This tendency is most pronounced among helping professionals who often become aloof and inaccessible to the very people they are expected to help. People often defend themselves against adverse job situations by emotionally withdrawing. But this short-term solution only accelerates burnout because a strong social support system acts like a buffer against burnout. People caught in the burnout cycle withdraw. By cutting themselves off from friends and colleagues they deprive themselves of the support they desperately need.
Emotional withdrawal is common among people in the service professions.
Others such as managers and team leaders who work closely with people often suffer similar symptoms. A natural response is indifference to the people's feelings and problems. Others will respond to the drain on their emotions with hostility. Still others become aloof and intellectual, talking about their clients as abstract cases in a textbook. All of these attempts to cope actually accelerate the burnout process.