[Professional fatigue syndrome (burnout). Part 1 : identification by the general practitioner]

Burnout or professional fatigue syndrome has never been more talked about than in recent times. It is the result of exposure to a situation in which the strategies of the subject who are supposed to manage the stresses of the environment become outdated and inoperative. An imbalance is created between the demands and the material, operational and psychological resources to cope with them. Many health professions are confronted with the challenge of managing burnout. Among them, the general practitioner is very often on the front line. This paper is dedicated to him in priority. In its first part, it deals successively with the classification of the pathology (ICD-10 and DSM-5), its prevalence, its socio-economic impacts, its clinical picture (three stages), its diagnosis (by clinic and questionnaires), its causes, its evolution (from denial to acceptance), and its long-term consequences in the absence of treatment.