Dr. Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska, MD: "Burnout degenerates the brain and destroys the body." How to protect yourself?

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Dr. Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska, an integrative medicine physician, explains how chronic stress and a lack of regeneration damage both mental and physical health. She emphasizes that burnout isn't just a decline in motivation, but a complex process leading to serious health problems throughout the body, including inflammation and brain shrinkage. It's worth examining this health issue on Burnout Day.

The statistics leave no doubt: burnout affects 25–35% of professionally active Poles. The problem affects both full-time employees and business and sole proprietorship owners. As Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska, MD, explains:

One of the key causes of burnout is a lack of space for the body to regenerate. This can lead to sleep problems, mood swings, and anxiety, which gradually lead to exhaustion. In later stages, physical illnesses such as hypertension, heart disease, and sleep disorders can develop.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as a syndrome associated with chronic, unmanaged work-related stress. Short-term stress can be motivating, but when it becomes a daily occurrence, it disrupts hormonal balance, weakens immunity, and increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, depression, and cancer.

Stress hormones: cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, are responsible for the destructive effects of burnout. Cortisol disrupts metabolism and sleep, adrenaline causes blood pressure spikes and inflammation, and noradrenaline disrupts heart rhythm. Their chronic overproduction leads to dysregulation of the entire nervous, hormonal, and immune systems.

Dr. Magdalena Cubała-Kucharska explains why cortisol poses the greatest threat:

Over time, cortisol, which evolutionarily was designed to protect the body, becomes toxic. It damages the intestinal barrier, disrupts glucose metabolism, and increases inflammation. This leads to metabolic, cardiovascular, and autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, unregulated cortisol disrupts dopamine and serotonin, leading to depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Burnout also affects the brain, which doesn't return to its natural balance— homeostasis. Myelin production increases, but the number of neurons decreases, which impedes information processing. Dr. Cubała-Kucharska emphasizes:

Traumatic experiences associated with burnout can lead to neuronal death in key brain regions. The hippocampus, responsible for memory and emotions, shrinks, and the prefrontal cortex literally degenerates under the influence of long-term stress.

The basis of prevention is awareness of the risks and early recognition of burnout symptoms. Proper occupational hygiene, realistic goal setting, maintaining a work-life balance, and effective stress management strategies help avoid dramatic health consequences.

You can read more about how to take care of your employees' health and prevent burnout here:

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