Since the start of the Covid pandemic, the charity has conducted polling of working adults in the UK. The most recent results from March 2021 saw 85 percent of UK adults correctly identified symptoms of burnout, while 68 percent mistakenly identified symptoms of anxiety.
Due to the prevalence of burnout, the condition has been recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an “occupational phenomenon” with 46 percent of UK workers feeling “more prone to extreme levels of stress” in 2021 compared to pre-Covid times.
Scientific research has demonstrated that burnout in a professional sense encompasses three main symptoms:
- Emotional exhaustion
- Depersonalisation
- Reduced personal accomplishment.
Overall, the symptoms of burnout resemble those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can also include more severe symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, nightmares associated with work, insomnia, chronic irritability, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, avoidance of patients or work events, hypervigilance, and angry outbursts.
