Recognizing Stress, Fatigue and Burnout for Better Work

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Recognizing one’s condition early is an important step in maintaining mental health and work quality. This was highlighted by Annisa Nurul Aini, Senior Expert Training and Development Specialist at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), during a seminar titled Mental Health for Better Work Quality at the RRI Voice of Indonesia building in Jakarta on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

Annisa explained that workers need to understand whether they are experiencing stress or fatigue, or have begun to develop burnout. While the three conditions are interconnected, they have different characteristics and impacts.

According to Annisa, stress is a person’s response to pressure. In the workplace, pressure can come from various situations, such as having a new supervisor or team, taking on unfamiliar tasks, moving to a new office, or dealing with a heavy workload.

“Stress is a response when we receive pressure. And pressure in our lives can come in many forms,” Annisa said.

For people working in broadcasting, pressure can also come from the demand for rapid updates and frequent changes in news content. Such conditions can become stressors, or sources of stress, at work.

Meanwhile, fatigue is marked by reduced capacity, particularly when accompanied by difficulties with attention and cognitive functions. Symptoms can include difficulty focusing, poor concentration, being easily distracted, and feeling that one’s memory is becoming slower.

“For example, you sit at the office and, as soon as you arrive, you think, ‘What was I supposed to work on today?’ Even though on the way to work or the night before, you had already thought about it and prepared what you were going to work on,” she said, describing an example of fatigue.

Burnout, meanwhile, is a more serious condition closely associated with pressure in the workplace. Annisa emphasized that burnout is not necessarily caused by work-related pressure alone, but can result from various pressures that become interconnected and accumulate over time.

She described the three conditions as a process that can develop from stress to fatigue and eventually burnout when adequate recovery and management are lacking.

“Stress, if it is not properly addressed and we do not recover from it, can turn into fatigue. If fatigue continues and is not managed, it can eventually turn into burnout,” Annisa said.

Therefore, Annisa encouraged participants to recognize their own condition so they can determine the appropriate steps to address it. When necessary, seeking professional help can also assist in dealing with problems that have become difficult to manage independently.