What is Burnout?

Burnout sucks the life out of hard working, competent, industrious people and can be associated with the prolonged and cumulative effects of emotional stress and pressure that arise from personal interaction with members of the public on a daily basis.

Burnout is an experience of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, caused by a prolonged involvement in situations that are emotionally demanding.

The key dimensions of the burnout response are:

  • Overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of energy depletion.
  • Feelings of negativism or cynicism and detachment from the job.
  • A sense of ineffectiveness and a lack of accomplishment

The experience of being burnt out is becoming more and more widespread throughout industries and a serious and worsening issue. In May 2019 the term ‘Burnout’ was included in the 11th Revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems where it was described as a ‘state of vital exhaustion’ under the category of ‘problems related to life-management difficulty’.

Burnout is not a simple result of long hours and whilst undeniably there are many workplace stressors which can lead people down the burnout path, for many people their high achieving internal drivers and ambitions coupled with societal and technological stressors can contribute to their burnout and keep them locked in a destructive cycle of burnout unless challenged and changed.

We offer video-based online courses which have been approved by The British Psychological Society and group workplace training to help people prevent burnout or to support their recovery from burnout.