Bur

noutvsDepr
essi
on
Burnouti
sus uall
ythoughtofassomethi
ngthathappenspr
ofessi
onal
lyandcausedbyworkst
ress,butt
heway
i
tmak esy oufeelcanfeelver
ys i
mil
artodepressi
on,acommondef i
nit
ioni
sthati
thasthr
eecomponentst
oit
,
exhausti
on,cynici
sm andineff
i
cacy.Let
’sl
ookatBurnoutvsDepressi
on,si
debys i
de.

Thet wel ves ymptomsof

depr
ess
ion,
itt
akesf
iveof
themt
obeconsi
der
edashavi
ngamaj
ordepr
essi
veepi
sode:
Lowi nt erest
I
nef f
icac y
Cy ni
c i
s m
Exhaus ti
on
Depr es sedmood
Appet it
ec hange
Sleepc hange
Agitatedors lowed
Lowener gy
Wor thless ness
Think i
ngpr oblems
Suicidal i
ty

Soasy oucans eewithdepr

essi
ony ouhavebothment
alandphysi
calchanges.I
t’
smor ethanjustthi
nki
ng,I
hat
emyl i
fe,butiti
ncl
udesphysi
cal
changesinthewayyourbodyf
uncti
onsli
kewithyourappeti
te,yoursl
eep,
andyourenergylevel
.

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Sympt
omsofbur
noutvsdepr
essi
on
Withbur noutyougetemot ionalexhaus t
i
oni nrespons etoapr olongeds t
ress,yougett heper sonali
z at
ionor
cynici
sm,asanegat i
veres ponset oyourjobandot hersaroundy ou.Deper sonali
zat
ionist heex perienc eof
f
eelingdetac hedfrom yourself
.Itcanseem likeyou’rejustobservingy oursel
fi
nt hewor l
dandy ou’r
enot reall
y
i
ns i
deofy ourself
.Fortheper sonwho’ sbur nedout ,youc anfeell ikeyou’r
ej ustgoi
ngt hrought hemot ions
everydayandy ou’renotreall
yli
vingit
.Now, aper sonwho’sdepres s ed,canhav edepersonali
z at
ionex perienc-
esbutt here’ss omuc helsegoingont hatthattheper sonali
zati
oni snotapromi nentfeature.Howev er,with
burnout i
t’
sapr ominentfeatureandi t
’
sus uallyr
elatedtothes t
ressi ny ourwork,orthedemandsof yourwor k,
orev enthedemandsofy ourhomel i
fe.

Thelastsymptomofburnoutisar
educedsenseofper
sonal
accompl
i
shment.Thi
siswhati
sknownasinef
fi
ca-
cy.I
t’
sli
key ou’
rej
ustchuggingal
ong,tur
ningoutwor
kanddoi
ngall
thet
hingseveryonewant
syoutodo,but
you’
rejustnotget
ti
ngany t
hingoutofi
t.

Bur
noutvsDepr
essi
onDi
f
fer
ences
Oneoft
hemaindi
ff
erencesbetweendepr
essionandbur
nouti
sthat
withdepressi
on,
y ouusual
lyhavet
rouble
get
ti
ngpl
easur
efr
omanyof thethi
ngst
hatyou’dnor
mall
ymadeyoufeelgoodbef
ore,andthi
sisinanyset
ti
ng.

Soaper soninadeepdepr essionc anbef lowntoanexoticisl

and,andwiththeirownl oungec hair
,andt hat
per
soncans itt
hereands ti
ll
feelmiserable.Whereaswit
hbur nout,
thesenseof exhaust
ions t
ressanddi ssati
s-
f
acti
onisc l
oselyconnec t
edtothes tr
es s,soyoucantakethatpersonands ayhey ,
we’vemadear rangement s
f
orsomeonet otakeov eral
lofy ourwor k,andwe’regoingtoflyyouofftoBor aBoraf oraweek .Andwhen
yougetbac k,you’
llhaveac l
eans late,therewil
lbenowor kthat
’spil
edupbec auseJaneov erthereisgoing
t
otakec areofallofy ourworkands he’snotgoingtogetmadabouti t,andy ou’r
egoingt ohav ethiswhole
weekpaidfor.

