Burnout

1960

Graham Greene (1904–1991), Herbert Freudenberger (1926–1999)

In his novel A Burnt-Out Case (1960), English author Graham Greene tells the story of an architect suffering from stress and loss of religious faith who attempts to find meaning through working in a leper colony; fourteen years after the novel was published, psychologist Herbert Freudenberger borrowed the title to describe the state of exhaustion that may come from overcommitment and overwork in professional life. Appearing in an era marked by increased attention to Stress and its relation to health, burnout became a term widely used by both health professionals and the lay public. It appears to be most common in the helping professions. While it usually occurs in relation to work, it can also occur wherever there is intense interpersonal stress, such as in caring for others who are terminally ill. It appears in the list of disorders described in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), but it is not recognized in the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5.

Burnout has been intensively researched and discussed by scientists and mental health providers. Psychologist Christina Maslach was among the first to systematically study burnout, beginning in the 1970s. She and her colleagues have found that the experience of burnout involves emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and inefficacy. The first dimension refers to the sense that one’s emotional resources have been used up, the second dimension reflects an emerging cynicism and callousness toward coworkers or clients, and the third indicates a sense that one is no longer capable of professional or personal functioning at an appropriate level.

Research indicates that burnout is most likely to occur whenever a person has unrealistic expectations of performance combined with lack of adequate support or positive feedback from superiors or clients. Effective interventions include increased social support from peers, increased resources to handle demands, exercise, hobbies, and friends with whom one can talk. It is a condition of contemporary life that demands effective coping strategies.

SEE ALSO Stress (1950), Resilience (1973), Hardiness (1979)

Burnout, which results from overcommitment and overwork in professional life, occurs most commonly in the helping professions, although it can also occur wherever there is intense interpersonal stress, such as caring for an aging parent or ill spouse.