Recommended Reading
It is Swiss Burnout‘s position not to champion any approach to the problem, which includes a reluctance to recommend any self-help manuals. We will post, however, reviews by qualified individuals which represent their opinions — not necessarily endorsed by Swiss Burnout.
Since the term Burnout was coined in the English language (and popularized in the US), it is little wonder that the overwhelming majority of professional articles is in that language. With books, it may be somewhat different. A recent search for English Books on Amazon (done from Germany) brought to light about 250 titles. After discounting doublets and books (!) dedicated to the phenomenon of burned-rubber-when-quick-starting-a-motorcycle, that is only about double the number of entries for German language books (see this website‘s pertinent German language page).
Classics
- Cherniss, C. Beyond burnout: Helping teachers, nurses, therapists, and lawyers recover from stress & disillusionment. New York: Routledge, 1995.Twelve years after the author completed interviews with 28 „new public professionals“ for two books published in 1980 (now out of print), he was able to trace almost all of his interviewees, meanwhile scattered all about the US. This book is a fascinating sequel to the earlier ones, applying the author‘s analytical gift to real-life biographies. Lots of ideas how to escape career traps or turn them into livable environments. Thoughtful, non-technical.
- Lauderdale, M. Burnout: Strategies for personal and organizational life. Austin, Learning Concepts, 1982.An almost forgotten early book deserving fresh reading. Extremely wide scope, including philosophical, historical, and sociological considerations. Very stimulating.Chichester: Taylor & Francis, 1993.
- Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W.B., & Marek, T. (Eds.) Professional burnout: Recent developments in theory and research. A collection of mostly theoretical contributions to a 1990 Burnout Conference in Poland. Stimulating, but for the specialist.
- Pines, A. & Aronson, E. Career burnout: Causes and cures. Glencoe: The Free Press, 1989. A primer by one of the „founding mothers“ of the burnout literature and an eminent social psychologist. Easy reading.
- Schaufeli, W.B. & Enzmann, D. The burnout companion to study & practice. Chichester: Taylor & Francis, 1998.A review of the empirical research literature concerning the burnout syndrome. Very comprehensive yet concise, very thorough, nonetheless highly readable. Most of its — mainly disappointing — conclusions are still valid one decade later. Must reading for anyone approaching burnout out of an academic interest.
This reviewer‘s favorite self-help book
- McGee-Cooper, A. with Trammell, D. You don‘t have to go home from work exhausted! New York: Bantam Books, 1992.This an extremely well written how-to book from the Nineties, fortunately still in print. Some of the philosophy, and the graphics, will look outmoded to US readers, while Europeans may still balk at the rose-lenses approach which says: It‘s all in your attitude. (There is a lot of truth in this, though!)Anyway, this reviewer has come across few books containing comparable loads of practical wisdom, wit, and sustainable philosophy. Highly recommended.
Matthias Burisch
