The 5 best books on burnout: the psychology of being overwhelmed {reading tip}

"Burnout” is considered the disease of civilization of the 21st century. According to independent estimates, in Germany alone, up to 20 percent of the workforce suffer from the syndrome of "chronic exhaustion".

Permanently happy?

Permanently happy - is that possible? Yes, says author Hans-Otto Thomashoff - by programming your brain and psyche for more satisfaction.

Even the title of the book "I was looking for happiness and found satisfaction" is more than a nice play on words. Author Hans-Otto Thomashoff gives you little hope of being permanently happy.

Gain more satisfaction

Happiness is fleeting like a beautiful moment. But you can walk through life with more satisfaction - every day. The key to this is hidden in your brain and psyche.

Strictly speaking, “I was looking for happiness and found contentment” is more of a knowledge book than a guide and is therefore different clear of Küstemacher's “Limbi”, which was presented almost at the same time. Both books explain in detail and understandably the origin of emotions, of joy and displeasure in the limbic System and transfer the knowledge to our behavior.

Of bonobos and prairies

But the similarities end there. Thomashoff takes a more scientific approach to the areas of “work and conflicts”, “love and sex”, “knowledge and belief”. Instead of concrete help in life, he refers to psychological experiments and current research results. Also from the animal kingdom, because with monkeys and mice we have more similarities than the sight suggests.

And the renowned psychiatrist and psychoanalyst will be happy to show you the way to more happiness with his popular science book. You only have to open the door yourself.

Discounts for your success (advertising)!

Early experience and beer from the refrigerator

The fun of reading does not suffer from detours into neurology, psychoanalysis or biology. On the contrary: with a fine pinch Humour and in brisk, easy-to-understand language, the brain researcher explains why we always seem to choose the same type of partner in life decide, looking for loyalty or just not being able to be faithful.

Hormone releases have to do with it. But even more early childhood experiences that serve as an anchor for later decisions and behavior. And what really in the long run satisfied Thomashoff also reveals: "Love, stress tolerance and the ability to trust".

In “I searched for happiness and found satisfaction”, Thomashoff invites us to an exciting, often very amusing journey into subconscious thoughts, feelings and passions. Nice book!

Right in the middle of a burnout dilemma

Another book deals with an equally important topic, namely “burnout”. What makes Ulrike Pilz-Kusch's book "Burnout: Recognizing early signals - gaining strength" so special is that Ms. Pilz-Kusch is / was affected by itself - and would like to help others.

Authenticity is what drew me to this book. Because Ulrike Pilz-Kusch knows how it feels when you slip into burnout and how difficult it is to get out of it again.

Christine Pilz-Kusch was affected herself: At the end of 2004 she suddenly felt powerless and lacking in energy and caught herself thinking "how relieving it would be if I now had a life-threatening illness". Pilz-Kusch was right in the middle of the burnout dilemma.

Recognize the dangers in good time

With your book, you want to help others recognize the dangers in time and thus facilitate the path from the (impending) burnout. A helpful book for those who are afraid to slip into a burnout and pull the zip in time.

Because Pilz-Kusch found out for himself. Few can do that. She wrote her book “Burnout – recognizing early signals – gaining strength” for those affected, but also for trainers and therapists. A practical guide that facilitates the diagnosis, shows the possibilities of prevention before the depression spiral takes hold and, above all, the ways out of the psychologicalCrisis illuminated.

Clear criteria for burnout

In the first part the author takes a close look at the early detection. Not (only) from a medical point of view, but above all from the point of view of those affected. When is it a temporary low, at what point in time should you ignore the warning signs of diminished emotional stability, limited work and social performance?

Pilz-Kusch names clear criteria and gives you one checklist the possibility, "Honestly to take stock”. Comforting: Pilz-Kusch makes it clear that the superficially shocking diagnosis of "burnout" also harbors opportunities: the rich prospects for a healthier, better life.

Eight Focusing Keys

In the second, practical part, the qualified pedagogue presents her instruments and Methods for “more vitality”, mindfulness and Optimism .

She identified eight “focusing keys” that pave the way out of the mental crisis. Ulrike Pilz-Kusch introduces everyone in detail:

• the "pause"
• the "kind-caring self-observation",
• creating “free spaces”,
• identifying “energy players”,
• the “focus on strengths”,
• the “energy-saving work”
• and finally the feeling for the right “rhythm of your own life”.

How to recognize burnout early and successfully turn away

All Focusing principles are explained using examples and exercises and can be used immediately and without any preparation Everyday life of those affected. The fact that they are so simple on the one hand, and on the other hand can completely replace the "used-up perspectives of everyday life" makes the exercises so valuable.

"Burnout - recognizing early signs - gaining strength" is a rich collection of methods and exercises for self- and third-party therapy for burned-out people People. Well prepared and clear!

The sensitivities of society

The psychologist Stephan Grünewald repeatedly deals with the sensitivities of Germany and the Germans – he had previously published “Germany on the Couch”, for example – and the insights he brings together are always fascinating.

In his new book "The Exhausted Society" he aims to show how the ongoing overload in Job and privacy and escape the exhaustion that comes with it. An insightful reading pleasure.

Whoever wants to live must dream

Out of the hamster wheel, off under the shower. The recipes that Germany Psychologist No. 1 Stephan Grünewald gives his readers are as simple as they are brutal. Against the controlling rage in Companys and the control mania at home, he puts the neat chaos.

And strongly advises to finally dream again. The psychologist's analyzes are based on several thousand in-depth interviews, from which he distilled German sensitivities in his book “Die exhausted society”, published by Campus. And thus creates an insightful reading experience.

With Master Propper against Eurobonds

No Anxiety, it's not psychological gibberish. Stephan Grünewald makes it clear right from the first pages that he is Background Although developed on a solid empirical basis, he has no intention of bullying his readers with numbers and statistics.

Instead, he associates pointedly and with exuberant creativity Connections that no one else sees. For example, the “increase in activities such as cleaning or DIY” that has been registered since the financial crisis.

For Grünewald, this is an indication that “the domestic small wars and private floor offensives that are carried out when cleaning with the help of a highly armed cleaning arsenal convey the victorious feeling of being able to ward off enemy intruders.” So with Master Propper against the Eurobonds.

BurnOut as a gauge for performance

Also illuminating his analysis of the rampant burn-out syndrome. At a time when work performance can no longer be recognized on the basis of a finished workpiece, Grünewald says that only the state of exhaustion remains as an indicator.

Only when I'm exhausted, I've done something. And the more exhausted I am, the more powerful I am. A balancing act, which must end with the tearing of the tendons.

Life as a casting show?

The psychologist discovers other scenes from the hamster wheel in the changing world Esteem, which is increasingly being shifted outwards. He calls the casting shows symbolic of this, in which audience applause about the weal and woe of the Candidates is decided.

And as a digital equivalent, the “Like” button on Facebook. “If you don't get that thumbs up, you doubt yourself or your little work that you have put online. And then plunges into new activities all the more. "

Dreams as a remedy for exhaustion

Whoever is driven so far will at some point be exhausted. In his book, Grünewald therefore considers a plea for dreaming. For the half-intermediate states, for the information in which our psyche balances the contradictions of life and the power of emotions.

Stephan Grünewald does not give the dream interpreter. That does not matter. But to listen to the dream voices, to look at the dream images. Because in their madness and entanglement, they show us, that Grünewald, that there is a Beyond the hamster wheel.

You can not run away from death

Seen from the social analyst's point of view, these dreams are the prerequisite "for the transformation of reality". Because “inventions, technical innovations, artistic creativity, scientific discoveries or philosophical interpretations of the world are only possible if you break away from the rational Agenda solves and the Welt dreamlike with others Eyes sees."

In front of this slide he takes a look at the elderly who are trying to "run away from death on trim trails or on the way of St. James". Instead of “gaining powers that enrich life” in the awareness of finitude.

Latte macchiato moms and earplugs youth

He takes the “latte macchiato”Mothers” under the magnifying glass, who simply had new ideals shouldered onto their shoulders in addition to the old mother ideals. Now it's time to do everything at once and still be in a good mood.

And he illuminates the “new” youth, whose rebellion is not to rebel, but to plug themselves off with “ear pacifiers” (MP3 players) from possible disturbing empty spaces.

Of expansion joints and transition moments

A creative social analysis from the perspective of a psychologist. With the urgent advice to society to use the dream logic "to develop its creative potential".

This includes staging the “expansion joints and transition moments” and ceasing to overload your free time with never-to-be-fulfilled “dreams of paradise”. Or just take a very long shower.

The civilization disease of 21. Century?

Burnout is on everyone's lips. But as a rule, it is assumed that an employee is responsible for ensuring that his Employees not suffer from burnout. Hence this book that shows how Executives being able to protect their employees from burnout is all the more important.

No wonder that not only new types of diagnosis and therapy are springing up like mushrooms, but also bizarre theories about the causes. This is where the highly recommended book “Burnout” by Julia Scharnhorst comes into play.

Unaffected and with precise reasoning

The author approaches the phenomenon calmly and with appropriately precise arguments and describes how managers protect their employees in the company and stand by them at the first signs of mental illness.

