In Switzerland, one in six people say they have suffered from burn-out

Seventeen percent of the Swiss population say they have experienced burn-out, also known as professional exhaustion syndrome, according to Thursday's SSR survey "Comment va la Suisse? French-speaking Switzerland, women and people on low incomes are clearly more affected than average.

Suffering at work is a reality for many people in Switzerland. Seventeen percent of the Swiss population claim to have suffered from burnout syndrome. And no less than one in four Swiss believe they are at risk of burn-out in their current working environment. These are the findings of the latest results from the major "How's Switzerland?

However, not all categories of the population seem to be affected in the same way. The prevalence of burnout appears to be particularly high among French speakers (24.1%), well above that reported by German (15.1%), Italian (14.7%) or Rhaeto-Romanic (5.3%) speakers.

How can this discrepancy be explained? Occupational health psychologist Nadia Droz points out that burn-out is not a recognized diagnosis, nor is it a clearly defined syndrome. According to her, one of the explanations could therefore stem from a "different reading" of this term "according to language and individual interpretations which are legitimate in view of this lack of definition". And he warns against too hasty an interpretation: "This survey does not allow us to conclude that it is better to go to work in German-speaking Switzerland than in French-speaking Switzerland."

Professor at the Institute of Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Neuchâtel, Laurenz Meier doesn't venture a definitive opinion on the subject either. At most, he notes that this difference between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland is found in other psychological disorders. This is particularly true of depression, as figures from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office show.

As in the case of linguistic considerations, there is a significant gender gap. The survey shows that women are more likely than men to admit to having suffered burn-out during their careers (18.7% versus 14.8%). This is particularly true for women aged 40 to 64 (22%).

"In the case of burn-out, as with other psychological illnesses, we know that women are more likely than men to express their condition and seek help," points out Nadia Droz. Yet this doesn't mean that the actual prevalence of burnout syndrome differs by gender, she points out.

>> "Burn-out, professional exhaustion when the cup is full":

Laurenz Meier puts forward other hypotheses. In his opinion, it's possible that the gender difference is linked to other parameters not taken into account in the survey. For example, women are over-represented in health and personal care, a sector renowned for its difficult working conditions. The burden of domestic work, which still falls mainly on women, can also be an aggravating factor in professional overwork, the professor speculates.

Income seems to be a determining factor in the prevalence of burn-out. The better you earn, the less likely you are to suffer from burn-out, according to the SSR survey. Nearly 30% of people from households earning less than 3,000 francs a month say they have experienced burnout syndrome. At the other end of the scale, "only" 13% of people earning over 9,000 francs have experienced burn-out.

For Laurenz Meier, in addition to workload, the rewards we receive for our hard work - of which salary is one - are also important in understanding whether or not burn-out occurs. "Above a certain income, salary is not a motivating factor at work," notes Nadia Droz. However, for the lowest income earners, this threshold is not reached and the salary is not enough to live on, "which represents a risk of chronic stress", she points out.

Paradoxically, burn-out is no more common among part-timers than full-time workers, according to the survey. In both categories, prevalence is almost identical. No wonder," says Professor Laurenz Meier. People think that workload explains burn-out, but this is not the case. Above all, it's the density and intensity of the work that counts. For example, having five hours or ten hours to accomplish the same task is very different in terms of perceived workload," he explains.

Nadia Droz agrees: "Part-time work is not protective. It can be, especially for people who have suffered burn-out and decided to reduce their workload, but it doesn't have to be." The same is true, by the way, of one's profession or hierarchical position. "No job or position is a bulwark against burn-out," concludes the Lausanne-based psychologist.

One in six has suffered burnout

In Switzerland, many people feel stressed out and exhausted at work. The RTS programme "Ça change quoi pour vous?" looks at the consequences this development has for people, public health and the economy.

Claire Micallef

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Especially after long summer or autumn holidays, the feeling comes back: the stress, the exhaustion when you are at work. For those affected, it's like an unmanageable mountain that has to be climbed, as Sarah Bertschi, consultant for occupational health management, describes.

And suddenly, you can't do it anymore. Everything feels like a huge mountain.

Work and stress have always gone hand in hand. The term "burnout" was coined in 1969, but the syndrome was not conceptualised until the early 80s, mainly in the health and care professions, before it spread to other sectors. In Switzerland, according to Unisanté, the prevalence of burnout among patients is between 6% and 9 %.

Our capitalist and technological society has transformed the world of work. The arrival of emails, smartphones and remote working has blurred the line between private and professional life. Added to this is the pressure we put on ourselves to perform.

