WHO recognizes Burnout for the first time as a disease
In the medical world has been discussed for decades, about whether or not Burnout is a disease. The world health organization (WHO) says: Yes! – and recognized the phenomenon for the first time as a disease, the result of “chronic Stress in the workplace”.
Stress on the Job can make you sick
More and more people feel due to the increasing work load and due to the Stress of the Job literally burned out. For those Affected, it can lead to depression, concentration disorders, chronic fatigue, and high anxiety. These are all typical signs of burnout. A binding Definition for this fatigue syndrome but there were not yet. This has now changed.
Definition of Burnout
In the professional world has been discussed for decades about how to define Burnout, and whether it is a disease.
Health insurance companies and Doctors are based often on the International classification of diseases (ICD) of the world health organization (WHO).
In the ICD, all recognised illness will be recorded images and Code provided, the physician for the documentation. The WHO defines, manages, and maintains these catalog.
Now three new disease were recorded in the ICD-list: Burnout, video game Addiction, and compulsive sexual behavior.
The inclusion in the ICD-catalogue simplifies the handling of the Affected. For example, it is for the Patients and easier to find a suitable doctor and for doctors, the documentation and Transfer is simplified, since the disease can be called. The new ICD-11 will occur in the year 2022 in force.
Burnout is defined in the future as a syndrome due to “chronic Stress in the workplace, which is not processed successfully”.
Three Dimensions
The according to experts, Burnout is characterized by three dimensions:
1.) Feelings of loss of energy and exhaustion
2.) increased mental distance to one’s own profession or a negative attitude to the Job
3.) decreased occupational performance
“Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the professional context and should not be used for experience in other areas of life applied”, – stated in the ICD.
The possibilities of the prevention
For the treatment of Burnout-patients experts, health measures, such as the “Learning of relaxation techniques, healthy living, relief, reflection, and realignment of personal expectations and demands, the improvement of Work-life Balance, etc.”, suggested, it says on the website “www.psychiater-im-netz.org” the professional Association of German psychiatrists (PRACTICE).
These “are to be checked on their importance in the context of the individual constellation and vote.”
Better yet, prevent is. The German Bundesverband für Burnout-prophylaxis and prevention (DBVB) in Munich had pointed out in the past on different ways of prevention.
The experts called it, among other things, the identification and reduction of sources of Stress, focused relaxation (such as Progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic Training, Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong), adequate sleep, regular exercise, healthy diet, and Taking “time-outs”. (ad)