Nowy oumays ay,“whowoul dn’

tlovethat”.Well,wit
hthedepr essedper
son,noneoft hats t
uffmat
ter
s.The
dar
knessisst
il
liny ourhead.Sobutt hebur nedoutper soncangoont hatki
ndoftri
p,s iti
ntheloungechai
r
andbec ompl
etel
yr ejuvenatedandr elaxed.Infact,of
tenpeoplewhoar eint
heear l
ys tagesofburnout
,can
haveac ompl
etereliefoftheirsympt
omsont heweek endsifthey’
renotworki
ng,butthent heycanhavethe
Sundayeveni
ngf ear.

St
agesofBur
noutvsDepr
essi
on
I
ntheearlyst
agesofbur nout
,peopl
ewhoar ebur nedoutc anbecomedepressed.It
’
snotast houghyouc an
onl
yhaveoneortheot her,
buti
tcanstar
tasbur noutandprogresst
odepressi
on,especi
all
yif
you’resomeone
whohaspr evi
ousl
ybeendepr essedint
hepas t,oryou’repronetodevel
opi
ngadepr essi
on,independentof
anyofyourci
rcumstances.Depressi
ondoesn’thavetobet heresul
tofsomethi
ngbadhappeni ng,i
tcanjust
beit
sownt hi
ng,wit
houtanynegat i
vesi
tuat
ionsc ausingit
.

Wor
thl
essness
Anotherwayt ot
ell
thedif
fer
enc ebetweenburnout vsdepressi
onist
hatwi t
hdepressi
on,youcanhav efeel
ings
ofself
loathi
ngandworthlessness,t
hatarethatarepret
tymuc hgeneral
ized,butwi
thburnout
,yourself
es t
eem
i
sus uall
ypreser
ved,butifyoudohav eanyfeeli
ngsof worthl
essness,i
t’
sus ual
l
yonlyconnect
edtoy ourvalue
andiny ourwork,andit
’snottoy ouroveral
lvalueands elfwort
hasaper son.

Awar
dedSt
atusasaLuxur
yCl
assRehabbyWor
ldsBestRehabMagaz i
ne
www.wor
ldsbest
.r
ehab
Whydoesi
tmat
tert
odi
sti
ngui
shbur
noutvsdepr
essi
on?
I
faper
son’
sburnedoutbutnotdepr
essed,t
heydon’tneedtobetr
eat
edwit
hant
idepr
essantmedi
cat
ion.
The
wayt
oaddresst
heburnoutistoaddr
essthefact
orsthatl
edtothebur
nout
.

Sot
hatl
eadst
othequest
i
onofwhydopeopl
egetbur
nedouti
nthef
ir
stpl
ace.

Chri
sti
naMas l
ac hpioneeredt heresear
c honbur nout.Shecal
l
edburnoutt
he“ er
osionofengagementwi th
yourj
ob”.Whent here’sapoorr ol
efityou’
rel essl
ikelyt
ocopewit
hthes t
ressofy ourworkpl
ace,inother
words,wheny ourc haract
erandy ourtemper amentdon’tmatchwel
lwit
hthedemandsofi nthec ul
tur
eof
yourworkpl
ace,y ouc anbecomebur nedoutwhent hedemandsofworkoutst
ri
py ourabil
i
tytocompens ate
f
orthesethi
ngst hataren’
tc l
i
ck i
ngwellf
ory ou.

