Too much of a good thing?
What is passion fatigue?
Finding meaning and purpose in your work is important, and brings many benefits to wellbeing. Vallerand et al (2003) describe the yin and yang of passion – harmonious and obsessive.
Harmonious passion occurs when we have a sense of control over what we are doing, and our work creates intrinsic joy which is in harmony with the other aspects of our life. There is flexibility that allows us to adapt when we can’t undertake the work by focusing on other tasks, and we can disengage when the work becomes too challenging or we want to enjoy other aspects of our lives.
It means that we can realistically prioritise tasks, set and maintain clear boundaries related to work hours, and switch off and recover when necessary. It is associated with higher levels of physical health, wellbeing, self-esteem, positive emotions, concentration, creativity and job satisfaction.
But we can have too much of a good thing.
Obsessive passion is when we think that our work is so important, and our contribution to it is so invaluable, that we develop an uncontrollable urge to engage in and undertake the work. As a consequence, we become consumed with work – it becomes hard to stop thinking about it even when we are not at work, we get frustrated when we are preventing from doing the work and we continue to work even when it becomes exhausting or detrimental to our health. In part this is because our identity and self-worth becomes heavily tied to our work.
People with an obsessive passion will put off taking a holiday, will take on more work, stay back late or take work home. They check emails after hours and on the weekend, instead of spending time with family and friends. The constant conflict between our work passion and other areas of life increases negative feelings and can lead to burnout.
Passion fatigue is different to compassion fatigue (also described as ‘vicarious traumatisation’ by Figley, 1995). Compassion fatigue describes the emotional strain of exposure to working with patients who are suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. It can result from the exposure to one case or can be due to cumulative levels of trauma.
Things to look out for
Be aware of passions that start to feel like they’re in control of you. Even activities that are good for your wellbeing can become obsessive passions. For example, an obsessive focus on exercise can do more harm than good, even though the activity is a positive one.
When work starts to take over your life, or you feel that your self-esteem is dependent on doing well at work, then it might be time to step back and look at how to rebalance your life.
What can you do?
Scheduling proper breaks
Ensure that you take time for a proper break during the day – whether it’s a morning coffee break or lunch. Many people work through their breaks and convince themselves that it’s OK. Scheduling time after work and weekends for other activities that you enjoy is important.
Don’t bring work home
Blurring the boundaries between work and home feeds an obsessive passion. Work feels so important that we have to check emails or complete tasks at home. Take steps to make this separation real – leave the laptop at work, don’t check emails or schedule work time at home.
Change your mindset
Obsessive thoughts revolve around ‘need’ and ‘must’, making us believe that our work and contribution is absolutely necessary. Changing your focus towards ‘wanting’ to do something (because it brings you joy) rather than ‘needing’ to do it can reduce feelings of obsessiveness.
Hobbies (work-life balance)
One consequence of an obsessive passion is that it crowds out all other activities. Having other activities outside of work is important in contributing to a positive sense of self and makes harder for work to take control of your life.
Setting Boundaries
Boundaries are essential to our wellbeing, but it is something that many people struggle with. And for some people who set boundaries, actually enforcing them can be a challenge. Boundaries help to separate work life from the rest of our life and minimise the risk of obsessive passion taking hold. It is important to recognise that boundaries are both internal – what and how we decided to do – and external – ensuring that other people don’t take advantage of our good nature or work ethic.
Passions that you cultivate outside of work provide an opportunity to value the strengths that you have that exist beyond your job, which helps build resilience and reduces the risk of burnout.
References:
Vallerand RJ, Blanchard C, Mageau GA, Koestner R, Ratelle C, Leonard M, Gagne M, Marsolais J. Les passions de l'ame: on obsessive and harmonious passion. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Oct;85(4):756-67. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.4.756. PMID: 14561128.
Figley, C.R. (1995). Compassion Fatigue: Coping With Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder In Those Who Treat The Traumatized (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203777381