Burnout (psychology)

Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest ("depersonalisation" or "cynicism"). It is also used as an English slang term to mean exhaustion. Burnout is often construed as the result of a period of expending too much effort at work while having too little recovery, but it is sometimes argued that workers with particular personality traits (especially neuroticism) are more prone to experiencing burnout. Further, it appears that researchers disagree about the nature of burnout. While many researchers argue that burnout refers exclusively to a work-related syndrome of exhaustion and depersonalization/cynicism, others feel that burnout is a special case of the more general depression.

Computer programmers are often prone to burnout. For an example, see death march. However, research has shown that it is more likely to affect those in the care industries. Cordes and Doherty (1993), in their study of employees within this industry, found that workers who have frequent intense or emotionally charged interactions with others are more susceptible to burnout. Still, burnout can affect workers of any kind.

Students are also prone to burnout at the high school and college levels.

High stress jobs can lead to more burnout than normal ones. Cab drivers, air traffic controllers, musicians, and artists are all more prone to burnout than others. Interestingly, General Practitioners seem to have the highest proportion of burnout cases (According to a recent Dutch study in Psychological Reports, no less than 40% of these experienced high levels of burnout.)