What is the real cost of burnout ?
Burnout causes annual costs of about 2.4 billion in Switzerland. Acupuncture, already used as a preventive therapy, shows promising results.
Stress is a widespread illness in Switzerland. Prolonged stress without a regular recovery phase can lead to long-term states of exhaustion and even burnout.
The facts
In 2010, SECO published a study entitled "Stress among the employed working population in Switzerland".
In Switzerland, 25% of the working population reported feeling emotionally exhausted at work. According to SECO, stress causes annual costs of 4.2 billion francs, of which 2.4 billion francs are attributable to absenteeism and loss of production. One thing is certain: absences or reduced performance by employees cost the company considerable sums of money. This includes lost wages and possible costs of daily sickness benefits, but also the reduction in productivity when employees are present. In addition, burnout has been shown to be "contagious" - not in the common sense of the term, but because colleagues or the team must return to work that the sick person cannot or cannot fully perform. This in turn increases the risk of burnout. This makes prevention and early detection measures all the more important in the context of workplace health promotion.
Promoting prevention while strengthening the work climate
These consequences illustrate how important it is to prevent burnout so that as few employees as possible become ill. But from a manager's point of view, how can burnout be prevented? Prevention using optimized processes or a corporate health management system is far from being as costly as is often thought.
Prevention and treatment without medication
Acupuncture has long been used to treat psychological and emotional behavioural disorders such as nervousness, stress or burnout without the use of medication. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment methods consider the individual as a whole, so treatment focuses on the patient's overall health. Preventive treatment before the first symptoms appear helps to prevent the development of the disease. Especially in the case of psycho-behavioral disorders, the development of the disease can be prevented at an early stage.