Burnout Essay

Herbert J. Freudenberger first coined the term burnout in 1974. His definition of burnout, “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or relationship, fails to produce the desired results.” According to a secondary source (Khan, 2014) citing Freudenbergers book: Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement, Freudenberger compared burnout of a person as mirrored to burnout in a building “a once throbbing structure… where once there had been activity, now only crumbling reminders of energy and life.” All professions/careers experience burnout; the purpose of this paper will focus on those in the helping profession. Individuals who work directly with other people in a mental or physical health capacity,

In Germany, psychological illness counts for one of ten “sick days”. The United Kingdom had a survey of HR directors, 80% who responded stated they were “afraid to lose top employees to burnout”. Japan termed burnout in the workplace Karoshi, which means “burnout that leads to death”; Karojisatsu is suicide related to overwork. In Japan, work-related burnout is so common place that the government awards $20,000 to families of employees who have committed suicide or passed away due to work-related stress. Comparatively, in China the word for death from being overworked is Guolaosi. In the United States, no body of Government has yet addressed burnout in the US, nor the effect it has on public health. In America people work longer hours (1,800) than workers in Australia, Canada and most of Western Europe and is the only developed nation that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation as well as no guarantee paid paternal leave. Does this mean that America has not impacted by burnout? Different APA studies have explored the impact that burnout has in

Physical symptoms can include, but not limited to: insomnia, increased illness, loss of appetite, and chronic fatigue. Psychological symptoms are symptoms of depression, guilt, feelings of worthlessness, anger, tension, isolation, pessimism, and anxiety (Carter, 2013). APA (2007) found that around ½ of Americans say that stress negatively impacts their professional and personal lives, 1/3rd of Americans have difficulties managing work and family responsibilities, and 54% of Americans have stated noticing a correlation of increased stress causing them to fight with those who are intimately close to them. In addition, 8% of Americans connected burnout from work as the cause of their divorce or separation. Experiencing difficulty falling asleep at night due to stress has impacted 48% of Americans, and in 2008 over 50 million prescriptions were filled for sleeping aids. Burnout appeared to cause havoc in at least 3/4th of working Americans. In comparison the leading cause of death of heart disease (covering all heart problems combined) causes one of four Americans deaths or 25% (Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Burnout can lead to cardiovascular problems and people rally against