| What Cross Cultural Workers Ought to Know About: |
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What Cross-Cultural Workers Ought to Know about Burnout
Ronald Koteskey
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You find it hard to get up and go to work in the morning. Work used to be
exciting and you used to look forward to what you did with people, but now you
are just tired and it takes a great deal of effort to get out of bed. You wonder
what is wrong. Could it be that you are suffering from burnout? Could a really
committed cross-cultural worker burn out? You may only be in your first term;
certainly you couldn’t burn out in just a few years, could you? Wouldn’t God
keep you from burning out? Is it better to burn out than to rust out? What about
that old gospel song that says, "Let me burn out for thee, dear Lord?" Let’s
consider some of these questions.
How do I know if I’m burning out?
Although feeling tired and not wanting to go to work may be a part of
burnout, there is more to burnout than that. Burnout happens to those in the
helping professions, such as doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists,
pastors, and cross-cultural workers. Three major symptoms of burnout are:
- Emotional exhaustion. The exhaustion is more than physical it is
emotional, "compassion fatigue." You feel drained. You feel used up. You
feel overwhelmed by the needs people come with. It is not that you don’t
want to help, you just do not have what it takes to help any more.
- Depersonalization. To shield yourself, you begin to reduce your
close involvement with others. You begin not to notice the nationals who
need help. You ignore their requests. You begin to be discourteous to the
very people you came to serve. You tend to become tough, hard, and cynical,
putting nationals down. You view people as objects. You used to view
nationals through rose-colored glasses; now you wear rust-colored glasses.
- Reduced personal accomplishment. Whether or not you actually
become ineffective, you feel ineffective. You begin to sense you are
becoming the kind of person people do not like. You used to be sensitive and
caring, but you realize you are becoming cold and indifferent. You see that
you are not accomplishing what you felt God called you to do, and you wonder
if you still hear him.
Burnout is the result of continual stress over a long period of time rather
than great stress over a short one. Burnout does not happen overnight, but it
creeps up on you without your realizing it. Other cross-cultural workers usually
notice it long before you do, but if you check yourself periodically, you can
detect it. Burnout is not a psychiatric disorder, but is a phenomenon that will
greatly reduce your effectiveness as a cross-cultural worker in addition to what
it does to you and your family.
What causes burnout?
There are three major sources of burnout, and whether or not burnout occurs
depends on all three. Knowing these can alert you to the causes, and help you
evaluate whether you are at risk for burnout.
- Social. You can’t be a cross-cultural worker without being
involved with people, and that is a source of burnout. The "problem people"
require much more of your attention than do the "pleasant people." As a
result you begin to see even good people as problem people. You are supposed
to be polite, tactful and caring, so you feel like you cannot express the
disappointment and frustration that you feel down inside. You smile and make
some evasive remark rather than expressing your feelings. Rather than
getting a "thank you" from someone you have helped, you get suspicion. There
are nationals you really like, but you hesitate to get too close to them
because you know that you will soon be returning to your home country. It is
easier not to establish a close relationship than to create one, then have
to break it in a few months.
- System. Your job setting may be a source of burnout. Language
school was so frustrating. When you arrived on the field, that seemed even
more overwhelming. So many people to get to know, so much to do, and so
little time to do it. You were doing God’s work, and there was such a need
that there was no time for breaks or for vacations. Your fellow
cross-cultural workers had projects that they were trying to get funded, and
you knew that they were requesting funds from the same people. Your field
director was to be an encouragement, but he had so many criticisms, and
every compliment seemed to end with "but…." There were the plans, policies
and procedures. There was so much red tape before you started a project,
followed by progress reports as you were doing it and more reports when you
completed it.
- Self. You may be a source of burnout yourself. If you lack
self-confidence or have low self-esteem, you are a candidate for burnout. If
you are unassertive, submissive, passive, anxious and blame yourself for
failure, you are a candidate. If your needs for achievement, approval and
affection are too high, you are a candidate. If you are impatient,
irritable, and do not know how to handle anger and conflict, you are a
candidate.
Can a really committed cross-cultural worker burn out?
Not only can committed cross-cultural workers burn out, but the more
committed they are, the more likely they are to burn out. If people slip through
the screening process with major motives of travel and excitement, they can
succeed at that quite readily. However, the more "ideal" cross-cultural workers
are, with hearts to win people to Christ, concern for others, and high
expectations, the more likely they are to burn out.
A related question is, "Can first-term cross-cultural workers burn out?"
Again, the answer is that they are at greatest risk for burnout. The time of
greatest risk for burnout in any people-helping occupation is the first five
years on the job. That is exactly the time frame of the first term and language
school in most agencies. This new worker is filled with idealism and high
expectations. When reality begins to set in, the first-term cross-cultural
worker begins to burn out.
What are the effects of burnout?
Many pay the price when cross-cultural workers burn out. It affects everyone
who comes into contact with them.
- Personal: In addition to the emotional and physical exhaustion,
one may experience disturbed sleep, nightmares, illness, depression and
sometimes resort to drugs or alcohol.
- Family and other cross-cultural workers: Cross-cultural workers
burning out begin to expect perfection from others. This leads to
impatience, bickering, and fighting at home and in the office. They are
available to meet the needs of nearly anyone, except their own families and
other cross-cultural workers.
- Nationals: In addition to being rude, thoughtless and treating
others as objects, cross-cultural workers burning out may begin to miss more
days at work, move to educating others, ask to work with work teams, or move
to administration. All of this is to avoid contact with nationals, but this
motive may not be conscious.
Can burnout be treated?
Yes, if caught in time. Cross-cultural workers who burn out to the point that
they actually leave the field are unlikely to return. Such people recover from
their burnout, but they typically move into some other type of work. Therefore,
it is important to detect burnout as soon as possible and take steps to prevent
it from becoming any worse. When burnout is far along, you will likely know that
you are burning out, but you are not likely to notice it in the early stages.
The best early warning system is not yourself, but others who are willing to
point out symptoms of burnout in you. Of course, you are their best early
detection system, so check up on each other regularly.
Can burnout be prevented?
Yes! You can do many things that will prevent burnout. Following are some
suggestions:
- Set realistic goals. Set specific goals so that you will know
when you have achieved them. Of course, you want to save the world, but you
are not going to do it alone.
- Don’t get in a rut. Vary the way you do things so that they do
not become routine.
- Take breaks. This includes different kinds of breaks: (1) Coffee
breaks—morning and afternoon. (2) Lunch—don’t catch up on work during that
time; leave the office. (3) One day a week—you were made to take a Sabbath;
leave town if you have to. (4) Vacations—you can’t go all year, year after
year.
- Don’t take things personally. You are not responsible for
everything that goes wrong.
- Leave your work at work. When you come home to your family, enjoy
them.
- Learn to laugh at yourself. You are not indispensable, and you do
some pretty funny things.
- Have a support group. You need someone to encourage you and serve
as a yardstick against which you can measure yourself realistically.
- Live a life of your own. Have some hobby or activity that you
just enjoy doing regularly.
- Change jobs. If all else fails, ask for a different assignment in
your organization.
All of these things are easier said than done, but they can be done. Jesus
modeled this for us in a well-known cross-cultural incident in John 4. He was
tired from his trip, so he sat down by the well and sent his friends shopping
for a lunch. He asked someone for a drink because he was thirsty, and then he
struck up a conversation with her. If Jesus can sit down to rest, have a cool
drink, and chat with someone passing by, we certainly can do so ourselves. The
alternative is misery for yourself and those you live and work with, often
followed by leaving your work.
Ronald Koteskey is
Member Care Consultant
New Hope International Ministries
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