For the first time ever, the World Health Organization recognized “burn-out” in the International Classification of Diseases or ICD. This is widely used for diagnosis and health insurers.
As per the World Health Assembly in Geneva, this can stop the decades of debating whether it should be considered a medical condition. In the latest update of the catalog of disease and injuries around the world, WHO defines “burn-out” as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.
” This syndrome was characterized by three dimensions:
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion.
- Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job.
- Reduced professional efficacy.
According to the classification, being burned out refers specifically to phenomena on the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.