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 emot...

Part 2: Recognising Burnout – Signs and Symptoms in Your People

 10 Part Blog Series: Understanding & Combating Burnout in the Workplace

Burnout can be sneaky. 

It doesn’t always announce itself with a loud crash or a big warning sign. It often starts with small, subtle shifts—before it spirals into something that cannot be ignored. 

As HR professionals, recognising Burnout early is crucial.

When you understand the signs and symptoms, you can act quickly to prevent further harm. But, the first step is knowing what to look for. The earlier Burnout is spotted, the sooner you can help prevent its escalation.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

Burnout doesn’t look the same for everyone. While some may show clear signs, others may mask their exhaustion or disengagement. Here are a few common symptoms to watch for:

• Emotional Symptoms: Cynicism, irritability, lack of enthusiasm, feeling disconnected from work or colleagues.
• Physical Symptoms: Chronic fatigue, trouble sleeping, headaches...

10 Part Blog Series: Understanding & Combating Burnout in the Workplace

Part 1: Introduction to Burnout – What HR Needs to Know

Burnout is no longer a buzzword—it’s a reality that many employees and organisations are facing around the world every single day.

As HR professionals, you cannot afford to ignore the impact Burnout has on you, your people and the wider organisation

But what exactly is Burnout?

You might be familiar with the term, but do you truly understand what it means for you as an HR leader and for the people you're responsible for?

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress and overwork.

It’s not just a bit of workplace fatigue—it’s a serious condition that can affect an employee’s ability to perform at their best and, if left unaddressed, can lead to disengagement, attrition, and even serious health problems.

Burnout impacts decision making, confidence and feelings of self worth, and it can impact your brain an...

Burnout is no longer a buzzword. It’s a global crisis that’s quietly dismantling lives, careers, and entire organisations.

And let’s be honest—most of us in coaching or people professions have either faced it ourselves or seen it present in our clients. But here’s the real problem: many coaches and HR professionals aren’t equipped to truly understand or tackle burnout at its core.

That’s exactly why I created the Burnout Academy

The Burnout Academy is more than a training programme; it’s a movement. It was born out of a very personal realisation that if we don’t radically shift our approach, Burnout will continue to devastate individuals, teams, and businesses.

I wanted to give coaches and in-house people professionals the tools they need to not only recognise Burnout but to address the systemic causes that perpetuate it.

Why Burnout is Everyone’s Business

We’ve normalised Burnout as the price of success.

Overworking is celebrated, exhaustion is a badge of honour, and self-ca...

Resilience has become a buzzword in recent years, especially in workplaces plagued by Burnout. But let’s take a moment to ask: what does resilience really mean? Too often, it’s misinterpreted as the ability to endure, to keep pushing through despite exhaustion, stress, or even the toxicity of a work environment. And this misunderstanding is one of the key reasons Burnout continues to rise.

As coaches, we have a responsibility to challenge this narrative—not just for ourselves, but for the clients who rely on us to guide them toward healthier, more sustainable ways of living and working. Resilience isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing better.

Rethinking Resilience

Resilience is not a badge of honour for surviving impossible conditions. It’s not about gritting your teeth and staying in environments that drain your soul. True resilience is about thriving, not surviving. It’s about creating a life aligned with your values, needs, and desires—a life that allows for rest, joy, and rec...

As coaches, we often find ourselves helping clients navigate a world that demands more—more productivity, more performance, more results.

But when Burnout comes into play, these traditional coaching approaches can unintentionally increase and aggravate the problem.

Burnout isn’t about doing more. It’s about finding a new way to move forward—a way that honours wellbeing, balance, sustainability, and perhaps most importantly, a sense of self.

Burnout is not a badge of honour to be worn proudly or an inevitable byproduct of success.

It’s a warning sign, a red flag that something is deeply misaligned in our clients’ lives. And as coaches, it’s our responsibility to guide them toward alignment—not by pushing harder but by coaching differently.

Shifting the Paradigm

When coaching through Burnout, the first shift we must make is away from productivity-focused goals. Instead, we explore who our clients are by rebuilding their sense of self, helping our clients to identify how they can...

Stress and the Burnout Connection: Why Your Coaching Approach Might Need a Shift

Stress.

It’s the word that echoes through nearly every coaching conversation these days. Clients are overwhelmed, juggling too much, and constantly “on.”

For many, stress has become so much of the norm that they barely spot the warning signs when something else comes knocking: Burnout

If you’re a coach, you might find that your tried-and-tested techniques—those powerful tools that usually create breakthroughs—are suddenly falling flat.

It’s not you, and it’s not your clients. The truth is, Burnout changes the game and the way in which your clients are able to make decisions.

The Invisible Line Between Stress and Burnout

Stress and burnout are connected, but they’re not the same.

Stress is the body’s response to pressures and challenges.

Burnout, however, is what happens when chronic, unmanaged stress takes over. It’s more than just exhaustion; it’s a deep physical, emotional, and mental deple...

December is here, you've been waiting for this since the summer.

Your summer holiday didn't cut it.  

The exhaustion.

The brain fog.

The constant and never ending to do list.

The mistakes you've started to make.

The balls you've started to drop.

It's all being noticed.

You've started conversations about getting a coach, because you're starting to feel like a failure, but oh the irony, you haven't had the time to confirm a coach, or the budget, and you definitely start a coaching relationship this side of Christmas.

You can't fit anything else in this side of Christmas.

You can't slow down.

You can't stop.

You can't switch off.

You're counting down the days.

It's all going to be better after Christmas.

The new year is going to be different.

You're going to make some changes.  Or you say you will.

But the reality really is that you're just hoping that the change will come from other people. Because the thought of change, of making change, of creating change, it's just to...

12 years ago my body was giving me a lot of signs that something needed to change, and I ignored them all.

Two periods of Burnout, three chronic health conditions, five books, hundreds of talks, and several hundreds of clients later, and I'm still here banging on about Burnout.

And it's getting worse.

I'm often asked, and even did my TEDx about whether I should be even trying to prevent Burnout.  "What if it's the 'awakening' that people need to experience to make the changes that they need to make in their lives". And I get it.

Because I didn't pay attention.  I didn't pay attention the first time, and I didn't pay attention the second time.

I had to go through those two periods of Burnout before I really started to make the change.

And I now believe that I went through those two periods of Burnout so that nobody else needs to.

If I could turn back the clock, I would.  Living with the aftermath of Burnout is not fun.  I live with and manage my conditions as best I can, but some...

Burnout: The Science and the Woo

Last week I was called an anomaly when it came to Burnout because of the work I do and the understanding I’ve created about Burnout from Science and what they called Woo.

And whilst this has been in many ways accidental, my thirst for knowledge and joining the dots has played a part on the learning and skills I’ve acquired when it comes to understanding ourselves and Burnout.

In my teens, I remember my Mum being ill.  A hysterectomy, an operation on her sinuses, an under-active thyroid diagnosis.  And in my twenties, she was then diagnosed with Diabetes, she developed angina, and the issues have continued to grow and develop.

Every time a doctor or consultant has changed her medication for one condition, there has been an impact on anther condition, and sometimes with near fatal outcomes.

I never understood why she couldn’t just be admitted to hospital, and treated as a person, instead of all of her conditions being treated in isolation.  Seen my m...