03/11/2026
Before posting advice about burnout, you might want to read the research that defined it.
It has come to my attention that many people speaking about occupational burnout are deeply passionate about the topic, which I appreciate. But too many posts oversimplify, misrepresent, or outright misstate what burnout is. This is my plea: please do your research.
Have you heard of Dr. Christina Maslach, Herbert Freudenberger, Dr. Michael Leiter, or Dr. Christina Jackson? These researchers are the forerunners in occupational burnout research. In fact, Maslach and Leiter's work formed the foundation for how the World Health Organization defines occupational burnout.
According to the WHO, occupational burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that hasn't been successfully managed. It's characterized by 3 dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy. Importantly, the research is clear: organizational factors are the primary drivers of burnout—workplace culture, protocols, discrimination, unfair treatment, lack of autonomy, and misalignment between values and role.
As Jeanine Joy says, "Burnout is a war that must be won on two fronts."
Yes, organizations have a responsibility to create systems, policies, cultures, and supports that address burnout. But individuals also have a responsibility to engage with the support available to them. If support exists and people do not use PTO, wellness resources, boundaries, or other available tools, they will still burn out—and that will be on them.
Both are responsible. Both must show up.
What I continue to see in online conversations is burnout being reduced to boundaries, self-care, physical health, or simply leaving a job. Those may be related to burnout. They may be part of prevention, recovery, or response. But they are not burnout itself, and they are not, by themselves, the root cause.
I appreciate the intention behind these conversations. I truly do. But accuracy matters when people's well-being is at stake. Please do your research. Get the whole picture. The people reading deserve nothing less.