"In Switzerland we have a special relationship with work. We talk about 'Swiss quality', 'a job well done', we have trade unions but very few strikes. Work is kind of sacred in Switzerland", observed psychologist Catherine Vasey.

Trade unions are calling for protection better adapted to these changes. "Today, work has become more demanding, more intense and more complex. New technologies have made it possible to add more and more tasks to a job, wages are stagnating and the cost of living is rising. So it's really a very difficult situation for workers", explained Migmar Dhakyel, central secretary of Syna.

Another component is the meaning of our work. In 2018, the American anthropologist David Graeber coined the term "bullshit job" to refer to the useless tasks done by a large proportion of employees, also in Switzerland.

We felt that we were all producing a huge amount of reports every day that ended up on the desk of a manager who had the job to read them. We never got any feedback on what we did. It's this notion of usefulness which is really important. You do something and you ask yourself: 'What's the point?'

Michaël Desforges, for example, worked in banking for over twenty years. The sickly production of reports caused him to change direction. "We felt that we were all producing a huge amount of reports every day that ended up on the desk of a manager who had the job to read them. We never got any feedback on what we did. It's this notion of usefulness which is really important. You do something and you ask yourself: 'What's the point?'", he explained.

Beyond the immense pressure put on certain professions by the pandemic, Covid also allowed us to slow down and discover a life almost without an office and colleagues. The return journey was difficult. In October 2021, Clinica Holistica, specialised in burnout, had a waiting list of two to three months.

"In the first half of 2021, we reached a record occupancy rate of 100.7%. We were in fact overcrowded, and this rate is similar or even higher in the second half of the year", says Michael Pfaff, medical director of the clinic based in Graubünden.

Absenteeism in Switzerland reached a record levels last year. At 9.3 days of absence per full-time employee in 2022, this is 20% more than during the Covid period and 33% more than in 2019. This increase affects all sectors. The main cause is health, whether physical or mental.

Stress at work cost the Swiss economy around CHF 6.5 billion last year, according to the Job Stress Index 2022 by Promotion Santé Suisse.

"This is very costly for the employer. It is one thing for large companies which have HR departments with many employees. The room for manoeuvre is much smaller for small companies which are subject to the same constraints and put the same pressure on their colleagues", explained the director of the AI office in Geneva.

So everyone is looking for a magic formula. This includes the "Chief Happiness Officers", in other words those responsible for happiness. "When a manager tells me that well-being at work costs a certain budget, I tell them that it is nothing compared to the cost of being unwell at work," stresses Annika Månsson from the company Happy at Work.

In these training courses, the responsibility for stress is placed on the individual alone, without questioning the work context and the origin of this stress.

But these gurus, whose job it is to encourage us to improve our performance at work, worry Sophie Le Garrec, a labour sociologist at the University of Fribourg: "In these training courses, the responsibility for stress is placed on the individual alone, without questioning the work context and the origin of this stress."

Stress at work

Veterinarians are particularly exposed to the risk of suicide

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A French study has shown that veterinarians are three to four times more likely to commit suicide than the general population. In Switzerland too, vets find themselves in distress. A hotline has just been set up to help them.

Vannozza Gauthier, a veterinarian based in Echallens, loves her job very much. However, a few years ago, she almost closed her practice. The reason: "I nearly burnt out."

Her case is no exception. A study carried out in France by the Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté and published last year, showed that veterinarians were three to four times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, and twice as likely as those working in human medicine.

Endless days, emergencies and on-call duty: it's a long week for vets. According to a study conducted by the Bureau d'études de politique du travail et de politique sociale (BASS) in 2021, veterinarians work an average of 50 hours a week.

When he opened her practice, Vannozza Gauthier had a mobile phone ton which her clients could call her 24 hours a day, 6 days a week and three weekends a month.

"Some evenings, I'm so tired when I get home that I can't even cook dinner. These days it's rare, but it used to happen a lot. There's a lot of guilt involved because you feel like you're letting your family down."

And on top of that: "The Google ratings weigh heavily on us", she comments.

"If anything happens to him, I'll kill you"

Another difficulty is that relations with pet owners have become strained. The status of animals in society has changed, and clients have high expectations nowadays.

A veterinary surgeon in Geneva, Luc Borer, recounts the case of a client who, at the end of a consultation, said to him: "It's like my child, if anything happens to him, I'll kill you."

Above all, not everyone is willing or able to pay for medical treatment for their pet. "It's heartbreaking for us not to be able to help an animal because of financial reasons, even though it's our calling", says Luc Borer.

