists advise the worker to take a step back when one of these syndromes arises and to review his situation so as not to find himself at the heart of an endless black hole which will exhaust all his energy.