The Burnout Syndrome

EPISODE 1

On the first episode of Bombcast (season 2 of The Bam Creative Show), we cover the weeks latest topics including:

• "The Burnout Syndrome"
• The proposed removal of likes from Instagram
• Google search results changing AMP URLs
• The recent Northface Wikipedia controversy

"The Burnout Syndrome"

At the end of May, the World Health Organization re-classified burnout (or as they style it, burn-out) as an occupational phenomenon, or more simply, a syndrome brought on by workplace stress.

According to the World Health Organization's article regarding burnout, it is characterised by:

- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.

In a recent OpEd piece for The New York Times, Dr Richard Friedman expressed his concern that the recent re-classification could have of medicalizing everyday stress, rather than simply working through it. This could possibly cause further mismanagement of stress and burnout, particularly in cases where extreme stress and disconnection impairs few as opposed to everyday stress impacting many.

He goes on further to express his concern at the creation of an idea that all workers and students are to lead happy and stress-free lives, and any cause for distress is a problem that requires an instant cure.

With the increasing access to information (whether real or fake), connection to others via technology rather than face-to-face, and streaming media at our fingertips which seems a lot easier to access rather than going for a walk and connecting with nature, it is interesting to see that burnout is being looked at more seriously. However, it is important to also offer support and management to those who require relief from everyday stress if they need or want it, rather than forcing an idea on them that stress is bad.

Dr Friedman closes out his piece with the following:

Of course, we must do all we can to detect and treat serious mental illness — like depression, and drug and alcohol abuse. But let’s not medicalize everyday stress and discomfort as burnout.