Breaking Point: Job Stress, Occupational Depression, and the Myth of Burnout - Softcover

Schonfeld, Irvin Sam; Bianchi, Renzo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1394249497 ISBN 13: 9781394249497

Publisher: Wiley, 2025

Synopsis

Burnout has become a popular indicator of the distress that individuals can experience at work. In Breaking Point: Job Stress, Occupational Depression, and the Myth of Burnout, the authors, in the context of more than a decade of research, show how the phenomenon hidden behind the label of burnout is, in fact, depressive in nature.

This book unravels the connections between work, depression, and burnout. The authors underline the dangers of mislabeling a depressive condition as burnout, including misdiagnosis, improper treatment, and unaddressed suicidality. Finally, they offer a path forward for individuals and society. By recognizing the depressive roots of burnout, human resources specialists and occupational health professionals can refer employees for appropriate treatment and understand how and why problematic working conditions must be changed.

• Review the history of depression and burnout and their connection to work
• Learn about research that supports occupational depression as a more valuable construct than burnout
• Understand and address the stigma that inhibits affected employees from seeking treatment
• Discover specific, research-grounded actions that occupational health specialists can take to prevent and address depression and burnout in the workplace

About this title

About the Author

Irvin Sam Schonfeld is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at The City College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Renzo Bianchi is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and an Extraordinary Professor of Psychology at the WorkWell Research Unit at North-West University.

From the Back Cover

“The book is a wonderful example of a successful trans-Atlantic cooperation and friendship between two researchers. Schonfeld and Bianchi bring their excellent research and writing skills to bear on how job-related burnout is likely to be a depressive condition.”
―WULF RÖSSLER, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Zurich

“Irvin Sam Schonfeld and Renzo Bianchi provide a critical review of the burnout research literature. They make a compelling argument that burnout is not distinct from depression, leading to their recommendations for how organizations can best support the mental health of their members.”
―PAUL SPECTOR, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of South Florida

“This book is a must-read for scholars interested in burnout and is written in a manner that is scientifically grounded yet accessible for practitioners.”
―ROBERT SINCLAIR, Professor of Psychology, Clemson University, and Founding Editor-in-Chief, Occupational Health Science

“I commend the authors on furthering our understanding of the dangerous impact of work on mental health.”
―LESLIE B. HAMMER, Professor, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University, Director, Oregon Healthy Workforce Center

“Occupational depression may well be the most appropriate concept for the essence of the phenomenon that is at the core of what is called burnout.”
― NORBERT K. SEMMER, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Bern

An incisive, evidence-based look at what occupational burnout really means ― and what we can do about it

In Job Stress, Occupational Depression, and the Myth of Burnout, two leading burnout researchers challenge the conventional view of burnout. Drawing on over a decade of research, they argue that burnout is actually a type of depression caused by adverse working conditions. The book critiques the concept of burnout, highlighting its overlaps with depression and showing how work stress can lead to depressive symptoms. It also discusses the stigma preventing workers from seeking help and offers organizational and individual interventions to address work-related depression.

By revealing the weaknesses and contradictions in the idea of occupational burnout ― and by placing it in its historical and socioeconomic context ― Dr. Irvin Sam Schonfeld and Dr. Renzo Bianchi reveal that treating burnout as a separate construct risks masking a deeper issue. Their findings show that, when we properly understand burnout as a depressive condition, we can prevent misdiagnosis, improper treatment, and unaddressed suicidality.

Job Stress, Occupational Depression, and the Myth of Burnout also offers interventions that organizations can use to improve working conditions in view of depression risk in workers. Researchers and corporate leaders alike will find value in this book’s practical advice on improving employee mental health.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1394249497
• ISBN 13: 9781394249497
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240