Depression and burnout are not the same things.

People are getting more familiar with the phrase "burnout" as it continues to gain popularity. Many signs and symptoms of burnout and depression can be very similar, and vice versa. Some people have one but not the other; others discover that having one leads to having the other, while others have both simultaneously. Finding a clear line of distinction between the two is not always easy.

How frequently does burnout occur?

Though burnout can apply to numerous areas of life, it's most typically spoken about at work, so most data focuses on work-related stress and burnout.

A Deloitte survey conducted in 2022 found that approximately 77% of employees have experienced burnout connected to their jobs. This same survey found that nearly 70% of professionals feel their employers are not doing enough to prevent or alleviate burnout

Over the past few years, there has been a rise in the number of searches on Google related to burnout-related phrases. However, it is still unknown if burnout is becoming more widespread or whether more people are exploring it since it is becoming a term that is becoming increasingly well-known.

What do you mean by burnout?

When our levels of stress and activity outweigh the amount of rest we get, we are said to be suffering from burnout. This happens when things become unbalanced.

Imagine that there is a fire. That fire requires three things: fuel, oxygen, and heat. As more of the fuel is consumed, there will be less and less of it left to burn. If we continue adding fuel to the fire, it will keep burning for a longer time than if we stop doing so, at which point it will go out entirely. A fire that has burned itself out has nothing more to offer. It is impossible to fire it, and there is no heat produced by it. It has reached its limit. To get it going again, we need to go back to the beginning, add some more fuel, and then relight it.

When we continue to use fuel (energy) without adding or regaining it, we will eventually run out of it and burn up. We cannot continue since we do not have the necessary energy.

What does burnout feel like?

Exhaustion is one of the most prominent signs of burnout. Both our energy levels and our sense of fatigue are consistently low.

As our immune system weakens, we risk more frequently developing physical symptoms such as coughing and colds. Our eating and sleeping routines may shift. We may suffer from headaches often.

There is a possibility that we may drink more alcohol than usual. If we smoke, we will smoke more cigarettes than usual. Sometimes we'll lash out at other people, have less patience, and feel frustrated or annoyed at a faster rate than is typical for us. It's possible that, over time, we'll cut ourselves off from other people and run away from our obligations.

We will frequently have unfavourable feelings regarding the circumstances that our burnout is related to (for example, work or caring obligations), and we may also experience cynicism and resentment. It's possible for our efficiency, motivation, and drive to all take a knock.

Sometimes, we internalise the negativity we experience and regard ourselves as failures due to doing so. It's possible that we'll get annoyed or angry with ourselves and blame ourselves for not being good enough (whatever the definition of "good enough" may be). We are susceptible to being overcome by feelings of helplessness, isolation, and defeat.

DIAGNOSING BURNOUT

Throughout human history, there has been a great deal of discussion over whether or not burnout may be regarded as a medical illness.

Different professionals have distinct points of view, and even diagnostic manuals group this condition in various ways. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognised "burnout" as a "syndrome." Still, this recognition was limited to the context of industrial settings. It has been incorporated into the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases, also known as ICD-11, which became operational in January 2022. Despite this, it is not included in any version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) currently in use (DSM-5).

Even if physicians cannot diagnose burnout as a disorder, they may indicate that our experiences are related to long-term stress and/or weariness.

How Do the Causes of Burnout and Depression Differ?

Stress levels that are too high for an extended time can lead to burnout. Burnout is most frequently associated with one's place of employment; nevertheless, some people believe it is possible to feel burnout due to circumstances unrelated to one's job, such as care responsibilities, being a parent, or having more significant family links.

Compassion fatigue, a lack of recognition and reward, going a long time without a break, large amounts of pressure, unreasonable expectations, an unmanageable workload, a lack of control, a lack of choice, and a lack of autonomy can all be risk factors for experiencing burnout. This is typically a gradual process.

Most of the time, a single incident or set of circumstances does not trigger depression. Quite frequently, it will be influenced by a variety of different factors. There will be occasions when we cannot zero in on anything in particular. A depressive episode may have been precipitated by several factors, including a traumatic experience, a medical condition, challenging family circumstances, medicine, culture, genetics, having a child, or a family history of depression.

Burnout that can be attributable to diagnosable conditions

Burnout can be related to particular settings and circumstances, such as a job. Still, it is also something that is increasingly being recognised as something that disproportionately affects people who have certain diagnosable diseases. For instance, there is growing evidence that people with autism who have spent years "masking" can have autistic burnout. This is because people with autism can experience emotional exhaustion. Even though they are not the same, some people believe there may be some connections between burnout and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

Burnout caused by other diagnosable illnesses may present slightly different symptoms than burnout caused by prolonged exposure to high-stress levels or an imbalance between the amount of energy that is expended and the amount of energy taken in.

How Do Symptoms of Burnout and Depression Differ?

The primary distinction between burnout and depression is that the former is tied to circumstances. In contrast, depression is more pervasive in society as a whole.