As president of the Geneva Society of Veterinarians, Luc Borer now sees a steady stream of customer complaints. Some ask for for bills to be reimbursed months - or even years - after a treatment because they consider it too expensive in retrospect.

Euthanasia is also something that, although common, can weigh heavily on vets. In the canton of Vaud, Laudine Lequet knows what she's talking about: "Being confronted with suffering, whether human or animal... You can't be insensitive to that", she sums up. "And we see everything, really."

Although Switzerland does not keep statistics on suicide among vets, the malaise affecting the profession is well known. "I know two people directly who have committed suicide. And when you talk to colleagues, many know cases", says Luc Borer.

This is also the case for Vannozza Gauthier, whose colleague ended his life using equipment from his own pharmacy. Because having the necessary means within reach is also a factor that facilitates the act.

As for Laudine Lequet, she knew a colleague and friend who took his own life just two years after completing his studies, aged 26. To better recognise the symptoms of burnout, she joined the French association Véto-Entraide.

Aware of the problem, the Swiss Veterinary Society set up a free helpline this February to help veterinarians, veterinary assistants and those around them. "We want to go further and establish more effective measures to support students", explains Olivier Glardon, President of the Society.

"Because we're realising that they too are vulnerable, which is perhaps something new. We would also like to provide more support during post-graduate training, which can be a shock as it is in human medicine, as well as during work in the practice to detect any concerns more quickly."

"If you know how to take care of yourself and set limits, both for your pet owners and for yourself, it's a wonderful job", concludes Vannozza Gauthier. "But you have to learn how to manage it all.

Veterinarians particularly affected

Does our job take up too much space?

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Many people complain about chronic stress at work. The Corona pandemic has often made everyday work even more stressful. To avoid getting caught in a stress spiral, you should pay attention to your body's signals, says occupational physician Dieter Kissling.

SRF: Mr. Kissling, according to studies, many employees are addicted to work and constant busyness. Is stress more likely to arise from external factors or is it of our own making?

Dieter Kissling: Both aspects are relevant. If an individual has high expectations, for example because he or she tends to be a perfectionist, this contributes to stress. On the other hand, the framework conditions are also central, such as the corporate and management culture. When the two come together, chronic stress can result.

Psychology distinguishes between eustress and distress, i.e. positive and negative stress. Can stress also be positive?

Originally, stress is a survival strategy: when the bear comes, we have to be more efficient in order to survive. It only becomes a problem when a permanent high level of performance is required and the stress becomes chronic.

But imagine if you didn't feel stress before exam situations in the past. They would not have been willing to learn at all. Stress also inspires us.

When does challenge become overload, satisfying busyness become unhealthy stress?

When our body and psyche call in and symptoms appear. When I notice that I am changing because of this chronic stress. At that moment, you should admit to yourself that you need to cut back.

What mechanisms in the workplace create negative stress?

Research shows that time pressure is right up there. Working with customers or patients also carries high stress risks. In addition, there are various leadership issues, such as communication problems between employees and supervisors and the topic of job insecurity. Long working hours and interpersonal conflicts also generate negative stress.

When stress levels are chronic, you can get sick. What are the symptoms of this?

On the physical level, there are the typical shoulder-neck tensions, irritable bowel complaints or cardiac arrhythmias. On the psychological level, sleep disturbances are an early symptom.

Then there are also concentration problems, forgetfulness and irritability. I become thin-skinned and react more aggressively to the environment. Unfortunately, these early signs often go unnoticed by those stuck in this stress spiral. It's just part of it for them, and the environment suffers.

Is there a "point of no return" in this process, after which the person affected can no longer get out of the consequences of stress?

Yes, there is, unfortunately. When the exhaustion becomes so strong that nothing works anymore. If symptoms of depression develop or physical damage has developed, intensive therapy is necessary. Then help is needed from outside, if necessary as an inpatient in a clinic, so that patients can be treated consistently.

Keyword prevention: What can you do to avoid getting caught in such a spiral?

Exercise is extremely helpful. When we exercise, new neurons form in the brain, making them more resilient. We should relax regularly and get enough sleep - seven to eight hours a night. In addition, we should not work from morning to night without interruption, but take a micro-break every hour and collect our thoughts.

You should also rethink your own expectations: Does it always have to be perfect? This also includes getting a grip on stress-exacerbating thoughts like "what do they think of me?" instead of constantly stressing yourself out.

What is the responsibility of the work environment?

As an employer, I ask myself time and again: How do I create a corporate culture with my standard values and convictions in which employees feel comfortable? Is my leadership culture supportive, appreciative? These are important aspects that must also be clarified together with the employees in a working environment. At the same time, I expect my employees to assume their own responsibility and maintain a certain level of health behavior.

