BURN-OUT: The High Cost of High Achievement

by Herbert with Geraldine Richelson Freudenberger ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 10, 1980

This is a blow-up of one specific personality type: the high achiever who one day peters out--physically and mentally--and loses the dynamic, charismatic characteristics that made him or her so special. Like most magnifications, the book tends to exaggerate--and there is also considerable repetition. But some of the profiles--particularly those drawn from the psychoanalyst-author's practice--may strike home sufficiently to give the suddenly-slipping overachiever a handle on the problem. Like the couple who played out the ""perfect marriage"" role, burnout victims tend to be overdedicated, overcommitted to goals and images that were ""externally imposed"" by well-meaning others--parents, friends, etc. Thus Freudenberger claims to uncover in victims of burn-out a lethal combination of ""bad choices and good intentions""; his remedy, not surprisingly, runs along the lines of listening to ""the real you."" Cautionary symptoms include chronic fatigue, depression, boredom and cynicism, and paranoia. At this point readers should be ready to jot down the early experiences that created a destructive image for them to live up to; and they should recognize the ""false cures"" to which they have turned in the past, from denial (which leads to ""dulling and deadness"") to drugs and alcohol. Whether all this will really help the frustrated executive reaching the end of his endurance, say, is open to question; but if self-knowledge is a first step, some may indeed see their mirror image, and recoil.

Pub Date: Oct. 10, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION