Exhaustion Disorder

Exhaustion disorder, or stress-induced exhaustion disorder, is a diagnosis used in Swedish healthcare for a maladaptive stress disorder more severe than adjustment disorder, with common signs including exhaustion, reduced cognitive ability, and a range of physical symptoms that develop gradually from prolonged and elevated stress but often culminate abruptly as the disorder becomes fulminant; recovery generally takes six months to a year, sometimes longer. The diagnosis, introduced in 2003 and included in the Swedish edition of ICD-10 in 2005 with support from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, has become a leading cause of sick leave in Sweden and is the most common diagnosis among patients receiving compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency for more than ninety days, with women at higher risk than men; the diagnosis is not used outside Sweden, and its symptoms overlap significantly with both depression and occupational burnout.