【英語島讀書會】心累卻說不出口?WHO重新定義「工作倦怠」



高工時與高壓環境,讓你感到人生無望?這種倦怠感不是幻覺。近期,WHO誤將「工作倦怠」列為疾病,引起國際媒體注目。雖後來更正官方說詞,但工作倦怠也確實列入國際疾病標準手冊中,改作更加明確的「症候群」。由此也讓人了解,目前工作倦怠對於工作者的影響日漸加劇,已經到達國際重視的程度了。

工作倦怠仍然不是病

WHO announced that "burnout" remains an "occupational phenomenon", which means that people could seek care for burnout, but it is still not considered as a medical condition.

世界衛生組織宣布「工作倦怠」仍然屬於「職業現象」,這表示大家可以因為工作倦怠,去尋求醫療幫助,但工作倦怠本身並不被認定為疾病。

After decades of research, burnout is still not considered an actual mental disorder even though it's one of the most widely discussed mental health problems in today's society. One reason for that is that much of the research on burnout focused on "causes and associated factors," rather than on attempts to develop diagnostic criteria, according to one leading burnout researcher, Torsten Heinemann. That led to "vagueness and ambiguity" around the concept of burnout.

幾十年來的研究顯示,儘管工作倦怠是近代社會最廣為討論的問題之一,它本身仍不屬於真正心理疾病的範疇。根據研究工作倦怠的頂尖專家Torsten Heinemann,造成這個現象的原因之一,是因為許多研究都只侷限在工作倦怠的「起因及影響因素」,而非制定診斷標準,這才導致工作倦怠的定義相當模糊。

工作倦怠定義再升級

Burnout was included in the previous edition of the WHO's handbook of diseases (ICD-10), but was described in general terms as a state of exhaustion. The new edition upgrades burnout to a syndrome, with a more serious set of symptoms. More detailed definitions of burnout are added to the ICD-11, which will go into effect in January 2022 and helps healthcare providers diagnose diseases.

工作倦怠早已收錄在國際疾病標準第10版(ICD-10),但其定義非常籠統,僅僅描述為疲倦的狀態。新版的ICD則將工作倦怠的定義升級為症候群,是狀況更為嚴重的綜合症狀,更多的詳細的描述也都一併收錄在最新的ICD-11當中,ICD-11將於2022年1月上路,並幫助醫生做診斷。

In ICD-11, burnout is defined as "chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed" and several key symptoms of burnout include:

最新版本的ICD-11中,工作倦怠的定義為「長期處於工作壓力,卻無法成功處理的一種症候群 」,其中包含以下 3 項症狀:

1. feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
覺得缺乏活力及精疲力竭

2. "mental distance" at work or "negativism and cynicism" in relation to one's job
無法與工作產生心理連結、對工作產生負面想法或憤世嫉俗

3. reduced professional efficacy
工作效率降低

Burnout新定義多的是一份職場同理心

"The earlier definition was kind of this weird in-between; you're not really sick, but you're not fully capable of doing your work." says Torsten Voigt, a German sociologist, who published a review of existing studies on burnout in 2017.

「早期工作倦怠的定義像是卡在某種不上不下的詭異狀態,這就好比你沒有真的生病,卻也無法完成份內的工作。」德國社會學家Torsten Voigt說道,他曾在2017年發表工作倦怠相關研究的回顧探討。

"The new definition is now more detailed. While it's not a major change, it gives people who suffer from burnout more legitimacy."Voigt says. "People who feel burnout are finally fully recognized as having a severe issue. The new definition may be a step toward making it easier for people to get help, at least in some European countries, where health professionals rely on the ICD," he says.

「新版定義就更加確切了。儘管這不是很大的變革,但這項改變卻會讓工作倦怠的人,得到更多的理解。」Voigt說。「工作倦怠的人終於能被接納為身心狀況真的出了問題。此外,新版本的定義也許會讓這些人更容易接受治療,至少能通行於部分歐洲國家,那裡的醫療人員會仰賴ICD做專業診斷。」他說。

*本文收錄於英語島English Island 2019年7月號