Stress Level & Burnout Score
A 10-question check across the three burnout dimensions — score, band, and what actually helps
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Score / 40
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Band
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Heaviest Dimension
A 10-question check across the three burnout dimensions — score, band, and what actually helps
Burnout isn't "being tired" — the research (Maslach's framework, now WHO-recognized) defines it as three distinct dimensions: exhaustion (depleted, unrecoverable-by-weekends), cynicism (detachment from work you once cared about), and reduced efficacy (effort stops producing). This assessment screens all three in ten honest questions, scores the total, and — more usefully — identifies which dimension leads, because the effective interventions differ by dimension.
| Dimension | Feels like | Responds to |
|---|---|---|
| Exhaustion | Waking tired, running on fumes, irritability, coping via food/alcohol/scrolling | Sleep first, then genuine recovery blocks — rest that isn't secretly productive |
| Cynicism | Numbness, dread, 'what's the point,' dark humor curdling | Control and meaning: renegotiated duties, boundaries, reconnecting with the chosen part of the work |
| Reduced efficacy | Spinning, unfinished everything, competence doubt | Smaller closed loops, visible progress, clarified priorities (role ambiguity is the usual engine) |
See a professional promptly if: symptoms persist despite two+ weeks of genuine recovery attempts; hopelessness, worthlessness or anhedonia dominate (depression's signature more than burnout's); physical symptoms mount (chest tightness, panic, GI); or alcohol/substances are doing the coping. And immediately, always: thoughts of self-harm → 988 (US suicide & crisis line, call or text, 24/7). Burnout responds to treatment at every severity — the score's job is to stop the creep before the crash.
No — it's a structured self-check in the spirit of validated instruments (Maslach's MBI), for awareness and tracking. Diagnosis (and the burnout-vs-depression distinction, which matters for treatment) belongs to clinicians.
Rough heuristic: burnout is work-shaped (improves on real vacations, targets the job) while depression is global (colors everything, vacation-proof). The overlap is large and both deserve care — persistent low mood, hopelessness or anhedonia means see a professional regardless of the label.
Absolutely — the framework was built on workplaces but applies to any chronic, high-demand, low-control role. Caregiver burnout is among the best documented; the interventions translate (respite = recovery blocks, support = structural change).
It measures it: genuine recovery on vacation followed by dread-relapse within days of returning is the classic signature that the problem is structural, not fatigue. Vacations treat exhaustion; they don't treat workload or control.
The evidence points at their side of the ledger: workload calibration, control/autonomy, recognition, fairness, community. If the conversation is possible, bring specifics ('these two duties, this coverage gap') — burnout fixes negotiated concretely succeed more than wellness-program gestures.
Elevated bands often move within 2-4 weeks of real changes (sleep + one structural fix). High/severe bands took months to build and take months to unwind — expect gradual trend improvement, not a light switch.
Completely — answers never leave your browser; nothing is stored or transmitted.
Score it, name the leading dimension, make one structural change and one recovery change, and re-test in a month. Burnout thrives on vagueness — ten honest questions is how it loses the ambiguity it needs.