Depression can make us feel poorly about various aspects of our lives simultaneously, in contrast to burnout, which might cause us to feel negatively about a particular circumstance. Burnout and depression are two conditions that can cause us to lose confidence in our abilities. Burnout can cause us to lose faith in some of our talents, while depression can cause us to lose confidence in all of our capabilities. Burnout can indicate that we have the perception that we have failed at a particular "thing." Depression, on the other hand, can make us feel incapable as individuals and members of society.

The two conditions can have symptoms that are very similar to one another. Still, the underlying causes are very different, and as a result, the treatments for the conditions might be very different.

How Much Does Diagnosis Matter?

Different people will have different perspectives on the diagnosis of any given disease. While some people believe that it is beneficial, others do not.

It might be good to try and figure out whether there is a clear source of our feelings, as having this knowledge can aid in our rehabilitation. This is true regardless of the name or label we choose (or choose not to use).

At the end of the day, the decision of whether or not to investigate a diagnosis comes down to personal preference. Some like it. It is possible to use this as a basis for further development. Some people don't share the same enthusiasm. They dislike labels and do not consider them to be helpful in any way.

Recovery from burnout in the short term

It may take some time, as well as some trial and error, to recover from burnout. Hurrying and trying to accomplish too much in too little time can make the situation much more difficult.

In the near term, recovering from burnout involves getting enough rest and regaining our previous energy levels. In many cases, this can mean:

• Bringing order to our nightly sleep rituals.

• Eating a well-balanced diet; this does not imply that we need to go on a diet or lose weight. Rather than grabbing a cup of coffee and a chocolate bar for breakfast and lunch, you should try eating various foods appropriately and having decent meals. This will help you maintain a healthy diet.

• Making time for ourselves to participate in activities that we enjoy.

• Reestablishing friendships and family relationships

• Having a good time

• Make time for stillness and silence by practising yoga, meditation, journaling, mindfulness, or any other activity that promotes introspection.

• Keeping track of how much alcohol we consume and determining whether it is excessive.

• Improving your ability to relax.

• Analyzing self-care routines and determining whether we need to catch up on anything we've fallen behind on.

As soon as we start to feel better, we should consider the steps we may take to protect ourselves from experiencing burnout in the future.

Responsibilities, priorities, and a thank you from the heart

We must investigate the factors that led to burnout in the first place while we are in the process of recovering from it. It's fantastic that we can treat our symptoms, but if we don't figure out what's causing them in the first place, they'll just keep coming back.

Keeping a stress record might be of great assistance. To accomplish this, we keep a log of every instance in which we experience an increase in anxiety or stress. The acceleration of our pulse rate, an increase in the rate at which we breathe, and a sudden feeling that we are overheating are all potential indicators of an increase in our worry. The cumulative effect of even relatively small tensions and annoyances can significantly impact our total stress levels. Taking note of them can provide us with the opportunity to do something about the situation.

When preventing burnout, it's crucial to straightening out our uneven boundaries. These boundaries could pertain to our profession, the people we interact with, or even our own actions and behaviours as individuals. For instance, one of our limits may be to leave work at work, but we may have developed the habit of carrying little bits and pieces of work home with us.

When we reevaluate various aspects of our lives, it can help us see things in a new light, enabling us to modify our priorities more appropriately. As a part of this, we could be required to delegate tasks, schedule some annual leave, have challenging talks, and consider new boundaries or routines that we would like to implement.

Sometimes, circumstances can spiral. We say yes to a little bit more, don't mind when someone doesn't say "thank you," and put in an extra hour here and there, and before we know it, we've become the person who always says "yes." We wind up working ridiculously long hours, we don't get any breaks, and nobody seems to appreciate all that we do. A little "thank you" can make a big difference. Suppose we have the sense that we are not appreciated and taken for granted. Talking about this with the appropriate parties may be crucial in that situation. Conversations of this nature are not simple but are critically important. We must uphold our newly established limits and priorities throughout these interactions, reinforcing them whenever it is needed to do so.

Healthy Habits

It is not enough to address the circumstances that led to burnout; we must also examine our lives as a whole. The more generally happy and healthy we are, the more mental space we have to deal with emotional highs and lows as they occur.

Having a reasonable bedtime, eating a balanced diet, making sure we have time off, having fun, interacting with nature, picking up activities we've forgotten about, and talking with individuals in our immediate environment are all healthy habits. Everything that goes into our overall routine of self-care and maintenance.

Having a mental, written, or physical toolkit of things we may draw from during incredibly challenging times is also beneficial. For instance, if the due date for the project is drawing near, we should probably make it a priority to delegate some of our other obligations to other people during the weeks leading up to the deadline. Or, if we get home after a terrible day, we might have a self-care kit that we can use to pick ourselves up and make us feel better.

We are not on our own.

It is essential to remember that we are not the only ones going through whatever it is that we are going through. We are not the only ones who have had these thoughts or feelings. There are always options that we might pursue to try to better our circumstances. When we notice that our stress levels are rising, it's vital to make an effort to increase the amount of self-care we practice, make an effort to connect with those who are close to us, and try to stop the stress from becoming a downward spiral.

Help us achieve our goal of assisting others by spreading this information. You never know who might be in need of support.