Expert Opinion: Is eminent psychiatrist qualified to write Op-Ed in The New York Times about World Health Organization’s classification of burnout?

Dr. Richard A. Friedman’s essay—“Is Burnout Real?”—criticizes the World Health Organization for medicalizing an ordinary life stress like burnout by classifying it as a disease (1).

The first problem with the essay is that it may have its facts wrong. It appears that The World Health Organization did not classify burnout as a disease. It classified burnout as “an occupational phenomenon. It is not classified as a medical condition” (2).

The second problem is that Dr. Friedman’s particular area of expertise appears to be psychopharmacology, the drug treatment of mental disorders. I don’t know Dr. Friedman, and maybe he is truly expert on everything in psychiatry, but I doubt that anyone is. 

Most psychiatrists, like most surgeons, have subspecialties, and their opinions should not be sought outside their particular areas of expertise.

I am attentive to the issue of expert opinion, because occasionally you see psychiatrists, psychologists, or others, who have no expertise on multiple personality, offer an opinion about it. They are entitled to their opinion, but it should not be viewed as an expert opinion when it is outside their area of expertise.

For related past posts, search "expertise."

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/opinion/burnout-stress.html

2. https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/burn-out/en/