WHO recognizes burnout as a factor for health damage

For years, the professional burden on employees in all occupational groups has been increasing. More and more people are complaining about burnout symptoms such as exhaustion and reduced performance. The World Health Organization (WHO) has now recognized burnout as a factor for health damage for the first time. From 2022, burnout will thus be listed with its own description in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), the directory used worldwide for diagnostic coding.

How many are already suffering from burnout is shown by a survey by pronova BKK from 2018. According to it, every second German citizen feels threatened by burnout. 60 percent stated that they suffer at least temporarily from typical burnout symptoms such as persistent exhaustion, internal tension, and back pain. The most common causes cited were constant deadlines (34 percent), emotional stress from customers or patients (30 percent), overtime work, and a poor working atmosphere (each 29 percent).

This also explains the high number of affected individuals in occupational groups with a high level of social interaction. According to recent years, statist.de Professions in dialogue marketing top the list of occupations most affected by burnout. In 2017, the number of days of incapacity for work in this group was 313.4 days per 1,000 AOK members. This was followed by supervisory and managerial positions in sales (312.1) and all professions in elderly care (280.3).

According to AOK, the number of burnout diagnoses has quadrupled in the past 10 years. However, this rapid increase cannot be attributed solely to the rising stress in work and professional life; the increased societal awareness of the issue also plays a role.

For many years dismissed as a "fashion disease," the WHO has recognized burnout as a factor for health damage for the first time at this year's meeting. Previously considered an additional diagnosis, primarily linked to depression, the state of burnout is now defined as a syndrome attributed to "chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." According to WHO health experts, burnout manifests in a persistent feeling of exhaustion, mental distance or a negative attitude toward one's job, and reduced performance. It is explicitly noted, however, that the term burnout should be used exclusively in the professional context and not "for experiences in other areas of life.

Johannes Winklmair, Head of Care Consulting & Psychosocial Counseling at famPLUS, knows: "Many employees don't want to 'come out.' They fear professional disadvantages if they admit to being in an exceptional situation, such as caring for relatives." But he also knows: "The sooner those affected seek help in such cases, the lower the risk of slipping into burnout." Even in cases of signs like irritability, irritability, a sense of failure, diminished interest in the profession or task area, or constant powerlessness and exhaustion, he recommends seeking conversation with experts.

Many companies already have framework agreements with providers of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP). Here, employees of the companies are given help that is unbureaucratic, quick, and anonymous. "Often it helps just to be able to talk to an uninvolved, but professionally trained, person. Many then suddenly see a light at the end of the tunnel and gain new energy," says Winklmair.

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