B9.1
Tracks
Stream B
| Saturday, October 31, 2026 |
| 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM |
Overview
Identifying Early Warning Signs of Burnout | 15 mins
Presenter
Dr Ben Searle
Mind On The Job
Identifying Early Warning Signs of Burnout
11:45 AM - 12:00 PMAbstract
As organisational psychologists, we should strive to prevent burnout by helping organisations eliminate or control the psychosocial hazards that cause burnout. But while we’re toiling away on that Sisyphean task, people continue to burn out. Is there anything else we can be doing?
A problem reported by many who experience burnout is that they didn’t realise it was happening until the symptoms had become severe. By that point, the hazards that contributed to one person's burnout are likely to be harming others. In many such cases, the employee winds up leaving their job, changing careers, even leaving the workforce. Late diagnosis also means recovery from burnout takes longer and requires interventions that cost more and are more difficult to implement. Many of these problems could be prevented if we could only identify burnout earlier!
The present study used social media to recruit people with lived experience of burnout in order to identify how symptoms change as the condition progresses. Participants were asked about which burnout symptoms they experienced, when those symptoms emerged, and what coping strategies seemed helpful. Chi-square testing was used to evaluate which symptoms were predominantly experienced in the early stages of burnout.
Variability in responses from 134 participants demonstrated how different the experience of burnout can be. Nevertheless, results revealed 13 symptoms that were predominantly experienced in the early stages of burnout. These include relatively mild forms of the three conventional symptoms of burnout as well as several other symptoms that are consistent with emerging burnout models. A handful of symptoms were also identified that are predominantly experienced in late stages of burnout, reinforcing the notion that the progression of burnout may involve qualitative as well as quantitative changes in symptoms.
The presentation will focus on early warning signs and their implications for research and practice. Findings on symptom duration and coping strategies are less conclusive, but they provide sobering insights into the importance of tackling burnout early.
A problem reported by many who experience burnout is that they didn’t realise it was happening until the symptoms had become severe. By that point, the hazards that contributed to one person's burnout are likely to be harming others. In many such cases, the employee winds up leaving their job, changing careers, even leaving the workforce. Late diagnosis also means recovery from burnout takes longer and requires interventions that cost more and are more difficult to implement. Many of these problems could be prevented if we could only identify burnout earlier!
The present study used social media to recruit people with lived experience of burnout in order to identify how symptoms change as the condition progresses. Participants were asked about which burnout symptoms they experienced, when those symptoms emerged, and what coping strategies seemed helpful. Chi-square testing was used to evaluate which symptoms were predominantly experienced in the early stages of burnout.
Variability in responses from 134 participants demonstrated how different the experience of burnout can be. Nevertheless, results revealed 13 symptoms that were predominantly experienced in the early stages of burnout. These include relatively mild forms of the three conventional symptoms of burnout as well as several other symptoms that are consistent with emerging burnout models. A handful of symptoms were also identified that are predominantly experienced in late stages of burnout, reinforcing the notion that the progression of burnout may involve qualitative as well as quantitative changes in symptoms.
The presentation will focus on early warning signs and their implications for research and practice. Findings on symptom duration and coping strategies are less conclusive, but they provide sobering insights into the importance of tackling burnout early.
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Ben used to research and teach about occupational stress and psychosocial hazards. These days, he works directly with government agencies and private organisations, helping them to investigate psychosocial hazards and to develop productive responses and sustainable control systems. He also helps organisations to develop, validate, and refine assessment tools.
His academic and professional expertise in burnout are augmented by his own lived experience of the condition, which ignited his passion to make a difference in how we handle it. In addition to continued research and consulting work in this field, Ben shares tips and insights in his monthly newsletter, Read Before Burning.
