THE BIG BURNOUT

Burnout is mentioned a lot these days. But what is it, exactly? A disease? A disorder? A driving-based video game? Actually, it’s none of these things (well, there is a video game but that’s not what we’re discussing here).

Burnout is the phenomenon where an individual’s health (physical and mental) and functionality suffers due to them experiencing excessive stress for extended periods, specifically from their job. As such, it’s officially classed as an ‘occupational phenomenon’ (see ‘What is burnout?’, p41).

There are those who may scoff at this. After all, hard work never hurt anyone, right? It’s character building! You’ve got to work hard if you want to succeed. You don’t get something for nothing, etc. Overall, there are many societal factors and assumptions that can, and do, lead people to assume that constant hard work only has positive outcomes.

The data tells a very different story, however. The reason burnout is mentioned so often is because surveys (conducted in the US) reveal that, pre-pandemic, 43 per cent of workers reported experiencing some form of burnout.