ABSTRACT
It has been almost 20 years since the term burnout first appeared in the psychological literature. The phenomenon that was portrayed in those early articles had not been entirely unknown, but had been rarely acknowledged or even openly discussed. In some occupations it was almost a taboo topic because it was considered tantamount to admitting that at times professionals can (and do) act “unprofessionally.” The reaction of many people was to deny that such a phenomenon existed, or, if it did exist, to attribute it to a very small (but clearly mentally disturbed) minority. This response made it difficult, at first, to take any work on burnout seriously. However, after the initial articles were published, there was a major shift in opinion. Professionals in the human services gave substantial support to both the validity of the phenomenon and its significance as an occupational hazard. Once burnout was acknowledged as a legitimate issue, it began to attract the attention of various researchers.
