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Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?
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Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?

As a diagnosis, it’s too vague to be helpful – but its rise tells us a lot about the way we work.

Jill Lepore
The New Yorker, 2021
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According to Harvard historian Jill Lepore, burnout – that is, feelings of being “worn down, wiped out, threadbare, on edge, battered and battle-scarred” – is pervasive. Though the condition has existed since ancient times, it has become a defining feature of modern life. In this New Yorker article, Lepore traces the origins of the term “burnout” and explores why possible remedies have failed to mitigate its spread.

Take-Aways

  • Burnout is a pervasive problem, and the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated it.
  • Evidence suggests that burnout may be an omnipresent feature of the human experience.
  • The term “burned out” first described drug addicts before entering the mainstream to describe overworked people across all professions and industries.

About the Author

Jill Lepore is a professor of American History at Harvard University. She’s also been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2005. Her writing covers American history, law, literature and politics.

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