Assessing Burnout
While burnout is not considered a medical disorder, the World Health Organization describes burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that is difficult to manage, and consists of 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; and
reduced professional efficacy.”
New tools to assess burnout risk, the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT), have been validated in a study in Norway. The surveys assess the risk of burnout and can help identify distressed individuals.
Researchers concluded that exhaustion is the core symptom of burnout, so the majority (5/6) of the survey questions focus on the inability to invest energy, and the remainder focus on the unwillingness to invest energy in work or another endeavor. The inability to invest energy questions focus on exhaustion, cognitive impairment, emotional impairment, psychological distress, and physical symptoms. The unwillingness to invest energy questions evaluate mental distance. These instruments do not assess professional efficacy.
The BAT measures burnout complaints and does not evaluate causes or consequences, nor does it make a burnout diagnosis. The BAT is available in a workplace version and a context-free version, suggesting the condition of burnout might not be limited to an employment context. The BAT Manual and two versions of the assessment, Practical and Scientific, are available in 31 languages.
Takeaway: Burnout is a condition that results in exhaustion, cognitive and emotional impairment, psychological distress, and physical symptoms. You can use the BAT to evaluate your risk of burnout.
Well-being is a journey, not a quick fix.
Sources
World Health Organization, Burn-out an “Occupational Phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases, May 28, 2019, Burn-out an "occupational phenomenon": International Classification of Diseases (who.int).
Leon T. De Beer, et al., The Psychometric Properties of the Burnout Assessment Tool in Norway: A Thorough Investigation into Construct-Relevant Multidimensionality, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, Dec. 25, 2023, The psychometric properties of the Burnout Assessment Tool in Norway: A thorough investigation into construct‐relevant multidimensionality - De Beer - Scandinavian Journal of Psychology - Wiley Online Library.
Wilmar Schaufeli, Hans De Witt, and Steffie Desart, Burnout Assessment Tool Manual and Questionnaire, Version 2.0, July 2020, Manual & questionnaire | Burnout Assessment Tool.
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