Burnout is rising in Sweden, despite progressive culture

Despite Sweden widely being known as the best country for managing work with everyday life, newly released figures suggest that exhaustion and stress rates are on the rise.

Swedes are guaranteed a minimum of five weeks holiday a year, as well as some of the best parental leave figures in the world. It’s fair to say they really champion flexible and relaxing work environments. However, the number of people suffering from “clinical burnout” – exhaustion caused by chronic stress, most commonly caused by a too demanding work schedule – has skyrocketed in the past few years.

The BBC reported that clinical burnout was the most common reason for Swedish workers to take time off last year and according to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, 20% of sickness benefit cases over all age groups are in relation to this.

A psychiatric professor at Karolinska Institute, Marie Åsberg, told the BBC that clinical burnout is much more than an occasional come-and-go stress at work. She said: “Once you develop it, it takes a very long time to recover. If your brain doesn’t function properly, it is terribly difficult to go to work and do a normal job.”