This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Burnout

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

In 1992, the BMA book Stress in the Medical Profession defined many GPs' feelings as 'burnout' - a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, reduced productivity and feelings of low achievement.

There are various features of burnout. No one symptom should be taken in isolation.

Possible features of burnout include:

  • guilt at taking time off work
  • minimising contact with patients
  • excessive discussions about past mistakes
  • excessive discussion about future workload
  • becoming cross with a colleague or employee at least once per day
  • drinking alcohol before working
  • inability to concentrate on the matter in hand
  • emotional exhaustion

Reference:

  • Makin PJ et al (1988). JRCGP, 38, 303-6.
  • Sunderland VJ, Cooper VL (1992). BMJ, 304, 1545-8.
  • Report of the RCGP (1994). Revaluing General Practice.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.