Am I Burnt Out? — Free 2-Minute Burnout Test Online
A quick 2-minute burnout risk scan. If exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness are stacking up, this test surfaces the pattern. Free in the Mindtalk app.
Clinically reviewed by Dr. Abhimanyu Chandak, MD in Psychiatry, MBBS. Last reviewed 2026-09-25.
Important safety information
The BRS includes a question about thoughts of self-harm (question 9). If you have had any such thoughts recently, please reach out for support before or instead of taking this assessment — you do not need to take a test to deserve help.
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What the scan measures
The Burnout Risk Scan maps three dimensions in 2 minutes:
Exhaustion — Physical, cognitive, and emotional depletion. The tiredness that persists beyond a good weekend of rest. The Sunday-evening dread that starts on Saturday afternoon.
Cynicism / Disengagement — Mental checkout from work. The internal voice that says "why bother." Negative attitudes toward the work or the people you serve. Reduced sense of meaning.
Reduced effectiveness — Feeling like nothing you do works. Loss of confidence in your competence. The gap between hours worked and outcomes achieved growing wider.
Risk band interpretation
| Band | What it means | Recovery path |
|---|---|---|
| Low risk | Typical work / life stress; not burnout | Preventive recovery hygiene; retake in 6 months |
| Moderate risk | Early-stage burnout emerging | Address the dominant dimension now; retake in 4-6 weeks |
| High risk | Full burnout profile | Structured intervention needed; consider clinical evaluation |
| Very high risk | Severe burnout | Clinical evaluation this week; likely requires time off + intervention |
These bands are Mindtalk's interpretive bands for this 8-item scan. They are not validated clinical cut-offs. The scan is a quick self-check. If you want a research-standard measure, take the OLBI as well.
Recovery paths by dominant dimension
Exhaustion-driven (dominant dimension = Exhaustion):
- Protected sleep — non-negotiable 7-8 hours, consistent bedtime
- Weekend disconnection — no email, no messaging, no thinking about work
- Physical recovery — walk, gentle exercise, time outdoors
- Cognitive-load reduction — pause non-essential decisions, delegate what you can
- Medical rule-out — thyroid, iron (particularly in Indian women), Vitamin D, sleep apnoea. Exhaustion can be medical.
- If exhaustion persists after 4-6 weeks of recovery — clinical evaluation for depression (30-40% overlap).
Disengagement-driven (dominant dimension = Cynicism):
- Values check-in — is this still the right work? The right team? The right role?
- Meaning conversation — what did you love about this work when you started? What of that is still available?
- Boundary work — where has the work encroached on identity in ways you'd like to reverse?
- Often structural change is needed — role adjustment, team change, sometimes leaving the field.
- More sleep will NOT fix disengagement. Recovery hygiene helps but is not the primary lever.
Full burnout (all three dimensions high):
- Comprehensive intervention — recovery + values + often role change.
- Consider planned time off (2-4 weeks) — high-risk plus long duration is where time off works fastest.
- Clinical evaluation to rule out clinical depression (30-40% overlap).
- Structured programme — Workplace Wellbeing has tracks for each burnout profile.
Validation and evidence
The Burnout Risk Scan is a Mindtalk-designed screen. It is built on the three-dimension model of burnout developed by Christina Maslach: exhaustion, cynicism and reduced efficacy. Maslach and Leiter reviewed this model for psychiatrists in 2016. Their review flagged the main open questions: how burnout links to mental illness, attempts to redefine burnout as exhaustion alone, and how little research there is on treatments [1]. The scan itself has not been separately validated, so treat your band as a signal rather than a measurement.
The overlap with depression is real. A 2015 review of 92 studies concluded that the line between burnout and depression is "conceptually fragile" [2]. Burnout also has no agreed diagnostic criteria. That is why this page recommends a PHQ-9 alongside the scan. For a validated burnout measure, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory was developed by Demerouti and colleagues. Its two-factor structure (exhaustion and disengagement) held up across human-services, industrial and transport workers [3].
If stress has been building for months, read about stress-related disorders. Cognitive behavioural therapy is a common starting point for perfectionism, over-responsibility and trouble setting boundaries, all of which feed burnout.
References
- Maslach C, Leiter MP. Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry. 2016;15(2):103-111. PubMed
- Bianchi R, Schonfeld IS, Laurent E. Burnout-depression overlap: a review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2015;36:28-41. PubMed
- Demerouti E, Bakker AB, Nachreiner F, Schaufeli WB. The job demands-resources model of burnout. J Appl Psychol. 2001;86(3):499-512. PubMed
When to see a specialist
- High-risk band on the scan
- Persistent for 6+ months without response to recovery attempts
- Co-occurring depression — PHQ-9 elevated alongside burnout
- Impact on family, health, or safety — sleep loss, physical symptoms, relationship strain, driving while exhausted
- Considering leaving your field — clinical + values work together often clarifies whether that's the right call
Mindtalk's clinicians with occupational burnout expertise work across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore, and online for anywhere in India.
After the Burnout Risk Scan
- Screen depression. Take PHQ-9 — 30-40% of high-burnout cases meet depression criteria.
- Screen exhaustion causes. Ask your GP about thyroid, iron, Vitamin D, sleep quality. Medical exhaustion presents as burnout.
