What is burnout ? Teija Honkonen MD, Psychiatrist, FIOH

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 o f 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 among employees aged 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