There are quite a few studies which have shown that burnout and depression do not overlap with each other and that burnout is differentiated from depression (Bakker et al., 2000; Schaufeli et al., 2001; Toker and Biron, 2012).
Despite this overlap, burnout and depression are different. Burnout can usually be resolved by taking time away from the activities that cause you stress. On the other hand, depression is a mental health condition that doesn't usually go away on its own.
And you can experience both burnout and depression at the same time. “Given the effects of Covid, given racism as a public health crisis in this country, it's important for us to be watchful of that combination,” Dr. Neal-Barnett said.
Burnout is not currently characterized as a mental disorder or medical condition in the DSM-5 [80]. However, the World Health Organization recognizes burnout as an important occupational phenomenon under the category of “factors influencing health status or contact with health services” in the ICD-11 [103].
Burnout can be a cause of a mental health disorder, but mental health conditions can also cause burnout. According to a study conducted by the University of Macedonia, burnout has an interconnected relationship with both depression and anxiety.
Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give. The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life—including your home, work, and social life.
It takes an average time of three months to a year to recover from burnout. How long your burnout lasts will depend on your level of emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue, as well as if you experience any relapses or periods of stagnant recovery.
Physical symptoms will become intense, leading to chronic headaches, stomach issues and gastrointestinal problems. Friends and family members may also notice behavioral changes. If left untreated, burnout can become a part of your everyday life and eventually lead to anxiety or depression.
childhood trauma can also lead to what is known as “burnout.” This is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion from chronic stress.
Signs of Burnout
Signs and symptoms can be subtle at first. But the longer they go unaddressed, the worse they can become, which can lead to a breakdown. Many burnout symptoms can feel like symptoms of stress, but there are three ways to differentiate them: Feeling tired or exhausted.
Burnout can lower your extraversion, making you less outgoing and energetic in social situations³⁶. Burnout can lower your agreeableness, making you more cynical and hostile towards others³⁴⁶. Burnout can increase your neuroticism, making you more prone to stress and emotional distress²³⁴⁶.
Since burnout affects people differently, recovery time hinges on how a person experiences work-related exhaustion. Because of this variation, recovery time can take anywhere from a few weeks to several years.
While this may be true, burnout also significantly aligns with anxiety. Symptoms like inability to focus, changes in sleep, and lack of motivation can come from a depressed state. In contrast, these symptoms may also come from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
Burnout is a serious matter. It can lead to personal and professional dissatisfaction; social isolation; relationship problems; depression; substance abuse; and, in extreme cases, suicide. Therefore, it's important to learn how to prevent burnout and to seek professional attention if it occurs.
A separate research review that looked at 15 high-quality studies on the cognitive effects of burnout found "executive attentional and memory systems appear to suffer in association with burnout, and cognitive functioning is impaired in burned-out individuals," APS also notes.
According to a study conducted on 109 firefighters in Korea, burnout symptoms in those with a high sense of calling was significantly associated with an increased risk of PTSD [21].
Are you feeling overloaded, under-challenged, or neglected? Take a moment to bring to mind a person who's burned out.
Habitual Burnout. The final stage of burnout is habitual burnout. This means that the symptoms of burnout are so embedded in your life that you are likely to experience a significant ongoing mental, physical or emotional problem, as opposed to occasionally experiencing stress or burnout.
Schabram said, “employees who cannot leave and are not getting support can still help themselves.” Dr. Schabram's research suggests that small, deliberate acts of compassion toward yourself and others can help reduce feelings of burnout, whether it is short-term or chronic.
Burnout symptoms are usually temporary and disappear after you address them. If not addressed, these can also affect your physical health and cause heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol, and even type 2 diabetes. Depression symptoms, on the other hand, can get in the way of your daily life and are longer-term.
A life coach has revealed that it can take up to three to five years of active recovery to bounce back from burnout, explaining that chronic stress changes the chemicals in the body.