Burnout: At times a physical state

ObjectiveWhile physical symptoms are not uncommonly reported by those experiencing burnout, the syndrome is essentially defined by a set of psychological symptoms. We therefore undertook a study to quantify physical symptoms associated with a burnout syndrome.MethodA sample of self-diagnosed individuals with burnout were requested to complete data on representative physical symptoms (i.e. headaches, cardiovascular symptoms and falls), illness course variables (i.e. increased rate of infections, being ill more often and taking longer to recover from sickness) as well as being hospitalised as a consequence.ResultsIn a refined sample of 317 respondents assigned to a 'burning out' stage and 509 to a 'burnt out phase', only headaches had a higher prevalence in the first group. Prevalence rates of all symptoms and of compromised health were high while 10% of the combined group reported that their condition had led to them being hospitalised.ConclusionsCompromised physical functioning would appear to be common in those experiencing a burnout syndrome, and awareness of such a consequence should assist clinical diagnosis of such a condition and might warrant physical symptoms being listed in diagnostic criteria sets as secondary features.