PHENOMENOLOGY OF BURNOUT SYNDROME: A LONG JOURNEY FROM BURNING OUT TO RECOVERY

Abstract

While burnout syndrome has been by now frequently studied and described in literature, it has not been recognized as mental illness until now. The International Classification of Diseases 11th revision (ICD-11) includes the burnout syndrome in the category of occupational mental disorders. The present article describes the phenomenology of the burnout syndrome in order to demonstrate the complexity and length of treatment. Evolution of burnout syndrome and its individual stages described by Herbert J. Freudenberger are presented together with the three key dimensions of burnout by Christine Maslach. The treatment of burnout syndrome is often a lengthy and complex process. To illustrate this phenomenon, the author refers to her personal therapeutic experience with a group of clients diagnosed with burnout syndrome and subsequently undergoing individual psychotherapy in the form of Existential Analysis. As a psychotherapy method, Existential Analysis by Alfried Längle, works with the concept of four personal motivations as preconditions of a fulfilling life. Burnout syndrome is in this context understood as a loss of sense in an activity resulting from a long-term exhaustion.