Feeling burnt-out? Or that you’re faking it to the extent that you are having imposter syndrome?
Unfortunately, neither of these two conditions is unusual in today’s digital age.
While both burnout and imposter syndrome have long existed, the interconnectedness of the online world has significantly exacerbated the factors contributing to these conditions.
Burnout
While we might think the concept of burnout is a simple one, its meaning has actually evolved throughout the decades.
According to psychologist Jernell Tan, burnout is a complex occupational phenomenon that is constantly being redefined as our work culture changes.
The Nyawa Organisation co-founder and advocacy lead explains: “The term was first coined in the 1970s to describe a specific type of emotional depletion seen in helping professions, such as doctors, nurses and social workers.
“At that time, it was defined by a famous triad: emotional exhaustion, cynicism toward clients and a sense of low personal accomplishment.
“By the 1990s and early 2000s, research moved beyond healthcare to recognise burnout as a result of systemic misalignment within an organisation.
“Whether it is an unbearable workload, a lack of control or unfairness, burnout is the symptom of a work environment that is no longer sustainable for the individual.”
Currently, however, researchers are moving away from the idea that the workplace is the sole contributor to this condition.
“We now know that our biological stress response is ‘context-agnostic’ – it reacts to a crisis at home the same way it reacts to a crisis at the office.
“This suggests that while work is a major factor, it rarely explains the whole story.
“Rather, other factors such as our personality traits, physical health and personal life stressors are equally critical pieces of the puzzle,” she says.
The online era has dramatically increased the likelihood of burnout.
Says Tan: “Before the advent of the internet, there were physical and temporal boundaries to work: the office door, the landline and the end of the work shift.
“Today, those gates have effectively vanished.
“The always-on culture has created a state of permeable boundaries, where work-related communications can intrude upon restorative moments at any hour.”
The real shift, she notes, is in the psychological obligation of constant utility.
“In many organisations, there is an implicit expectation for employees to remain digitally accessible, creating a state where one’s cognitive and emotional resources are never fully ‘off-duty’.
“This leads to a phenomenon researchers call Work Connectivity Behaviour After-Hours (WCBA).
“Even a single quick message on a Saturday can initiate a resource loss spiral, whereby it forces the brain back into a state of work-related vigilance, preventing the deep psychological detachment necessary for rest and recovery.”
Interestingly, there is actually no consensus among experts on the categorisation of burnout.
According to Tan, there is no standardised criteria for when a person progresses from having mild symptoms to the full-blown condition, or for when burnout evolves into clinical depression.
This has an effect on prevention and treatment methods, which tend to rely on individual efforts, when it is societal structures like the workplace that are the most important factors.
Imposter syndrome
While some believe that you might need to “fake it until you make it”, others just think they are faking it, despite doing their job well.
According to Tan, imposter syndrome – also known as imposter phenomenon (IP) – is defined as an inability to internalise success, leading to a chronic fear of being exposed as a fraud.
However, researchers believe it is more a response to flawed environments, rather than an individual problem.
She says: “A key concept here is the intruder paradox, which is the idea that individuals may feel like outsiders not because they lack competence, but because of systemic factors.
“One example is the existence of discriminatory social or institutional structures, where women and other underrepresented groups are made to feel illegitimate, regardless of their achievements.
“Another is the culture of intellectual elitism – prevalent in professions such as law, medicine or high-level advocacy – which prizes ‘effortless brilliance’.
“If the unspoken rule is that you must never show weakness, then the act of learning or asking a question feels like failing.
“The IP is thus actually a symptom of a culture that pathologises the natural learning process.”
Tan notes that there are two particular factors that make Malaysians more vulnerable to IP.
One is our educational legacy of external validation, where we’ve been taught that our worth is tied to our exam results.
Then when we enter the workforce where the measure of success may not be so clear cut, we feel lost and might fear we are underperforming, even if we’re doing a good job.
The other factor is the seniority paradox, especially within the Asian context, where leadership and wisdom are conflated with seniority and age.
The result is that younger employees, particularly those in roles required to challenge or disrupt the status quo, might feel like they have not yet earned their seat at the table due to their lack of years, despite their actual competence.
Tan notes that the fundamental human process behind IP is social comparison.
“The advent of the internet has fundamentally altered this process by increasing both the velocity and the volume of comparison.
“Because of our interconnectedness at the national, regional and global levels, our benchmarks are no longer localised.
“We are thus now forced to compare our ‘behind-the-scenes’ – our private doubts, messy first drafts and learning curves – to the curated highlight reels of thousands of high-achievers.”
She adds: “Ultimately, the digital era has not changed who we are, but it has drastically altered the mirror we use to see ourselves.”
Learn how to cope
Tan and her colleague, psychologist and Nyawa admin lead Elysya Syazani Mohd Zaini, will be speaking at the StarLive session titled “Managing Burnout & Imposter Syndrome in a Digital Era”.
The session, which is being held in conjunction with MyStarJobFair 2026, will be on May 23 (2026), 3.30pm-5.30pm, at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
While the event is free, registration is required (click here).
Tan shares that she and Elysya will be elaborating on the specific factors within the digital environment that make us vulnerable to burnout and IP.
“We will also be introducing a model of success that focuses on building an internal foundation of legitimacy, helping participants move away from a reliance on external validation.
“This is about giving users ownership over their own professional and personal narratives.
“Rather than just offering generic advice, the session will be an interactive engagement where we brainstorm and develop ‘mental first aid’ strategies that participants can tailor to their own lives as immediate starting points for well-being,” she says.
MyStarJobFair 2026, organised by the Star Media Group, aims to connect employers and talent.
Aside from the StarLive talk, there will also be job-matching sessions, career talks by employers, a resume clinic with expert feedback, and personal advancement sessions.
Besides Kuala Lumpur’s Mid Valley Exhibition Centre on May 23-24 (2026), the Fair will also be held in Penang’s Setia Spice Convention Centre on June 6-7 (2026) and Johor Bahru’s Mid Valley Southkey on July 25-26 (2026).
It is open from 11am to 7pm on each date.