Are there stress-producing factors that neither supervisors nor employees can influence?

With the Corona pandemic, we have been experiencing an example of this for two years. We can't control Covid, but we can influence how we deal with it. That's the bottom line. We call this resilience: Do I let a stressful situation make me sick, or do I have the ability to stay healthy despite it?

The interview was conducted by Irène Dietschi.

Burnout: symptoms and remedies

What if artificial intelligence could better detect burnout?

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Artificial intelligence could help detect burnout. Scientists supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation have developed a promising method based on automatic text analysis.

Tell me how you write and I'll tell you if you have a burnout. A research team has developed a method based on the automatic analysis of words and sentences to detect cases of burnout in the workplace.

The results, published in spring 2022 in "Frontiers" in "Big Data", are rather impressive: artificial intelligence correctly detects burnout in 93% of the cases.

To do this, the scientists analysed texts from the Reddit platform - an English-language community website that functions as a thematically structured discussion forum.

In total, a database of over 13,000 text extracts was compiled. Some came from discussions on the topic of burnout, while others came from various thematic forums.

According to Mascha Kurpicz-Briki, professor of data engineering at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Biel, the method is less time-consuming and also more reliable than previous psychological tests. "Sometimes we have problems with questions with graded answers. It can also happen that people try to influence the results", the scientist explains on RTS.

This is exactly what the researchers wanted to improve with this method. The slight frustration, however, is that it's not possible to know exactly which words or phrases are retained as symptoms of burnout. The method could be compared to a black box that doesn't reveal all the decision-making mechanisms.

The results still need to be consolidated with doctors who will verify the conclusions on real cases of burnout and on a representative sample of the population.

Burnout is a state of deep physical and mental fatigue. It is not easy to detect, as its symptoms resemble those of illnesses such as depression or anxiety.

Recognising burnout

Travailsuisse warns of exhaustion at the workplace

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The trade union confederation Travailsuisse demands legislative measures against stress and exhaustion at the workplace. Among other things, it wants to counteract the psychological strain on employees with more effective rules on overtime and more holidays. According to Travailsuisse, more and more people are affected by work-related stress.

Working days that are too long, more and more flexibility, unclear boundaries between private and professional life. The trade union confederation considers these developments to be the cause of increasing stress at the workplace. It sees a duty on the part of politics - and demands more effective rules on working hours and more holidays for everyone.

Stress and exhaustion are the greatest burdens on employees, said Travailsuisse President Adrian Wüthrich in Bern: "By now, everyone knows someone who has been absent for a long time with a burnout." The shortage of skilled workers means a greater burden for employees.

Travailsuisse presented an analysis on the topic at the joint media conference with representatives of the Syna trade union, the Hotel and Catering Union and the Transfair staff association in Bern.

Among other things, Travailsuisse wants to start with duty scheduling: Today, work schedules usually have to be announced only two weeks in advance. This is no longer appropriate, as more families have both parents working. The organisation would like to see work on call explicitly banned.

The confederation also demands stricter regulations on rest and working hours. In more and more companies, employees have to be present from early in the morning until late at night and only get a few hours off in between. Travailsuisse therefore demands that the length of working days, including daytime and evening work, be limited to a maximum of ten hours a day. A maximum of one hour of overtime is to be allowed per day .

To date, labour law provides for maximum weekly working hours of 45 or 50 hours, the association criticises. This, while other countries have long since introduced the 42- or 40-hour week. Accoring to Travailsuisse, a considerable reduction is needed. 

The employers' side demands that we all work even longer - that is cynical.

The former Bernese SP National Councillor Wüthrich accused the employers of wanting to pass on the entrepreneurial risk to the employees. He rejected calls from the centre-right for a relaxation of the regulations on working hours.

Such a policy turns a blind eye to the health risks, says Wüthrich. "The employers' side demands that we all work even longer - that is cynical." The engine of the labour market is running at full speed, says Wüthrich and adds that employees are trimmed for efficiency, effectiveness and maximum flexibility.

In surveys, 40% of workers said they felt exhausted, according to Wüthrich. As a countermeasure, Travailsuisse is demanding, among other things, at least six instead of only four weeks of paid holidays for everyone per year, and seven for people under 20.

In addition, employees must have the right to reduce their workload and be given more influence in determining their working hours, says Wüthrich. Today, it would be hardly possible for many to take care of children or relatives, to do voluntary work or to complete further training.

