The Difference Between Burnout and Demoralization

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There's a difference between burnout and demoralization, which is a concept that I really learned about from an education professor named Dolores Centiero. She talks a lot about how demoralization differs in that you no longer can do your job in a way that feels ethical and right with what is available to you. It's not just like, I'm really tired and I feel an inspired kind of thing; it's more of an ethical conundrum. And so I want to talk about how we can come back from burnout, but I feel like actually, we have to address this bigger thing, which is all these different types of burnout.

What does "burnout" even mean anymore? If you're asking yourself this question, you've come to the right podcast. Anne Helen Petersen is the writer who helped popularize the term and she thinks people are missing the big picture. In this episode, Anne Helen and Chris discuss the structures that are leading so many people, from nurses to teachers to office workers, to suffer from chronic, work-related stress. Then, Anne Helen suggests some of the ways that we can rethink our relationship to work – and offers practices that could protect us from laboring past our limits. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts