Corporate Burnout: Key Challenges and When to Seek Help!
2025-01-03
Corporate burnout in Shanghai is a significant issue, often driven by a unique set of stressors related to the fast-paced business environment, cultural adjustments, and the pressure of balancing personal and professional lives in a competitive setting. Various mental health issues can arise for people facing these challenges. Below are some key factors that contribute to corporate burnout for employees in China and later we will discuss how to know when it’s time to get help and where you can go. Keyfactors that contribute to corporate burnout: High-Pressure Work Environment: Shanghai is one of the world’s most dynamic business hubs, with a highly competitive corporate environment. Many working in multinational companies face intense workloads, long hours, and high expectations. The "always-on" culture prevalent in many industries, coupled with the need to adapt to different time zones when dealing with headquarters or global clients, can lead to chronic stress and eventually burnout. Wechat and the expectation that employees are available 24/7 is a major factor in people feeling like they are always at work, especially if you come from a culture that respects employee down time more. Cultural and Language Barriers: Even though Shanghai is a cosmopolitan city with a large expat community, navigating daily life can still be challenging. Many expats face difficulties with language barriers, cultural differences, and workplace communication styles. While English is widely spoken in business settings, the nuances of Chinese business culture—such as expectations around hierarchy, indirect communication, and relationship building (guanxi)—can add stress to expats unfamiliar with these norms. Lack of Work-Life Balance: Many employees in Shanghai report challenges in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Long working hours, coupled with the unique pressures of living in China—such as staying connected with loved ones back home, raising children in an unfamiliar environment, or coping with the stress of relocation—can foster feelings of isolation and contribute to burnout. Additionally, many find it difficult to disconnect from work, particularly when their social networks are closely linked to their professional lives. Identity tied to job: When a person's identity becomes too closely tied to their job, it can lead to several potential challenges and emotional difficulties. While work is an important aspect of life, over-identifying with a job or career can create vulnerabilities, especially when professional circumstances change or become unstable. Relying too much on a job for self-worth can make a person emotionally vulnerable, especially when facing challenges at work. Negative feedback, a demotion, or job loss can feel like an attack on their core identity, leading to: Low self-esteem: Any setbacks at work may feel like a personal failure, rather than just a professional one, deeply affecting their sense of self. Anxiety and stress: The constant pressure to perform and maintain success can lead to chronic stress or anxiety. Perfectionism: When identity and worth are tied to work, the individual might set unattainable standards, fearing any mistake will diminish their self-worth. Essential Signs to Watch For! Signs of Burnout: 1. Emotional exhaustion – feeling drained, overwhelmed, and unable to cope. 2. Physical symptoms – headaches, sleep disturbances, stomach issues, and increased vulnerability to illness. 3. Detachment from work – feeling disconnected, apathetic, or cynical about professional responsibilities. 4. Decreased performance – finding it difficult to concentrate or complete tasks. 5. Irritability and mood swings – increased frustration and difficulty managing emotions. Signs That You May Need Professional Help: All these challenges listed above can be difficult to cope with and may result in some unhealthy coping mechanisms or thought patterns. Issues with addiction, depression, and anxiety are common amongst expats. In Shanghai, the most common form of addiction is alcohol addiction. Depression and Anxiety are common issues that most people will face at some point during their life. How do we know when we or someone we love might need help? Signs of Alcohol Use Disorder: Not being able to stop after a certain number of drinks, wanting to cut down but being unable to do so; Preoccupation with alcohol; Continuing to drink even after it causes problems or injuries, impacts work, school, or missing out on family obligations ; Using alcohol in situations where its unsafe to do so, such as riding a bike or scooter, or driving a car; Spending a lot of time recovering from drinking; Tolerance: feeling less effect on same amount, needing more to get the same effect; Withdrawal symptoms: shaking, nausea, sweating, rapid heartbeat, hand tremors, vomiting, agitation, restlessness, anxiety, and problems sleeping when you don't drink or drinking to avoid these symptoms. More severe symptoms could include hallucinations and seizures. It’s important to note that with other types of addictions such as food addiction, internet addiction or sex addiction, the symptoms and behaviors are essentially the same. Signs of Depression: Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness; Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters; Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports; Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much; Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort; Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain; Anxiety, agitation or restlessness; Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements; Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame; Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things; Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide; Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches.
Signs of Anxiety:
Trouble concentrating or making decisions;
Feeling irritable, tense, or restless;
Experiencing nausea or abdominal distress;
Heart palpitations, sweating, trembling or shaking
Trouble sleeping (usually due to rumination);
Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom.
What Resources are Available to Me in Shanghai?
Organizations:
Call Lifeline 400-82-1215 for crisis mental health support
Shanghai Mental Health Center is currently the only hospital in Shanghai that can admit foreigners for inpatient care purely for mental health reasons. 600 Wanping Rd. Tel: 21-3428-9888.
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are available both online and in person in Shanghai. Check AAshanghai.com for more information.
Parkway is Shanghai’s premier international health care provider with more foreign clinicians than any international hospital in Shanghai. Parkway has multiple foreign mental health care providers and several psychiatrists who are fluent in English. Call 400-819-6622 for the appointment line or add the customer service Wechat below.
Which Type of Mental Health Professional Should I See?
Parkway offers several different types of Mental Health care providers including psychiatrists, psychologists and Mental Health Counselors. What’s the difference? Psychiatrists are trained medical doctors and can prescribe medication. Some psychiatrists also offer talk therapy depending on their training and comfort with doing so. Psychologists and Mental Health Counselors cannot prescribe medications and focus on providing evidence-based interventions to help people overcome a variety of mental health problems.
All three types of professionals can provide a diagnosis and will be required to provide one if you are using insurance to see them. Psychologists usually have a doctorate and are more well versed in giving assessments such as assessments for autism spectrum disorders or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Mental Health Counselors should hold a master’s degree related to mental health counseling and depending on their country of origin, should have a title such as Licensed Professional Counselor or Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Life coaches, wellness coaches, holistic coaches or other types of coaches are NOT licensed or qualified mental health care providers. Insurance will not reimburse for their services. It is very important to check the credentials of anyone that you work with for mental health care services as the coaching industry is unregulated and many coaches in Shanghai market themselves as trained mental health professionals.
Does your insurance cover sessions with a psychologist?
Many insurance providers are now including enhanced benefits for mental health, a significant shift from the norms of a decade ago. Services such as medication coverage, counseling sessions, and even provisions for time off work have become standard in the corporate environment to support employee well-being. Additionally, corporate health insurance plans often include services like the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which provides employees with mental health support through dedicated hotlines.
If you are experiencing corporate burnout, going through a social or personal issue, you should check with your insurance provider or HR to see what benefits you can use to get some care for yourself.
Unfortunately, not all policies will cover mental health. At Abacare, we can help with consulting on finding insurers that do cover mental health and wellbeing for individual and group policies reach out to our experts at Abacare.