Prior to 1974 the term 'burnout' applied to jet engines—the machine fails to work because of overuse or because fuel supply has been used up or cut off. In 1974 Dr. Herbert Freudenberger published an article using ‘burnout’ as a way to explain the state of a person. In doing so he shared his personal experience of becoming burned out, and described how personally depleted and occupationally impaired he became in his quest to cure others.
The term burnout has easily integrated into society’s lexicon as a way to describe how a person feels. In 1976 psychologist Christina Maslach helped to clarify the term and proposed that burnout includes three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization/cynicism, and personal accomplishment. Since 1974 there have been well over 1000 studies related to the personal state of burnout.
Whether applied to engines or people the term burnout is descriptive and its definition once meant for machines can accurately describe the state of a person; a failure to work because of overuse or lack of fuel.
Fuel for Thought:
What do you feel like when you are burned out?
How do you define burnout as it applies to you?
How often do you hear people say they are burned out? What do you suppose they mean when they say ‘burned out’?