Already on the first pages, the book stands out pleasantly from the nonsense that is spread at regulars' tables or published in daily newspapers. Scharnhorst proves that burnout is not a new form of illness. There isn't even a uniform one Definition.

Burnout existed before 2000 years ago

Experts only agree that burnout is closely related to depression. However, the social label “burnout” makes suffering more bearable for those affected - especially for men who would never admit to depression.

Sources from the literature and even the Bible indicate that the "debilitating melancholy" has always affected people.

Mismatch of commitment and recognition

Good: The myth of the (too) high workload as the cause of burnout is also quickly thrown overboard. In fact, the risk of illness is particularly high in people who have a blatant mismatch between work commitment and recognition feel.

And that across all occupations. Scharnhorst also explains the first signs ("risk assessment") of psychological overload and explains the typical subsequent course of the disease "aggression - withdrawal - isolation".

First aid for those affected

Using numerous case studies and checklists, executives learn how to protect their employees from “burning out” and how to intervene with sensitivity when the first symptoms of depression become apparent:

Conversation search immediately, “ask more than talk, active listening”. And then decide together which one steps out of the downward spiral. Everything that relieves those affected immediately is allowed.

A solid basic work on dealing with burnout diseases in companies. Clearly written, seriously researched. An important, overdue book for responsible managers and works councils who Term Take “duty of care” seriously.

The underrated disease

And then there's this: an explanation of burnout. However, it not only illuminates what burnout actually means, how to prevent it and how to get the disease under control, no, it is about more: The author also explains what the labor law side looks like if you are “because of a little Stress” (so the common Opinions many employers) take sick leave for longer.

Anyone who breaks his bones during a ski holiday is sick until he gets on his feet again. A self-evidentness, which is evident in the diagnosis burnout does not attack. Both the affected person and the employer tend to deal with this disease in a self-sufficient manner - which then begins not to take the disease seriously.

“Everyone has stress”

Iris Riffelt, a lawyer specializing in labor law and herself experienced in “burnout”, now shows in her book “Stopover Burnout” what those affected have to consider from the point of view of labor law - and what they can expect.

The burnout cases of some celebrities have brought the topic back to the gossip columns and talk shows and stuff like that for sure helped raise awareness of the topic. Nevertheless, the diagnosis is still smiled at in everyday life.

"Everyone has stress at times," it says. The result is that those affected do not take themselves and their illness seriously. And that's exactly one of the most difficult phases of the disease - not recognizing it.

The first step to healing: Take the disease seriously!

“Stopover Burnout” essentially consists of two parts. In the first, Iris Riffelt describes what burnout means and how to recognize burnout completely unacademically and saturated with experience. In contrast to illnesses that are diagnosed by the doctor, the long way to cure burnout begins with “that the person concerned takes the illness seriously themselves.”

Riffelt refers to Herbert Freudenberger, who coined the term “burnout” in the 70s. And to Volker Schmieder, who defines burnout as the intersection of "stress, depression and exhaustion".

And what does the boss say?

The way out of the burnout is stony. Iris Riffelt describes the prerequisites for complete recovery from her own experience and from discussions with those concerned. Fundamental are the subjects of peace, self-confidence, and mindfulness.

Burnout sufferers will not be able to overcome their illness with these “tips”. But they get an insight into how it works and the “antidotes”. Up to this point, “Stopover Burnout” is a helpful book, but not one that stands out from the books on the subject available so far. This happens in the second part.

Burnout from the point of view of labor law

For Iris Riffelt is neither a psychologist nor a doctor, but a labor lawyer. The fact that she has kneeled into this topic is because she herself was burnout. A circumstance to which the sufferer now owes a wise book.

Precisely because the diagnosis "burnout" is not always taken seriously by those around them, by employers, or by those affected themselves, it is an issue fast the question of the labor law side. And Iris Riffelt fills this gap excellently.

Neither employer nor patient decide

“Can I even afford a break? What about sick pay? how long am i insured? Can I be fired if I'm sick for several months? How am I supposed to survive a break financially as a self-employed person?” All these Ask the specialist lawyer Iris Riffelt works through point by point.

It makes it clear that, as with other illnesses, neither the employer nor the patient decide how long the disease lasts. But that the disease is the measure upon which action is taken.

Six months sick is not possible?

And Riffelt shows how the re-entry into the job works. An important book, also because it warns against hasty decisions (for example, rushed dismissals, which often aggravate the whole thing).

It encourages sufferers to accept their illness first, and then on the road to recovery. Above all, however, the author and specialist lawyer Iris Riffelt shows that and how the labor law strengthens burnout sufferers.

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