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...

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...