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What is burnout ?
Teija Honkonen
MD, Psychiatrist, FIOH
14.1.2004
Fatigue
• May be caused by a physical or psychic stress factor
• May be a symptom of almost any somatic disease or
mental disorder
• Is not necesserily caused by the reason which the
person suffering from fatigue assumes
The original definition of burnout
• Originally burnout has been defined as a
syndrome of emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization and reduced personal
accomplishment, that occurs in occupations in
which a contact with other people constitutes a
major part of the task and can be a source of stress
(Maslach & Jackson 1981, Jackson & Leiter 1996)
The process of burnout I
• Burnout develops as a consequence of a prolonged
stress situation at work
• Discrepancy between intentions of a motivated
employee and the reality in unfavourable working
conditions develops towards burnout via
dysfunctional ways of coping
The process of burnout II
• Different models of burnout share the basic
assumption of sequentiality
• However, there is no consensus about the
development of the burnout syndrome
• Only few studies have used longer than one-year
follow-up
Burnout
- among all sectors of working life
• Recently is has been observed that burnout can
evolve in any occupations and need not to be
restricted to occupational issues related to service
provision (Taris et al. 1999)
• A new instrument, the Maslach Burnout Inventory
- General Survey, has been designed to measure
burnout among all sectors of working life (Leiter
& Schaufeli 1996)
Burnout
- a three dimensional syndrome
• Exhaustion
• Cynicism
• Lack of professional efficacy
Burnout and diagnostics
• Burnout is not a diagnostic category
• International diagnostic classification criteria do not
consider burnout as a disease
• In Finland, burnout as such is not a valid reason for
sickness absence
Health 2000 Survey:
Prevalence of burnout in Finland
• During the years 2000-2001 among employees
aged 30-64-years
– 2.5% suffered from severe symptoms of
burnout
– furthermore, every fourth suffered from
burnout symptoms
– the risk for severe burnout increased along with
age
Pirkola et al. 2002
Burnout and depressive disorders
• Depression and burnout are not identical, although
their symptoms may be overlapping
• At individual level burnout may form a part of the
aetiology of depression
• More research is needed on the relationship
between burnout and mental disorders