Burnout: An American Epidemic

Burnout is a secret medical epidemic that is sapping the vitality and joy out of many Americans' lives.

The medical diagnosis of Burnout refers to a person's inability to cope with the emotional stresses of life but a more accurate definition is a person's mind and body inability to deal with any additional physical or emotional stress. Burnout is a major underlying cause of many of today's biggest health issues including; Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Generalized Pain and Insomnia. The failure of most medical professionals to properly diagnose and treat Burnout has contributed to the explosion and bombardment of the US population with anti-anxiety, anti-depression and pain medications with no appreciable improvement in patients' quality-of-life. Burnout is not a new condition but the perfect storm of unrelenting technology, loss of personal connections and drug dominated healthcare has allowed it to reach epidemic proportions.

Burnout has existed throughout history and has been referenced in numerous forms of literature, it has also been a major area research for the last 3 decades. The Old Testament speaks of the “weariness of Elijah” in (Exodus18: 17–18 The verb “to burn out” is used by Shakespeare at the end of the sixteenth century. The term as we understand it today appeared for the first time in 1974 in the USA, when it was used by the psychoanalyst Herbert J. Freudenberger. (1) The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaire was created in 1981 by Christina Maslach and Susan Jackosn to quantify Burnout in different demographic groups and since that time has been referenced over 1500 peer review journal articles throughout the world. (2). While Burnout has been around throughout history it took modern research to explain how and why it is causing both physical and emotional complaints at an epidemic rate.

The underlying cause of Burnout is continuous stress, physical, emotional, and/or chemical, that causes deregulation of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis, commonly referred to as the Fight-or-Flight response, was designed to handle short lived stressful events. The stressors of today are often low grade and continuous; i.e. emails, phones, Facebook, long commutes, poor food quality, drugs, etc. which offer the HPA axis no time to rest and reset. An article in The Yale Journal of Medicine in 2002 associated Burnout with an abnormal HPA axis response, decreased physical and mental acuity. The research linking Burnout to HPA axis dysfunction and health complaints is staggering.

“…This study documents an increased prevalence of MSDs (Musculoskeletal Disorders) among emergency nurses, as predicted by increased job demand and associated with a higher level of burnout. “ Relationship between musculoskeletal disorders, job demands, and burnout among emergency nurses. Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal 2012

“… Specifically, professional inefficacy (Accomplishment) may be the earliest warning signal culminating with emotional exhaustion that may dampen diurnal cortisol levels.” Burnout symptom sub-types and cortisol profiles: what's burning most? Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2014

“… individuals with stronger cortisol responses reported less pain unpleasantness …These findings suggest that acute stress modulates pain in humans and contributes to individual variability in pain affect and pain-related brain activity.” Acute stress contributes to individual differences in pain and pain-related brain activity in healthy and chronic pain patients. The Journal of Neuroscience April 2013

The Burnout epidemic has occurred because modern medicine only recognizes a person as healthy or diseased. The inability of modern medicine to see the connection between the mind and body has allowed the profession to completely ignore or misdiagnose the condition. A person with Burnout is neither healthy nor diseased but rather has lost the ability to regulate their response to stress. Modern medicine’s response to the Burnout epidemic is to use a myriad of drugs to treat the countless physical and emotional symptoms that it can create. Burnout needs to first be recognized as a medical condition and then treated by relieving the underlying physical, emotional and chemical stressors and rebuilding the HPA axis. Learn more about Burnout at Monmouth Advanced Medicine.

About the contributor: Dr. Steven Zodkoy is a board certified chiropractor, nutritionist and kinesiologst who, for over 20 years, has specialized in assisting patients that have not found relief through a standard course of treatment. He was one of the first doctors in the area to offer Lite Cure Deep Laser Therapy. It is a safe, FDA approved treatment that offers relief from neck pain, carpal tunnel, headaches/migraines and various other pain and injuries. Dr. Zodkoy also specializes in other advanced services as Neuro-Emotional Technique, IDD Therapy, and Physical Therapy.

A frequent contributor to Channel 12 New Jersey’s “Here’s to your Health”, Dr. Zodkoy also lectures to numerous companies and organizations throughout the country on varied topics regarding health and well-being. He has authored many articles including “Treating Herniated Discs Without Surgery”, “Say Goodbye to Low Back Pain,” and “Migraines, A Review, a Theory and a Treatment Protocol.” He is also in the process of writing a book, tentatively titled “Treating the Untreatable: Adrenal Fatigue, an American Epidemic.”
Dr. Zodkoy’s practice is unique as he focuses on finding relief from pain without the need for medication. The common thread you will find through his practice is cutting-edge, consistent and individualized quality patient care. Contact Dr. Steven Zodkoy today at monmouthadvancedmedicine.com or call 732-308-0099.

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1. Wolfgang P Kaschka, Burnout: A Fashionable Diagnosis Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2011 Nov; 108(46): 781–787. PMCID: PMC3230825
2. PubMed.gov search Maslach Burnout Inventory, 1510 articles listed https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=maslach+burnout
3. Morgan, CA 3rd, et al. (2002). The impact of burnout on human physiology and on operational performance: a prospective study of soldiers enrolled in the combat diver qualification course. Yale J Biol Med, 75(4):199-205