In a recent article (Is it possible to break the cycle of burnout for good?, 17 April), I was struck by the recurring use of a metaphor equating intolerable levels of work stress to an endemic disease. As a cognitive linguist, I think a lot about the ways in which we use metaphors to understand complex social issues, and how the use of certain metaphors can have unforeseen consequences. So each time the term “immunity” appeared, my heart sank a little.
Immunity, in its literal biological sense, refers to the “condition of being able to resist a particular disease”. We can develop biological immunity naturally by contracting and recovering from the disease, or induce immunity through vaccination. In either case, immunity is developed because the disease itself cannot be stopped or prevented. Our only hope is to enable our body to better cope with the disease when it is (inevitably) encountered.
