A Calm, Cool Look at Burnout : CAREER BURNOUT Causes and Cures <i> by Ayala Pines and Elliot Aronson (The Free Press/Macmillan: $17.95; 217 pp.) </i>

Maybe the day begins with sweet murmuring music. Maybe it begins with a harsh unrelenting buzzing that persists. However it begins, you know that it’s time to get up but you can’t seem to. You’re physically and emotionally exhausted and it’s not a hangover. It’s not even the fact you haven’t slept again. What you are experiencing is burnout.

Burnout is a term that has been knocked about over and over. Yet it survives, perhaps because so many people fear they may be going through it, are threatened by its prospect or have someone around them who is suffering from its symptoms. Now there is a book that captures both the breadth and depth of this elusive term.

“Career Burnout” is an intelligently written volume with a sophisticated grasp of two fields of knowledge. Sigmund Freud may have believed the meaning of life was “love and work.” But since his day, and particularly in the 1970s, industrial psychologists and the business community, armed with statistical data warning of diminishing enthusiasm and productivity in the work place, began to research and write about burnout, efficiency, role ambiguity and employee morale. Love and work--or life and work--began to be seen in conflict.

While much of this might not sound revolutionary, the strength of the book lies in the systematic and organized way the authors explore and compare different levels of people’s functioning: individual, interpersonal and organizational. Friendly enemies are brought together: love and work; the scholar and the artist; corporate America and the helping professions.

Artfully the authors weave together a few overriding themes: that burnout is largely created by the environment and is not reflective of individual failings; that there is a natural tendency for man to evolve and to seek meaning; and that awareness and action can arrest the burnout process.

Numerous case studies bring the book alive. Strategies are offered to refuel hope and reconstruct a sagging sense of control. Perhaps the only weakness is the authors’ failure to tackle organizational strategies. While some “cures” involve practices and tools that can be implemented by the actions of the individual (cognitive clarity, direct action, etc.), organizational strategies are required for others. Systematic change in matters such as excessive red tape, poor managerial training and role ambiguity can only come from upper management.

“Burnout” is well attuned to changing corporate cultures. Management policy setters will be intrigued by the book’s proposed “cures.” But so will all those interested in gaining insights into their own functioning in the world of work. If you think you may have burnout, buy this book and read it.