Biological aspects of the burnout syndrome

The aim of this thesis is to describe burnout syndrome as a psychosocial phenomenon with an emphasis on biological mechanisms accompanying it. The work is divided into two main parts, a literary review and an empirical part. In the literary review, burnout syndrome is explained in general terms. It provides a research history outline and continues with an introduction of its external and internal causes and factors which help to prevent from it. Furthermore, the development and psychological, social and work symptoms of burnout syndrome are described. The main part of the work is dedicated to biological symptoms of burnout syndrome in connection with different systems of the human body. The proposal for research is to be seen in the second part of the work. This research deals with the levels of cortisol in university students scoring high on burnout syndrome in comparison with the levels of cortisol in university students scoring low. Keywords: burnout syndrome, stress, exhaustion, altered functioning, healt