The body at work: Burnout and fatigue

The author examines the case of “burnout,” associating it with many other depressive blazes related to contemporary Western society. Burnout is unlike depression in that career and work are front and center stage in the discourse as the cause of discomfort. In a psychopathological and diagnostic perspective, the point is to be able to identify the meaning of symptoms common to fatigue, for example. A univocal extravert adaptation has been observed to prevail in subjects presenting with burnout. The psyche-soma of the persons concerned, because it is also related to identity, might take over for self-expression, caught in the nets of the massification of personality tendencies. This article suggests that a dialectization of professional disputes, within the framework of strict rules appropriate to its implementation as part of occupational health, could play a role in preventing burnout.