Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. People who are suffering burnout - the feeling of always being tired because they have been working too hard – always discover some ways to recover from it. They start to reconstruct their lifestyle: in just a short period of time, they may quit their job, move to another country, or end a relationship. Then, they successfully recover. However, ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

People who are suffering burnout - the feeling of always being tired because they have been working too hard – always discover some ways to recover from it. They start to reconstruct their lifestyle: in just a short period of time, they may quit their job, move to another country, or end a relationship. Then, they successfully recover. However, according to Stela Salminen, a doctoral candidate at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, this is not always the case.

Dramatic lifestyle changes might be beneficial for some people, but in her own research Salminen has found one factor which truly unites those who recover: realising that they are in control. For a small study in 2015, she interviewed 12 burnout sufferers. Researchers assessed participants to determine the severity of their burnout at the time of the study and seven months later. Their scores were then compared to what they said to look for patterns. The analysis revealed that those who recovered successfully experienced a revelation that they are in charge of their own wellbeing.

Salminen explains that if burnout sufferers believe that they can influence their environment, they usually take the necessary steps to reverse the factors which got them there in the first place. This might include things like improving sleep habits, since this is one of the best ways to reset when you're stressed, or drawing clear lines between work and non-work time. "People who have a sense of agency take steps in the workplace, make changes in their families; they take care of themselves, and they're more aware of their own limitations," she says.

One way to achieve this feeling of self-control is to attend slightly scary sounding "burnout rehabilitation programmes". These can come in many different forms - such as luxury retreats and basic online courses - but broadly they involve some kind of cognitive therapy to help people re-frame their experiences in a more productive way. Another is to gain control of another aspect of your life, such as by taking up a creative hobby or exercising more often. The late famous painting instructor Bob Ross often emphasised this, advising viewers that "If you don’t like it, change it. It’s your world."

Another important predictor of recovery from burnout is a healthy life. "Family relationships, one's overall health - these tend to influence people who have gone through burnout and are on the path to recovery," says Salminen. "Finding emotional support seems to be the first step towards recovery," says Salminen. "It can come from many different places - occupational health care like a psychologist, it can be support from family members, or support from colleagues." By verifying your experiences, these people can help to improve your motivation and how you see yourself, and regardless of what happens in your journey to recovery, this can only be good.