Leone, Stephanie S, Wessely, Simon, Huibers, Marcus J H et al. · Psychology & health · 2011 · DOI
This study compares burnout (exhaustion from work stress) and ME/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) by reviewing existing research and historical records. Though these conditions developed separately—burnout in psychology and CFS in medicine—they share many similar symptoms and appear to involve energy depletion. The authors found that while both conditions involve overload, need for rest, and affect similar types of people, they are often described differently depending on whether they're viewed through a psychological or medical lens.
This study is important because it helps clarify why ME/CFS and burnout are often confused, which can lead to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. Understanding the genuine similarities and differences between these conditions could improve clinical recognition of ME/CFS and reduce the stigma that results from viewing it as purely psychological.
This narrative review does not prove that burnout and CFS are the same condition or that one causes the other—it only identifies conceptual and phenomenological parallels. It does not provide empirical data comparing patients directly, so it cannot establish whether the conditions share underlying biological mechanisms or are distinct entities. The study is a literature review, not a clinical trial or case-control study, so it cannot determine prevalence, prognosis, or treatment response differences.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Leone, Stephanie S, Wessely, Simon, Huibers, Marcus J H, Knottnerus, J André, & Kant, Ijmert (2011). Two sides of the same coin? On the history and phenomenology of chronic fatigue and burnout.. Psychology & health. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440903494191
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-leone-2011-two-sides,
author = {Leone, Stephanie S and Wessely, Simon and Huibers, Marcus J H and Knottnerus, J André and Kant, Ijmert},
title = {Two sides of the same coin? On the history and phenomenology of chronic fatigue and burnout.},
journal = {Psychology & health},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1080/08870440903494191},
note = {PubMed: 20437294},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/leone-2011-two-sides},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/leone-2011-two-sides
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