In this day and age, the term is not only used in circles of service professionals, but it can affect anyone, from stressed-out careerists, celebrities, overworked employees, homemakers and college students.  However, during COVID-19, we have seen an unprecedented degree of burnout in First Line Medical Workers. 

Burnout is finally being recognized as a ‘real’ thing in the work place. The situation is so widespread in developed countries that the WHO has added burnout to its list of globally recognized diseases. In 2019, Burnout was included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon.

As defined, “burnout” is a syndrome resulting from chronic job stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

In the World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases, Burnout is defined as a syndrome conceptualized as three dimensions; feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and reduced professional efficacy. In other words if you are burntout, you are exhausted, hate your job, and have poor performance.  

They go on to say….”Burnout refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”

In a clinical setting, I look at burnout through a very different lens; from a birds’ eye view of you, ‘system-wide’.