Abstract
Introduction. Occupational burnout is a widespread condition characterized by chronic emotional and physical exhaustion, most commonly observed among professionals engaged in intensive interpersonal work. Contemporary prevention strategies are primarily based on psychological interventions, which require specialist involvement and are typically implemented in group settings. This limits their accessibility and individualization. Physiological approaches, particularly the stimulation of the diving reflex, may serve as an effective alternative for personalized use.Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of the diving reflex stimulation technique as the individual physiological method of the occupational burnout influencing.Materials and Methods. The study was conducted on volunteers having signs of burnout. Over the 10-day period, sessions simulating the diving response with monitoring of heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure (BP), and apnea duration were administered. Burnout symptoms were assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) before the intervention, immediately after, and on the 10th and 20th day after intervention.Results. Over the 10-day course of diving reflex stimulation, pronounced improvements in physiological and psychoemotional parameters were observed: apnea duration increased, standard deviation NN interval (SDNN) and root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) rose by 20–30%, the stress index decreased more than threefold, and the Baevsky regulatory systems activity index (PARS) declined from pronounced regulatory tension to values approaching the physiological norm. According to the MBI, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization shifted from high to moderate levels, indicating a reduction in burnout symptoms. The effect persisted throughout the 10- and 20-day follow-up period.Limitations. The limitations of the study are the uniformity of the sample (female students aged of 19–23 years), the absence of the control group, and the short follow-up period. At the same time, the female composition is consistent with the predominant participation of women in occupational groups with the high risk of burnout development (teachers, nurses,), which does not detract from the significance of the results, but emphasizes the need for further research using the wider and more diverse sample.Conclusion. The method of diving reflex stimulation appears to be the effective, affordable, and safe tool for individual exposure, contributing to reducing the severity of the symptoms of occupational burnout and the formation of the stable pattern of autonomic self-regulation.Compliance with ethical standards. All procedures involving human participants were carried out in full accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee, as well as with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (2013 revision) and the European Community Directives (86/609/EEC). The study was approved by the Local Commission on Bioethics of Karaganda Medical University (Protocol No. 17 dated October 22, 2024).Contributions: Smagulov N.K. – study conception and design, data collection and analysis, manuscript writing and editing; Ageyev D.V. – study conception and design, data collection and analysis, manuscript writing. All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final versionConflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.Funding. The research was carried out within the framework of grant funding from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, grant No. AP26100059.Received: June 24, 2025 / Revised: September 4, 2025 / Accepted: October 15, 2025 / Published: April 17, 2026