The MBI describes burnout as consisting of three things: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (loss of identity), and a lost sense of personal accomplishment. Here are a few example items from the MBI; in them, you can hear the desperation and exhaustion that characterizes the condition: I feel like I’m at the end of my rope. I feel fatigued when I get up in the morning and have to face another day on the job. I feel emotionally drained from my work. I don’t feel that I’m positively influencing other people’s lives through my work. I have not accomplished many worthwhile things in this job.
