A COOL LOOK AT BURNING OUT
Paul A. Qualben
July 1, 1986
Recently I wrote my one thousandth missionary-candidate evaluation for the Lutheran Church in America. The majority of the candidates were clergy and spouses. Based on the psychiatric and psychological evaluations I prepared, I am able to say the large majority of these clergy are well-adjusted, happy individuals who find satisfaction in their profession and have a positive outlook on life. So much for the good news. The bad news is that not everything is copacetic in the ranks of what the Wall Street Journal calls "the Balm Squad." If I were to generalize on the basis of the pastors and priests I counsel, I'd be tempted to say most or all clergy experience professional dissatisfaction or have emotional problems. But that, fortunately, isn't so. A little over a decade ago, Herbert Freudenberger coined the term burnout to describe a condition that occurs in members of the helping professions, including the clergy. In simplest terms, burnout was thought to occur when a professional works too hard for too long in a pressured environment. The burnout victim is drained on all levels-physical, emotional, attitudinal, and spiritual. The condition knows no age limits. It can strike a struggling young intern or vicar as easily as the veteran pastor. Cary Cherniss in his book, Staff Burnout, describes three stages in the burnout process: 1. The honeymoon stage, in which enthusiasm, commitment, and job satisfaction eventually give way; energy reserves begin to drain off. 2. The "fuel shortage" stage, characterized by exhaustion, detachment, physical illness, anger, sleep disturbances, depression, possible escapist drinking or irresponsible behavior. 3, Then crisis-pessimism, self-doubt, apathy, obsession with one's own problems, disillusionment ...
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