Journal of Mental Health and Psychiatry

INTRODUCTION

Definition of Burnout

Burnout is an occupation-dependent syndrome arising from chronic workplace stress, energy depletion, or exhaustion. Its first description was in 1974 [1]. In 2019, the World Health Organization recognized that burnout results in mental distance, negativism, or cynicism by reducing professional efficacy and compromising work-related activity [2]. In 2021, a 50-expert, 29 country panel assessed 88 unique definitions, reaching a Delphi harmonized consensus that “occupational burnout or occupational physical AND emotional exhaustion state is an exhaustion due to prolonged exposure to work-related problems” [3]. A well-researched psychological phenomenon [4,5], burnout became a central focus of psychological research during COVID-19, with over 693,000 results generated from an author conducted Google Scholar search of burnout on 30 September 2025.