- For deeper mapping: the OLBI (16-item Oldenburg Burnout Inventory) is the research-standard 2-dimension burnout scale. Complete OLBI alongside if the Burnout Risk Scan flagged you as Moderate or High risk.
- If you work in a helping profession (healthcare, mental health, first responders, teachers): the ProQOL adds compassion satisfaction and secondary traumatic stress dimensions that generic burnout scales miss.
- Structured programme. The 90-day Workplace Wellbeing programme has tracks calibrated for exhaustion-driven, disengagement-driven, and full-burnout profiles.
Related reading
- Burnout Risk Scan — take it now
- OLBI Oldenburg Burnout Inventory — deeper burnout mapping
- ProQOL — for helping professionals
- PSS-10 Perceived Stress Scale
- PHQ-9 depression screener
- Workplace Wellbeing 90-day programme
- Mindtalk's clinicians with burnout expertise across India
How to take the BRS
- 1
Open the Burnout Risk Scan in the Mindtalk app
Tap "Take the Burnout Risk Scan" to open the assessment. You will need a free Mindtalk account — sign-in takes under a minute.
- 2
Answer 2 minutes of items about the past 4 weeks
Rate how well statements about exhaustion, cynicism, and effectiveness describe your recent work / life pattern.
- 3
Get your risk band and dominant dimension
Receive a Low / Moderate / High risk band, which dimension is driving the pattern (exhaustion vs disengagement vs effectiveness), and a personalised recovery-pathway recommendation.
Related assessment guides
CHRON
Find out when your body clock naturally prefers to sleep, wake and focus, and how that fits your work and study schedule. Free in the Mindtalk app.
Read the guide →OLBI
The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory — the two-dimensional burnout scale measuring exhaustion + disengagement. 16 items, 4 minutes, free in the Mindtalk app.
Read the guide →ProQOL-5
The Professional Quality of Life Scale — 30-item measure of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress for caring professionals. Free in the Mindtalk app.
Read the guide →PSS-10
The most widely used and validated stress measure in clinical and occupational health research. 10 questions, 2 minutes, instant score. Free in the Mindtalk app.
Read the guide →SHI
Check the everyday habits that help or hurt your sleep, from bedtime routines to caffeine and screens, and see which ones to change first. Free in the Mindtalk app.
Read the guide →Frequently Asked Questions
- What actually is burnout?
- Burnout is a specific pattern with three dimensions defined by Christina Maslach in the 1970s: (1) Exhaustion — physical, cognitive, and emotional depletion that persists beyond a good weekend of rest; (2) Cynicism or Disengagement — mental checkout, negative attitude toward work or the people you serve, reduced sense of meaning; (3) Reduced professional effectiveness — feeling like nothing you do works, loss of confidence in your competence. All three together = full burnout. Any one elevated in isolation is a warning signal, not the syndrome.
- How is burnout different from depression?
- Burnout is context-specific (usually work) and centres on exhaustion + disengagement; depression is pervasive (across all life areas) and centres on low mood + anhedonia + hopelessness. They can co-occur — 30-40% of burnout cases meet clinical depression criteria too. Rule of thumb: if the pattern lifts on holiday, it's more burnout; if it doesn't lift regardless of context, it's more depression. If you're not sure, take the [PHQ-9](/assessments/phq-9) alongside this scan.
- What are the dominant-dimension recovery paths?
- Exhaustion-driven: recovery-first — protected sleep, weekend disconnection, physical recovery, cognitive-load reduction. Often needs medical rule-out (thyroid, iron deficiency common in Indian women, sleep apnoea) to distinguish from medical exhaustion. Disengagement-driven: values realignment — is this the right job, the right team, the right role? Often requires structural change alongside personal work. More sleep won't fix disengagement. Full burnout (all three high): comprehensive intervention — recovery + values + often role change.
- Is burnout treatable?
- Yes. Combining evidence-based interventions produces meaningful change over 8-12 weeks: (1) Recovery hygiene — protected sleep, weekend disconnection, planned time off; (2) Cognitive-behavioural work on perfectionism, over-responsibility, and boundary difficulty; (3) Structural change — reducing caseload, saying no to non-essential work, honest conversation with the team lead. For deeper work, a full 90-day structured programme like [Workplace Wellbeing](/journeys/workplace-wellbeing) is calibrated to specific burnout profiles.
- When should I take time off?
- If risk band is High AND exhaustion is the dominant dimension AND the pattern has been present for 6+ months — planned time off (2-4 weeks) is often the fastest intervention. If disengagement is the dominant dimension, time off helps less than values work or role change. If risk band is Moderate, structural changes and recovery hygiene often work without needing time off. If risk band is Very High and depression is co-occurring, clinical evaluation this week matters more than any single intervention.
- How do I take the Burnout Risk Scan?
- Click "Take the Burnout Risk Scan". Complete the items (2 minutes), receive your risk band + dominant dimension + recovery-pathway recommendation. Free in the Mindtalk app.
- Is this burnout test accurate?
- It is a quick self-check, not a validated clinical instrument. The scan follows Maslach's three-dimension model of burnout, but its bands have not been tested against clinical interviews. For a research-grade result, take the 16-item Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). If exhaustion, low mood or sleep problems are severe, speak with a clinician. They can rule out depression and medical causes.
Need a clinician's read on your results?
A high score is a signal, not a diagnosis. Mindtalk's psychiatrists and clinical psychologists can interpret your results and recommend next steps — same-day appointments available.