European psychiatrists appear to be ahead of everyone else in figuring out what “burnout” really is.

One of the key symptoms is “vital exhaustion.”

There are three sub-groups, according to this New York Times story:

• Frenetic.
• Underchallenged.
• “Worn out..”

Burn-out, it seems,  is what people used to call “nervous breakdown,” a term which came into use in 1900. Medical historians consider the problem far older than that, the story says.

However, it is hard to imagine that health plans would cover “nervous breakdown” care, although parity for coverage of mental health diagnoses now is the law.

This is from the Mind column by Benedict Carey.

The New York Times

“Decades ago modern medicine all but stamped out the nervous breakdown, hitting it with a combination of new diagnoses, new psychiatric drugs and a strong dose of professional scorn. The phrase was overused and near meaningless, a self-serving term from an era unwilling to talk about mental distress openly. (Emphasis added)

“But like a stubborn virus, the phrase has mutated.

“In recent years, psychiatrists in Europe have been diagnosing what they call “burnout syndrome,” the signs of which include “vital exhaustion.” A paper published last year defined three types: “frenetic,” “underchallenged,” and “worn out” (“exasperated” and “bitter” did not make the cut).”

…“Yet medical historians say that, for versatility and descriptive power, it may be hard to improve upon the “nervous breakdown.” Coined around 1900, the phrase peaked in usage during the middle of the 20th century and echoes still. One recent study found that 26 percent of respondents to a national survey in 1996 reported that they had experienced an “impending nervous breakdown,” compared with 19 percent from the same survey in 1957.” (Emphasis added)

Source: New York Times, May 31, 2010