The 3 Differences Between Mobbing and Burnout (Explained)

Work is, for better and for worse, an indispensable part of our life. And it is that taking into account the age that, on average, a person works and the average working hours, we find that we spend between 8 and 9 years of our life working. That's a lot of time. But this is how we make a living.

And although there are times when work can be a pleasant place to spend this time and even, if we are lucky, a place that fills us emotionally since we dedicate ourselves to what we like the most, it is also totally true that professional life can become in an area hostile to our sanity.

And again, just look at the statistics. 9% of workers have suffered, suffer or will suffer workplace harassment; and 10% will suffer the so-called "burned-out worker syndrome". We are talking, then, of the two major psychosocial problems associated with work: mobbing and burnout. Harassment at work and the syndrome that leads us to chronify the stress of our professional life.

And although we often confuse both terms, the truth is that, as we see, each one of them appeals to very different realities. Therefore, in today's article, hand in hand with the most prestigious scientific publications and with the will to raise awareness about these circumstances that many workers suffer in their day to day, we are going to analyze the nature of mobbing and burnout, seeing also their main differences in the form of key points.

What is mobbing? And the burnout?

Before we go into the subject in depth and see the most important differences between terms, it is interesting (and also important) that we put ourselves in context and that we understand, individually, what exactly is mobbing and burnout syndrome. Therefore, below we are going to define both concepts.

Mobbing: what is it?

Mobbing is a form of harassment that takes place in the context of a work environment. Hence, it is also known as workplace harassment. A person is harassed in his workplace, so it is that form of harassment that takes place within companies, in all those places where the person, who becomes a victim, develops his professional activity while being in contact with other employees .

In this sense, it is the harassment that we can suffer in our workplace, being a very destructive situation both for the victim and for the company itself and consisting of the stalking that a person experiences by their coworkers (horizontal mobbing) , subordinates (ascending mobbing) or superiors (descending mobbing).

These bullies despise, discourage, exert unjustified psychological violence and generate fear in an employee inside and / or outside of work with toxic attitudes that are prolonged in time so that the victim leaves the job by “own will” (so that compensation does not have to be paid), as revenge for personal conflicts, as exemplary punishment, on the basis of discrimination, as sample of superiority, as an action to increase the productivity of a team ...

Be that as it may, this form of harassment has the peculiarity that it is not normally carried out on “weak” people, but rather that the most common victims are precisely the best employees, those who are hard-working and talented, who end up being envied and perceived as threats. both by his colleagues and by his superiors.

It is a psychological harassment that, according to figures provided by the European Union itself, affects 9% of the active European population to a greater or lesser extent. Thus, almost 1 in 10 workers suffers or will suffer this workplace harassment that can greatly reduce the emotional health of the victim, with devastating consequences in both his professional and personal life.

Burnout - what is it?

The burnout syndrome, also known as the “burned-out worker” syndrome, appeals to a situation in which work stress becomes chronic. This chronification of stress associated with an excessive workload causes the person to enter a state of mental and physical exhaustion that manifests itself with symptoms that, lasting pathologically over time, reduce their self-esteem, alter their personality, feel Unmotivated, they cause job dissatisfaction, make you adopt a cynical attitude and reduce your energy.

In other words, the syndrome of burnout, burnout or burnout is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion that emerges as a consequence of overwhelming work demands, chronic stress and / or dissatisfaction with professional life. It is not a disease of course, but it can trigger potentially serious physical and mental health problems.

Insomnia problems, headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, back pain and nausea, along with all the effects on emotional health (demotivation, irritability, tension, loss of self-esteem, little interest in contact social, cynical attitudes, nervousness, aggressiveness ...), are the main signs that this work stress has become chronic.

Each person is affected by work stress in a different way, but it is true that those with a more perfectionist personality and who have a more overwhelming or stressful lifestyle are more likely to develop this syndrome. It is curious to see how the people with the greatest tendency to present it are those with more vocational jobs, such as teachers or health workers.

In some cases, this burnout syndrome can be the trigger for two disorders as serious as anxiety and even depression, which are the cause of many sick leave. And it is that although many times the discomfort is reduced to the work environment, it does not take long to expand to all other areas of life, altering personal relationships with family, friends and partners.

This burnout syndrome requires multidisciplinary treatment, with initiatives for change in the company itself to reduce the stress felt by employees but also, if necessary, psychological support to deal with this chronic stress. If the problem is detected in time, the help of a psychologist can make a huge difference.

How are mobbing and burnout different?

After extensively analyzing the bases of both concepts, surely the differences between them have been more than clear. And it is that despite the fact that both occur in the context of a person's professional life, the truth is that they appeal to very different realities. Even so, in case you need (or simply want) to have the information with a more visual character, we have prepared the following selection of the main differences between mobbing and burnout in the form of key points.

1. Mobbing is workplace harassment; burnout, chronic stress from work

The most important difference and, without a doubt, the one with which we must stay. Mobbing is workplace harassment. That is, a prolonged stalking in the time in which colleagues, subordinates or superiors of an employee of a company psychologically harass a victim for different reasons, generally to get him to leave the company. But, in essence, it is based on toxic attitudes of bullying that occur in the context of a workplace.

In burnout syndrome, on the other hand, there is no harassment, much less harassment. It is the person himself who, due to a very perfectionist attitude together with an unviable workload, overwhelmed by demands and little time to meet the objectives, develops a stress in his job that, in case of chronicity and manifest with physical and emotional symptoms, will go on to form this burnout syndrome.

2. In mobbing, there is a victim; in burnout, no

As we can intuit from what we have seen in the previous point, in mobbing or workplace harassment there are two very clear figures: stalker (or group of stalkers) and victim, who suffers psychological harassment by people with whom they live in your work environment. In burnout, on the other hand, there is no victim as such since there is no figure of a stalker. It is the company itself, because of its strategy, that triggers chronic stress.

And here is another important thing to mention. And it is that while in mobbing or workplace harassment there is a clear intention to harass the victim (whatever the purpose), in burnout there is no such intention.

3. Mobbing is an assault on fundamental rights; the burnout, no

Even at the legal level there are differences. And it is that mobbing or workplace harassment, according to what the law dictates, is considered an attack on the fundamental rights of the person, which is why it constitutes a crime that, in the case of Spain, is punishable by imprisonment from six months to two years.

Burnout, on the other hand, since there is no culprit as such, does not constitute an attack on fundamental rights, but rather a violation of workers' rights in the event that it can be shown that the company has made errors in its planning that have led let your employees experience this chronic stress.