Burnout: If It’s Not a Medical Diagnosis, How Are Doctors Diagnosing It?

Burnout: If It’s Not a Medical Diagnosis, How Are Doctors Diagnosing It?

By Kelly Swingler

Burnout. We all know it. Many of us have lived it. Yet, despite how prevalent and destructive it is, Burnout still isn’t classified as a medical condition. It sits quietly in the WHO’s ICD-11 under “occupational phenomenon,” acknowledged as a consequence of chronic workplace stress. But here’s where it gets difficult: doctors around the world are diagnosing it every single day. 

So how does that happen when it technically doesn’t exist as a formal disease or medical condition?

Let’s break it down.

The “Unofficial” Diagnosis That’s Everywhere

While the WHO stops short of calling Burnout an illness, it defines it through three key dimensions:

•   Exhaustion
•   Cynicism or mental distance from work
•   Reduced professional efficacy

It sounds simple enough, but here’s the catch — the WHO’s definition fails to account for the severity of Burnout or its devastating impact on our long-term emotional, mental, and physical health. It acknowledges Burnout as a work-related syndrome but doesn’t connect the dots to the heart palpitations, the sleepless nights, the anxiety attacks, or the clinical depression that Burnout so often triggers.

Burnout can destroy lives, relationships, and careers, yet the official framework reduces it to a handful of work-related symptoms. And I think that’s a massive oversight.

The WHO and the Maslach Burnout Inventory: Same Roots, Bigger Issues

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) – the so-called gold standard for measuring Burnout – was co-created by Christina Maslach, the very same psychologist who played a pivotal role in shaping the WHO’s Burnout criteria. The MBI looks at emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (or cynicism), and reduced personal accomplishment.

Now, I’m not here to dismiss Maslach’s contribution to the Burnout conversation – her work is foundational and key. 

But let’s be clear: these frameworks come from the same lineage. And while they’re useful for research and broad diagnostics, they don’t fully capture what I see and hear every day from people at Burnout.

Because here’s what happens:

Doctors often rely on tools like the MBI to gauge severity. They ask questions. They run through checklists. But at the same time, they’re seeing people who are beyond exhausted, battling insomnia, digestive issues, panic attacks, high blood pressure, chronic pain, or worse.

These real health consequences aren’t highlighted in the WHO definition, nor do they show up on a neat inventory form.

Medical vs. Psychological: The Blurred Lines

So how do doctors make sense of this? 

In reality, many will still “diagnose” Burnout informally — especially when a patient presents with clear workplace stress and fatigue. But because Burnout isn’t a clinical disorder, some doctors might code it as “work-related stress”, “adjustment disorder”, or if symptoms escalate, even major depressive disorder or anxiety disorder.

In the Netherlands and Sweden, for instance, Burnout has been recognised more formally in certain ways. In the UK or U.S., though? It’s still caught in that grey zone. Doctors acknowledge the symptoms but might be left with limited options on paper unless depression or anxiety are diagnosed alongside it.

For me, that’s part of the bigger systemic issue — Burnout’s impact extends far beyond the workplace, yet much of the medical model still keeps it boxed into “occupational stress.” It ignores the fact that chronic, unmanaged Burnout contributes to long-term emotional and mental health deterioration, and yes, even physical health breakdown.

Burnout Isn’t Just About Workload – It’s About Whole-Person Impact

Here’s something I say to coaches, leaders, and clinicians all the time: Burnout is not just about what’s happening in someone’s job. The frameworks – from WHO to MBI – focus on “the workplace” as the root cause. But the consequences of Burnout ripple outward. They erode confidence, strain relationships, and chip away at someone’s health and identity.

Doctors on the frontlines know this. 

They’re seeing people who’ve crossed the line into chronic fatigue, autoimmune flare-ups, or even cardiac issues — all triggered by prolonged stress and emotional depletion.

Yet, with no formal medical diagnosis, the solutions are often piecemeal.

•   “Take time off.”
•   “Try some mindfulness.”
•   “Have you thought about CBT?”

Sound familiar?

While helpful in part, these aren’t always enough. Burnout needs deeper systemic change – in organisations, yes – but also in how we talk about and diagnose it.

The Missing Conversation: Long-Term Health Damage

What’s rarely discussed is the insidious toll Burnout takes on our nervous systems, immune health, and emotional well-being. Chronic stress rewires the brain’s threat-response system, leaving people hyper-vigilant or emotionally numb long after the initial Burnout has “passed.”

I’ve seen clients who left their toxic jobs years ago but still can’t sleep properly, still feel detached from life, or still battle unexplained health symptoms.

And yet, the WHO definition remains silent on this. So do most of the assessment tools. They don’t track the real-life long-term damage.

Burnout is not just a blip on the career radar. It is a full-body crisis.

Why Coaches and Leaders Need to Understand This Gap

If we keep relying solely on frameworks like the WHO’s, or tick-box assessments like the MBI, we’re missing the bigger picture. As coaches, supervisors, and leaders, we have to understand the whole human experience of Burnout – the messy, complex, health-impacting reality that doesn’t always fit neatly into an ICD code.

This is why in The Burnout Academy, I’m training coaches to see beyond the checklist. 

To spot the early warning signs before clients reach collapse. To recognise the blurred line between workplace stress and clinical illness.

Because Burnout doesn’t just disappear with a few days off work or a better to-do list. It requires a systemic shift in how we support people at work and in life.

My Takeaway?

Burnout isn’t yet a medical diagnosis – but the people living through it don’t care about that technicality. They need help, and they need it early.

We owe it to them to dig deeper than the frameworks, to acknowledge the long-term health risks, and to stop pretending that Burnout begins and ends at the office door.

Kelly

Want to learn how to spot Burnout before it escalates into crisis? Join me in The Burnout Academy where I teach coaches, and leaders how to change lives by changing how we address Burnout.