Regulations are also needed to ensure the right to rest and to not be available during leisure time, Wüthrich says.

Demands of the trade unions

Find out where you stand

Abuse of psychotropic medication, a growing problem

In Ticino, in addition to narcotics, the use of benzodiazepines is on the rise, even among younger people. They are available on prescription and cause addiction.

In Ticino, besides illegal drugs, the abuse of medicines, especially benzodiazepines, i.e. psychotropic medication, is on the rise. This is a worrying phenomenon because, on the one hand, it creates a black market for prescriptions and, on the other hand, these drugs are also prescribed to young people and cause severe addiction that sometimes makes diagnosis difficult.

The year 2022 was marked by the end of the pandemic, which had forced the temporary closure of the L'Ancora office. The Lugano-based association had a total of 43 patients, 80% of them men.

"From an operational point of view, Covid has not brought any major difficulties", says Fulvio Pelli, chairman of the committee of the L'Ancora Association. "But we had to gather all the patients in one centre instead of separating them into two centres." This made it possible to intervene with patients suffering from Covid, separating them from the others.

The therapy centre Villa Argentina currently accommodates about 20 patients out of a maximum of 25, but four new admissions are planned. Ticino is confronted with a worrying new trend in addition to the increase in crack use: benzodiazepines.

"They are anxiolytics", explains Mirko Steiner, board member of the L'Ancora Association, "they help the person to relax, fight anxiety and are very helpful when prescribed correctly." However, "they become dangerous when taken over a long period of time, or when people increase their dose, by having the substances prescribed not only by one doctor, but by several at the same time."

There is a risk of creating a thicket of undiagnosed cases because benzodiazepines are available on prescription.

"Apparently, this type of medicine", the director continues, "can also be used to calm the effects of, for example, cocaine." But that's not all: it is often used to combat stress among young people and also among women over forty, where "according to case studies, there is greater access to this type of substance."

Visible symptoms of possible addiction are sudden drowsiness, reduced ability to concentrate, slowed speech and movements.

Abuse of psychotropic medication

Young people want more flexibility at work

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Teleworking, flexible working hours, videoconferencing... The Covid years have profoundly changed our relationship with work. Gone are the days of "commute, work, sleep", as young graduates want a better work-life balance and, at an increasing number, to work part-time.

With her CFC in her pocket, Aya is looking for her first job. She's taking part in the Jeunes@work programme, which helps new graduates enter the world of work. Today, she has an appointment with her coach to review her first job applications and her desires. "My ideal job would be to discover a new sector, while having two half-days off during the week to spend time with my family", she says.

The same goes for Laetitia. She has a bachelor's degree as a specialist educator and would like to work with autistic children. However, not under just any conditions. "I wouldn't like to work 100%, even though that's quite rare in special needs education. Maybe, it's because we know it's a difficult job: working 100% can more easily lead to a burnout", she says.

She adds: "I think when someone feels good outside, when they take time for themselves, they are also better at their job. What can be difficult is the image that comes with it: if you don't work 100%, you can be seen as a slacker, someone who doesn't like to work."

A trend confirmed by Darryl Lüthi, coach at "Jeunes@work". "There's been a paradigm shift over the last five years. Before, employment was central to a candidate's life, and private life was built around work. Today, employment is no longer an end in itself."

This is enough to unsettle employers. At a meeting in Zurich, recruiters were given a sneak preview of a survey conducted by Universum among 10,000 recent graduates in Switzerland . The study, which will be published on May 24, underlines a clear verdict: to attract and retain talent, you need to be flexible and support their passions outside work.

"Flexibility has become an almost universal aspiration, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. So has greater autonomy and independence. Switzerland's work culture is very SME-oriented, where people go to the office and keep to their working hours. These aspects are now at odds with the expectations of young people and professionals, as during the pandemic our entire environment became accustomed to this flexibility", analyses Leo Marty, director of Universum Switzerland.

This aspiration is also shared by professionals. For example, Xavier, a 35-year-old IT specialist living in Geneva. For three years, he asked his employer to be able to work 80%. As his demands weren't met, Xavier resigned. With his passion for photography and his involvement in community life, he now only applies for part-time jobs.

"I realised that I had things I wanted to achieve outside of work, and that it was difficult to do so while working five days a week. A lot of people around me have part-time jobs, and I have the impression this gives them more time to thrive. I wanted to have this time to invest in photography. I'm also lucky enough to be in a sector that pays well, so that I earn enough working 80%", he says.

Work less, work better: a motto that's catching on. According to a study by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, nine out of ten graduates hold a job that corresponds to their training one year after completing their studies.