The Diagnosis of Burnout

Abstract

Burnout is a topic of high public and research interest, but debate remains as to how the syndrome should best be defined, measured, and diagnosed. In this article, we overview how issues relating to burnout's definition and measurement as well as the debate surrounding its overlap with depression have led to ambiguity surrounding its diagnostic status. We argue for a broader conceptualization of burnout and detail why we position it as distinct from depression, before providing recommendations for clinicians when considering a burnout diagnosis. We highlight that all measures of burnout risk "false-positive" diagnoses and that they should more be viewed as screening strategies with a definitive diagnosis (of "burning out" or "being burnt out") requiring close clinical assessment and exclusion of alternate psychological and physical conditions.

Athlete burnout and mental and physical health: A three-wave longitudinal study of direct and reciprocal effects.

“…Further examinations of the relationship between burnout and health are key to building our conceptual understanding of burnout. Although burnout has been extensively studied both inside and outside of sport with and without connection to health, there is still considerable debate about whether it can be considered a medical condition (Parker & Tavella, 2022). So far, most burnout studies have focused on examining causes and associated factors instead of exploring how burnout relates to other health variables (Heinemann & Heinemann, 2017).…”

The psychometric properties of the Burnout Assessment Tool in Norway: A thorough investigation into construct‐relevant multidimensionality

“…One possible explanation for the difficulty in classifying a case of burnout includes the inherent challenges in its diagnosis. While some countries, like the Netherlands, have established national guidelines for assessing burnout, there are no standardized, globally accepted diagnostic criteria for making a formal diagnosis (Nadon, De Beer & Morin, 2022; Parker & Tavella, 2022). This absence of uniform criteria means that occupational health practitioners often depend on self‐report surveys to identify employees at risk of burnout.…”