Susanne Schade

Psychotherapist

Burnout – When working makes you sick…

Around 37 percent of people report having burnout-like symptoms such as emotional exhaustion, stress, a sense of feeling overwhelmed, or reduced job satisfaction without ever having received a proper diagnosis.

The term burnout originates from Harold Bradley, who began using it in the 1960s to describe the clinical symptoms that he observed among probation officers. Since then, there has been a lot of progress made in the field of burnout research, in part owing to the fact that cases of burnout place a burden on healthcare systems and lead to a higher probability of workers taking sick leave.

Here you can take an online burnout test in German but please note that it cannot take the place of seeing a doctor or a psychologist:

https://www.psychomeda.de/online-tests/burnout-test.html

 

 

What are the diagnosis and symptoms of burnout?

 

In the WHO's ICD-11 (since 2022), burnout is defined more specifically under code QD85 as being "a syndrome resulting from unmanageable workplace stress." In the older ICD-10 system—which is still often in use —diagnosis Z73 was understood as being "problems related to difficulties in coping with life," with Z73.0 representing burnout.

 

The symptoms of burnout can be broken down into three areas:

  • A form of emotional exhaustion that is related to the demands of work or daily life. People feel very tired, weak, depressed, unmotivated and easily irritable most of the time.
  • A sense of depersonalization occurs, which means that a certain distance forms vis-à-vis one's colleagues, customers, or family. People become increasingly indifferent and sometimes cynical towards them and work or everyday life becomes an impersonal routine.
  • A reduced sense of job satisfaction is the third area that describes burnout. People experience a sense of failure and, despite there being an excessive amount of stress, they don't end up accomplishing a lot in the workplace. Moreover, they become distant to others and inefficient.

 

But what causes burnout?

 

In occupational health psychology, three main models are discussed when it comes to explaining the concept of burnout: The first model is the basic model of holistic (comprehensive) work, developed by Hacker in 1973. According to this model, a healthy work environment is characterized by holistic activities that allow for preparation, execution, control and social coordination (Richter, 2025).

A second model discussed in occupational health psychology is the Job Characteristic Model developed by Hackman and Oldham in 1980 (Richter, 2025: 64). According to this model, the motivational potential of a specific job depends on the following five factors:

  • The holistic nature/comprehensiveness of the job
  • A variety of job demands
  • The social significance of the job for others
  • A high decision latitude
  • Appropriate forms of feedback (ibid.)

Essentially, an ideal is being promoted here that might perhaps be difficult to implement in practice. However, it is precisely on the basis of these factors that unhealthy activities are differentiated from healthy ones and, in this way, the health of employees can be determined and negotiated.

The third model, which is often cited, is Siegrist's Effort-Reward Imbalance Model, developed in the 1990s. Siegrist posits the idea that reward crises can occur over the course of one’s working life if there is a sense of perceived injustice and imbalance between giving and receiving. Employees expect the following in return for their performance: a salary, a sense of purpose, appreciation, security and opportunities for advancement. If there is no balance in these areas, reward crises can lead to long-term health problems because the employee ends up feeling unfairly treated.

 

 

Untreated depression or burnout?

 

Occupational health psychology struggles when it comes to incorporating psychoanalytic knowledge but psychoanalysis can broaden perspectives regarding early conflicts or, as the case may be, recurring patterns.

Often, the exhaustion experienced in burnout is also perceived as a kind of sadness: a sadness that usually points to early failures. In terms of gratification crises, it is quite possible that an imbalance between giving and receiving occurred earlier in one's life. For instance, people might not have felt sufficiently supported and valued by their parents, even though they always gave their parents love.

Thus, psychoanalysis can help explore early patterns that perhaps might be repeating themselves in the workplace or in everyday life.

 

Bibliography:

Peter Richter (2025). Zukunftsfähig arbeiten: Wege zu einer umweltbewussten und menschengerechten Arbeitswelt. oekom verlag.

 

Foto: Unsplash 2026 Arlington Research

 

04/2026