OpenLB
Open Library of Bioscience

Approximately 1 in 6 citizens report Burn-out symptoms. But what does this mean? Many people sooner or later suffer from fatigue, irritability, and sleeping problems. When do these symptoms become so severe that they become a Burn-out? Discussions about the causes and solutions for Burn-out are common, but it is important not to lose sight that Burn-out has a limited scientific basis. There are changing definitions over time, no reliable diagnostic interview, a large overlap between Burn-out and depression, and no evidence-based treatments. Thus, Burn-out remains an elusive concept. The impact and suffering of what we call Burn-out is undeniably real and poses a great problem, but can we really help people in their recovery if our knowledge of Burn-out is so limited? In this perspective, I pose critical questions about the current scientific state of burnout, but also want to argue that there is a constructive way forward based on recently acquired knowledge about stress and its inherent dynamics that perhaps offers a fundamentally different approach to understand Burn-out.