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Burnout syndrome: the effects of serotonin precursors

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Nutrafoods

Abstract

‘Burnout syndrome’ is a progressive mental process whereby individuals are unable to adapt to prolonged and excessive stress at work. The main features of the syndrome are physical and emotional fatigue, depersonalization and frustration with ineffective professional and personal implementation. The first studies carried out in the 1970’s showed that this condition is much more common in the social professions employing teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers and police officers. Currently, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is the most important medical research tool for diagnosing level of burnout. Treatment of burnout depend on the severity of the syndrome. In severe forms, in addition to socio-occupational cognitive behavioural therapy, the approach also includes drug treatment with benzodiazepines and antidepressants, particularly the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

The present clinical study evaluated the effectiveness of a nutraceutical product developed in a high-technology formulation containing the metabolic precursors of serotonin and which has been used in previous clinical trials on the treatment of slight to moderate depression. The results in the present study demonstrated the effectiveness of the treatment in subjects with burnout syndrome, especially regarding their mental state, by evaluating the degree of burnout using the MBI scale and self-assessment motivational scores.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Marilou Pannacci

  2. Neurological Clinic, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

    Veselin Gerev

  3. EA3M, Kalletal, Germany

    Jan-Dirk Fauteck

Authors
  1. Veselin Gerev
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  2. Marilou Pannacci
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  3. Jan-Dirk Fauteck
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Correspondence to Marilou Pannacci.

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Gerev, V., Pannacci, M. & Fauteck, JD. Burnout syndrome: the effects of serotonin precursors. Nutrafoods 14, 189–195 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13749-015-0048-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13749-015-0048-3

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