Who burns out among high achievers: the national numbers
Most burnout statistics describe the average worker. This national report gathers published data on physicians, attorneys, executives and founders, the people most likely to keep performing while they burn out, and asks what the research says helps.
Martha Fernandez, LCSWLead author. Licensed Clinical Social Worker, California license 127918
National report built on published surveys and peer-reviewed studies (20 references); it uses no CEREVITY client data
A plain-language summary of The 2026 CEREVITY High-Achiever Burnout Index, a white paper by Martha Fernandez, LCSW, published on cerevity.com by CEREVITY, the private-pay therapy network she co-founded. The full paper includes the methods and every reference.
Burnout hides behind high performance
The World Health Organization describes burnout as three things: exhaustion, growing distance or cynicism about the job, and a drop in effectiveness. The report’s point is that in high achievers these do not move together. Exhaustion and cynicism can be severe while performance still looks fine, so the people around them, and often the person, see nothing wrong. So the report’s screening question is not how someone is performing, but what it costs them to keep performing.
The delay in getting help has a known cause. A review by Clement and colleagues (2015) of 144 studies with 90,189 participants found that stigma holds people back from seeking care, that worry about disclosure is the most common barrier, and that health professions are hit hardest.
What the report found
- Physicians. In the AMA’s 2025 data, 41.9 percent reported at least one burnout symptom, from 23.3 percent in infectious diseases to 49.8 percent in emergency medicine. 38 percent were afraid, or knew a colleague who was, to seek care because of licensure or credentialing questions.
- Attorneys. In a 2025 survey of 550 legal professionals, nearly 80 percent felt burned out at least sometimes. In a separate survey of more than 3,100 lawyers and staff, 65.5 percent said billable-hour pressure hurts their mental health.
- Executives. In a 2022 Deloitte survey, nearly 70 percent of the C-suite were seriously considering quitting for a job that better supported their wellbeing. A 2025 model puts the yearly cost of burnout and disengagement at $20,683 per executive, against $3,999 for an hourly employee.
- Founders. In a study of 308 entrepreneurs, 45 percent of those who kept work-life boundaries reported low burnout, against 6 percent of those who struggled to.
Care with no line to your employer, insurer, board or licensing body.
Book your first sessionWhat helps
The report concludes that burnout in this group is treatable when care fits the person’s schedule and privacy needs. It cites a 2025 analysis of 11 studies of healthcare workers in which newer forms of CBT reduced exhaustion and detachment, and a 2023 analysis of 31 trials in which therapist-guided online CBT worked about as well as in-person therapy. Its practical advice is to pick a private-pay clinician with no line to the employer, the insurer, the board or a licensing body. That is the structure here: no insurance claim, no diagnosis code sent to a payer, nothing in employer systems, and sessions by secure video anywhere in California.
For physicians, attorneys and executives in Southern California, see therapy in Los Angeles or San Diego.
Frequently asked questions
Is this based on Martha’s clients?
No. It is a national report that pulls together published surveys and studies, from the AMA to Deloitte. The paper states that it uses no CEREVITY client data.
How solid are these numbers?
Useful but limited. The surveys define burnout differently and rely mostly on self-report, so comparisons across professions are rough, and evidence is thinner for executives and founders than for physicians and attorneys. The October 2026 edition rechecked every source and cut the reference list from 49 to 20.
Does therapy help with burnout?
The research the report cites says structured, evidence-based therapy reduces exhaustion, but most trials studied healthcare workers, so evidence for other professions is still limited.
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