Talk:Occupational burnout/Archives/2019

Opening sentence
Following on from your helpful edit summary here "Since there are other definitions of burnout, and this is the WHO's definition, stated that up front in the first sentence":

Just wondering... Do you know of any operative definitions currently in mainstream OH / Psych / Med use that do not describe burnout in terms of an *occupational/work-related* *syndrome*, broadly construed? If not, I feel it might be simpler for readers to mention the WHO after the first sentence so as to permit a general definition, broadly per MOS:FIRST (viz. If its subject is definable, then the first sentence should give a concise definition: where possible, one that puts the article in context for the nonspecialist.).

Fwiw, I'm also condcerned to avoid placing undue weight in the lead on the details of the WHO's disease classification system / ICD-11. 86.190.132.158 (talk) 17:46, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

There are conceptualizations of burnout that differ from the conceptualization adopted by the WHO. Shirom and Melamed through their Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure conceptualize burnout in terms of physical exhaustion, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion; however, an examination of Shirom and Melamed's emotional exhaustion subscale indicates that the subscale looks more like a measure of Maslach's idea depersonalization (Toker, S., Melamed, S., Berliner, S., Zeltser, D., & Shapira, I. (2012). Burnout and risk of coronary heart disease: A prospective study of 8838 employees. Psychosomatic Medicine, 74, 840–847. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e31826c3174). For example, an item on that scale reads as follows: “I feel that I am not capable of being sensitive to the needs of coworkers and customers,” which is more depersonalization than exhaustion. Demerouti and Bakker (via their Oldenburg Burnout Inventory) conceptualize burnout burnout in terms of exhaustion and disengagement (Demerouti, E., Bakker, A.B., Vardakou, I., & Kantas, A. (2003). The convergent validity of two burnout instruments: A multitrait-multimethod analysis. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 19, 12-23.). There are other conceptualizations as well but I am only going to mention them as they are embodied in these instruments: the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, the Hamburg Burnout Inventory, Pines's Burnout Measure, and more. The WHO adopted a conceptualization of burnout that is consistent with Maslach's view of burnout. Iss246 (talk) 13:50, 3 June 2019 (UTC)


 * Thank you for that On reflection, I feel the current draught of the opening sentence is sufficiently straightforward. I trust the lack of professional consensus around definition remains clear in the lead (and, as a passing thought, maybe your helpful list of commonly used instruments might usefully find a home in a subsection somewhere on the page?). More generally, I'm somewhat unclear as to the scope WHO attaches to the interchangable terms "occupational" / "work-related" . As a United Nations organization, I would expect them to apply a broad definition that takes account of any form of habitual work activity, whether official or black-market, paid or unpaid, 'public' or  'hidden' (eg family/domestic, etc). 86.190.132.158 (talk) 07:52, 4 June 2019 (UTC)

At your suggestion, I added a paragraph on alternative conceptualization of BO. Thanks. It was a good idea. 100.37.92.61 (talk) 17:07, 4 June 2019 (UTC) Sorry, that was me. I was momentarily logged out. Iss246 (talk) 17:09, 4 June 2019 (UTC)


 * I've just read through your latest revision of the lead with fairly fresh eyes (after some time away from the page). It seems to me to flow well; a definite improvement, imo, thanks to a contributor who's clearly rather well versed on the subject. 86.190.132.158 (talk) 16:32, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

. Thank you for the kind words regarding my edits of the occupational burnout entry.Iss246 (talk) 20:26, 12 June 2019 (UTC)