[Burnout: Historical Background, Concepts, Methodological Problems, Prevention And Different Perspectives On A Striking Phenomenon].

Abstract

Burnout, historically the successor to neurasthenia, is considered an exhaustion phenomenon caused by prolonged work-related stress. The very concept of "being burned out" implies an image that is immediately understandable and concise to any layperson. Academic psychiatry and psychology pose conceptual challenges to this popular model, which was first published in 1974 by the German-American psychotherapist Herbert Freudenberger. To date, more than 140 definitions of burnout have been proposed. All of the main features of burnout, especially the experience of exhaustion, are non-specific. Various burnout development models have been proposed, which were assumed to represent a quasi-natural process. None could be confirmed empirically. An expert consensus on the diagnostic criteria and conceptual classification, whether as an independent disorder or as a risk condition, could not be achieved. Nevertheless, burnout is classified as a work-related disorder in the ICD-11. Current findings indicate that the experience of burnout among members of the baby boomer generation often reflects their high performance expectations of themselves, while the identical subjective feeling in Generation Z is often associated with missing or unsustainable professional goals. The research on the burnout phenomenon, which largely ignores the fact that burnout - in the absence of reliable diagnostic criteria - must be considered a subjective model, meets social expectations but does not meet scientific criteria. A parallel recording of ICD/DSM diagnoses and subjective disorder models is recommended in everyday therapeutic practice in order to meet the needs of both sides.