Some Say The American Workforce Is Overdiagnosing Itself With ‘Burnout’

Is burnout real? Or is it too often used as a self-diagnosis term to describe being overwhelmed and overworked? Workplace performance and well-being should not have to come at the expense of sweat equity, burnout or loss of mental and physical health. And there’s no question that the American workforce is under more stress and has more mental health challenges today than in the past. Reports of widespread anxiety and job stress, along with accompanying tiredness and exhaustion are on the upswing. But if you’re stressed and fatigued are you actually burnt out?

The Burnout Debate

Burnout is bigger than the ordinary and unavoidable fatigue of workplace stress. Under stress, you still struggle to cope with pressures, but burnout is an accumulation of unmanaged stress over time, and it’s debilitating. You can’t cure it by taking an extended vacation, slowing down or working fewer hours. Once it takes hold, you’ve run out of gas and given up hope of surmounting stressful obstacles. You develop a deep sense of disillusionment and hopelessness. Life loses its meaning, and small tasks feel like a hike up Mount Everest. Your interests and motivation dry up, and you fail to meet even the smallest professional obligations.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially classified job burnout, stemming from “chronic workplace stress,” as a diagnosis and included the condition in the International Classification of Diseases—the handbook that guides medical providers in diagnosing diseases. Burnout appears in the handbook’s section on problems associated with employment or unemployment. It describes burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

The WHO was very specific in its definition of burnout, using three signs to diagnose it, specifically in the context of the workplace:

1. feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion

2. increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job

3. reduced professional efficacy

Shortly after the WHO’s declaration, a firestorm erupted when Dr. Richard A. Friedman, professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, published an op-ed in the New York Times asking, “Is burnout real”? His supposition was that burnout is everywhere and that nearly everyone seems to have suffered from it. Dr. Friedman argued that “when a disorder is reportedly so widespread, it makes me wonder whether we are at risk of medicalizing everyday distress. If everyone suffers from burnout, then no one does, and the concept loses all credibility.”

Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global was quick to challenge Friedman’s logic: “So it’s strange to say, in the face of overwhelming evidence, that a phenomenon can’t be real because it’s widespread. That’s precisely what an epidemic is. Friedman’s observation that almost everyone suffers from burnout doesn’t refute the existence of a crisis—it makes the case for one.”

What’s Adding Fuel To The Controversy?

"The most important burnout symptom is the feeling of total exhaustion—to the extent that it cannot be remedied by normal recovery phases of an evening, a weekend or even a vacation," said Professor Christian Dormann, researcher in a study from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. "To protect themselves from further exhaustion, some try to build a psychological distance to their work, that is, they alienate themselves from their work as well as the people associated with it and become more cynical.”

But how many respondents in the plethora of surveys meet these criteria for a burnout diagnosis when so many polls and surveys simply ask employees to self-diagnose if they feel burnt out instead of utilizing an objective assessment? An online survey conducted by The Harris Poll for Samsonite in July of this year, for example, reported that 56% of the 800 employees polled said they feel burnt out at work. And a new Gallup-Workhuman report found that 25% of employees describe being burned out at work “very often” or “always.” We can conclude from the surveys that a vast majority of the American workforce diagnose themselves as burned out. But just because someone is of the opinion they are burnt out or feel burned out, does that necessarily mean they fit the objective definition of burnout?

In his op-ed, Friedman relayed that a friend told him she had to take a wellness survey for her job. She answered yes to just one question about whether she ever felt irritable at work and got the result that she was at risk of burnout. When studies use self-diagnosed feelings and opinions to assess burnout, along with a variety of broad terms—instead of a standard definition—the incidences of burnout lose credibility. The subjective, inconsistent and sweeping descriptions, as Friedman’s op-ed points out, could well apply to most people at some point in their working lives. Plus, it fuels confusion over what “burnout” is, making it appear to be a catchall that can mean almost anything.

Inconsistent percentages of employee burnout, further blur the extent to which it exists. A survey by Indeed, for example, revealed a new high of 53% of workers reporting burnout in 2021. Another survey last year by Visier said “burnout” was the buzzword of summer of 2021, reporting an epidemic with 89% of 1,000 employees reporting they had experienced burnout. A recent Freshworks’ Bloatware report said that 82% of IT professionals are burnt out, and more than 36% were the most burnt out they’ve ever been in their career.

A Final Word: Stick To The Handbook

After reading numerous surveys that use diverse definitions of burnout and subjective self-diagnoses, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that we have an epidemic on our hands. Maybe we do, but feelings are not facts. There’s no question that job burnout is real or that it damages our mental and physical health, as Huffington asserts, “Yes. Full stop. And when we call it what it is, we’re much better able to address it.” In order to call it what it is, we need credible, valid and reliable reporting methods that allow us to better address it with appropriate prevention and intervention measures.

Now that burnout is officially a chronic workplace syndrome, companies are taking the condition more seriously, as they should. But “Articles such as Dr. Friedman’s do a real disservice to the many people who really are suffering at the hands of unforgiving workplace cultures, designed to exhaust talented professionals rather than motivate and engage them,” according to Paula Davis-Laack, burnout prevention specialist and contributor to Forbes.com.

If we want burnout to be understood as a legitimate diagnosis, then it’s important that we’re all on the same page with terminology. The WHO definition—or another objective assessment—should be used to diagnose the condition so there are no grounds for leaders like Dr. Friedman to minimize or dilute the seriousness of the condition. The truth is not everyone is burnt out, but many people are stressed. Let's help people know the difference and how to deal with both instead of denying the existence of a harmful dynamic affecting so many.

Arianna Huffington Will speak at Resiliency 2022 on September 9, 2022. You can register for the international webinar for free here.