Burnout and mental health

Written By Jacob Webb | Research Manager | TBYM

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What is burnout?

Burnout syndrome is characterised by chronic physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, poor attitudes towards work, anhedonia (the loss of pleasure or interest) and listlessness (WHO, 2019). It is generally considered to be related to occupational stressors, as opposed 

to a medical or mental condition (Freudenberger, 1974). However, this fails to explain why some individuals experience burnout while others may not, even within the same occupation. As a consequence of this, most researchers accept the notion that some individuals may possess predispositional factors towards experiencing burnout, or burnout may be affected by personal circumstances outside of work (Khammissa et al., 2022)

Although frequently experienced, burnout is not diagnosed as a mental disorder. It is however thought that other mental disorders (such as depression and anxiety) or physical conditions (such as chronic fatigue) may underlie burnout (Heinemann and Heinemann, 2017). Despite this, there have been conflicting opinions within the literature surrounding whether burnout and depression are distinct conditions or whether they measure the same fundamental construct (Bianchi, Schonfield, Laurent, 2015). However recent meta-analysis studies from Koutsimani, Montgomery and Georganta (2019) have suggested that burnout is fundamentally distinct from both anxiety and depression. 

There are certain occupations that seem to be more closely associated with risk of burnout, in particular, occupations within the teaching, social work and mental health professional spheres. Teaching has been shown to be a stressful occupation more susceptible to burnout due to to job expectations and poor working conditions (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2021) while 

A recent publication from the British Psychological Society (BPS, 2025) found that one in four NHS staff absences are due to anxiety, stress and depression, all of which are factors which have been correlated with burnout towards social work (Maddock, 2024). The COVID-19 pandemic in particular, has been demonstrated by researchers to have been a period of increased burnout for healthcare workers (Lluch et al., 2022), speculatively, it is possible the healthcare industry has become more susceptible to burnout in the years following the disease. 

Worryingly, burnout seems to be on the rise within the younger generation of workers. According to a report from Mental Health UK this year, there is a growing trend towards young people reporting the need to take time off work due to mental health concerns, up from 4% the previous year. This increase in burnout could relate to the growing disillusionment among young workers due to the cost of living crisis, evidenced by 48% reportedly feeling stressed from working unpaid overtime, and 46% reporting having to work extra hours to make ends meet (Mental Health UK, 2025). 

How can we prevent and manage burnout?

Advice from the mental health organisation Mind (n.d) stresses the importance of a healthy lifestyle. In particular, ensuring that an individual maintains a healthy sleep schedule and if possible, maintains a healthy work life balance may help in reducing feelings of burnout. Furthermore, Surrounding yourself with supportive peers (colleagues friends or family) can offer social benefits that may mitigate burnout risk (Ruisoto et al., 2021)

Employers should aim to actively prevent burnout from occurring. Gabriel and Aguinis (2022) propose that guidelines and implementation should be put in place that aim to encourage social support within the workplace, provide adequate stress management resources to employees and to foster a positive working environment through supportive management practices. Steps are being taken towards this goal, The BPS (2025) have highlighted the importance of investment in dedicated mental health support for NHS staff, adapting “wellbeing hubs” for staff, and funding burnout preventative schemes for employees (NHS Employers, 2025). 

Ultimately as literature from Salminen et al., (2017) suggests, recovering from or preventing burnout may rest within both individual and work related factors. That is to say that the path towards preventing burnout is most beneficial when an individual exhibits a high agency (responsibility towards themselves) and they are supported through a positive job environment.