The World Health Organization added ‘burn out’ to its catalog of the International Classification of Diseases yesterday. It will be globally recognized by 2022– meaning it will be just like any other condition treatable with insurance coverage.
So what do they classify as burn out? ‘Chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,’ along with three defining symptoms”
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
- Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism, cynicism related to one’s job
- Reduced professional efficacy
I think it’s probably safe to say we’ve all experience burn out in our lives– and not just in the workplace! It could happen dealing with responsibilities at home, too.
Other conditions changes to the catalog include:
- video gaming as an addiction
- ‘compulsive sexual behavior’ as a mental disorder, but not an addiction
- they removed transgender people from the mental disorders list
