Burnout (occupational)

Chronic, unmanaged workplace stress marked by exhaustion, mental distance from work, and reduced effectiveness — a WHO-recognized occupational phenomenon.

Burnout is the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. In 2019 the World Health Organization included it in the ICD-11 (code QD85) as an "occupational phenomenon" — explicitly not a medical condition — defined by three dimensions: energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one's job, or cynicism; and a sense of reduced professional effectiveness.

Burnout is distinct from ordinary stress or tiredness: it's chronic, tied to a specific domain (usually work), and doesn't lift with normal rest. It's measured with validated self-report instruments such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the more recent Burnout Assessment Tool, which adds cognitive and emotional impairment to the classic dimensions. A high score is a signal worth acting on — not a clinical diagnosis.

Take the Work Well-Being Survey

Occupational stress — The strain that arises when job demands persistently outstrip a worker's resources or control — the broader condition from which burnout can develop.
Compassion fatigue — The emotional and physical depletion that builds in caregiving roles from the cumulative cost of empathizing with others' distress.
Self-report — An assessment format in which respondents rate their own thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.
Screening — Using a brief assessment to identify people who may benefit from further evaluation — not to diagnose.
Cutoff score — A specific value on an assessment used to classify respondents into categories. Not a diagnosis.

Burnout (occupational)

See it in practice

Related terms