Ever felt mentally worn out or emotionally exhausted from work?
You're far from alone, and you may be suffering from "burnout," a condition that's now officially recognized by the professional health community.
The work-related stress, which has been unofficially embedded in the cultural zeitgeist for years, has been officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) through a revision of the International Classification of Diseases — a handbook for doctors and health insurers.
According to the health guidelines, burnout is categorized by the following symptoms:
World Health Organization Now Recognizes “Burnout” As An Official Medical Condition
Now, according to CBS News, doctors can diagnose someone with the above three symptoms as suffering from burnout. The outlet reported that the National Institutes of Health said anyone can suffer from burnout, “from stressed-out careerists and celebrities to overworked employees and homemakers." CBS also included a survey from Gallup that found 1 in 4 respondents claimed to be feeling burned out “always” or “often." Forty-four percent said they felt that way “sometimes.”
CNN reported that Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger was the first to study burnout in 1974. Four decades later, Linda and Torsten Heinemann wrote a review of that article in the journal SAGE Open, suggesting that in the time between, even though burnout was widely discussed, it was not considered an actual disorder.
“One reason for that, the Heinemanns argue, is that much of the research on burnout focused on ‘causes and associated factors,’ rather than on attempts to develop specific diagnostic criteria,” CNN reported. “That led to ‘vagueness and ambiguity’ around the concept of burnout.”
You're far from alone, and you may be suffering from "burnout," a condition that's now officially recognized by the professional health community.
The work-related stress, which has been unofficially embedded in the cultural zeitgeist for years, has been officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) through a revision of the International Classification of Diseases — a handbook for doctors and health insurers.
According to the health guidelines, burnout is categorized by the following symptoms:
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
- Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job
- Reduced professional efficacy
World Health Organization Now Recognizes “Burnout” As An Official Medical Condition
Now, according to CBS News, doctors can diagnose someone with the above three symptoms as suffering from burnout. The outlet reported that the National Institutes of Health said anyone can suffer from burnout, “from stressed-out careerists and celebrities to overworked employees and homemakers." CBS also included a survey from Gallup that found 1 in 4 respondents claimed to be feeling burned out “always” or “often." Forty-four percent said they felt that way “sometimes.”
CNN reported that Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger was the first to study burnout in 1974. Four decades later, Linda and Torsten Heinemann wrote a review of that article in the journal SAGE Open, suggesting that in the time between, even though burnout was widely discussed, it was not considered an actual disorder.
“One reason for that, the Heinemanns argue, is that much of the research on burnout focused on ‘causes and associated factors,’ rather than on attempts to develop specific diagnostic criteria,” CNN reported. “That led to ‘vagueness and ambiguity’ around the concept of burnout.”