Soit’
snotjustamat t
erofhavi
ngal otofworktodo,orbeinginastr
es sfulenvironment
.Peoplecanholdup
wellundergr
eatamountsofstress,i
fthey’
refeel
ingpersonal
sat
isf
ac t
ionf r
om theirwor
k.Thewayt oreduce
burnoutist
oc hangetheindi
vi
dualort ochanget heenvir
onment
,y oudon’ thav ealotofcont
roloveryour
envir
onment,unlessyou’
reselfemployed.Sot henthefocusbecomesl earni
ngt hedi
ff
erentwaystoc ope
wit
ht heworksett
ing.

Over
comeBur
nout
Howyouchangey our
sel
ft
obet
teradapt
toyourwor
kenvi
ronment
isgoi
ngt
obeani
ndi
vi
dual
thi
ng,
but
her
e’s
somegener
alideas:

Set
ti
ngt
i
meboundar
ies
Don’
tallow your
sel
ftobei nfi
nitelyavai
labletopeopl e.We’ vedevelopedtheexpectat
iont hatifyout extor
emails
omeone,y ous houl
dgetani nst
antans wer,butwet rai
npeoplet obel
ievet
hisbyins t
antlyresponding.
Butsupposey ouchec kyourmes sagesfourtimesadayi nbat ches.Thepeoplewhor eachoutt oy ouwi l
l
cometoex pectyoutorespondi namor eex tendedper iodoftimeands t
opexpect
ingani nstantresponse.If
you’
realwaysall
owingy oursel
ft obeinstantl
yav ai
lable,you’r
enev ergivi
ngyourmindac hanc etounwi nd.
Anoveracti
vemindleadst os t
ress,anxi
etyandbur nout.

Someot hersel
fhelpint
erventionswouldbet hingsli
kepri
or i
ti
zingyoursl
eepandmak i
ngs ureyougetsev en
t
oni nehours.I
fyou’r
ealway ss acr
if
ici
ngs l
eepbec auseyou’rewor ki
nglat
e.Youbec omei nef
fi
ci
entbecaus e
ofthesleepdepri
vati
on,andt henthatinef
fi
ciencymak esy ouneedt oworklongerhours,becauseyou’r
enot
t
hinkingasquickl
ytaki
ngti
met oexerci
s eal
sohel psrel
ievestressandimproveyourmood,t aki
ng10mi nutes
i
nt hemi ddl
eofthedaytodec ompresswi t
hmedi tat
ioncangoal ongwayi nrechargi
ngandr ebooti
ngy our
ment al
energy.

Homer echarges yst

emslik
ethoseusedat t
heworld’
sbestwel
l
nes scl
ini
c,Physi
sWel l
nessaregreat f
orhel
p-
i
ngy oubeabl etodot hati
nagui dedfashi
on.Nowalltheset
hingsareway stochangeyou,buts ometimes
changi
ngy ou,isn’
tthefi
nalsol
uti
on,youmay ,youmayneedtot akeahardlookatwhetherornoty ourj
obis
r
eall
yagoodf i
tforyou.

Cany ouimagi
nethi
slevelofworkf
oranother5,10or15years?Maybethechangei
samat t
erofchangi
ng
yourworkenvi
ronment
,orfindi
ngadif
fer
entcompanythatt
hatdoessi
mil
arwork,Maybei
t’
ssi
mil
arwor kbut

Awar
dedSt
atusasaLuxur
yCl
assRehabbyWor
ldsBestRehabMagaz i
ne
www.wor
ldsbest
.r
ehab
i
nadi ff
erentindustry
.Thes earen’teasyans wersbutburnoutanddepressi
onhavenegativeconsequences
ony ourbody.Andi ftheypersi
stov eralongtimeit’
sli
ketryi
ngtopus hasquarepegintoaroundholeifyou
pushhar dandl ongenough,y oumaygett hatsquaretogothroughthehole,butyou’
l
lloset
heedgesoft he
squareandwi llbenegat i
vel
yc hangedwheni tcomesoutont heot
herside.

I
fyounoti
cet hat
you’refeel
ingmoregeneral
l
yhopel
essandtaki
ngabreakf
rom workdoesn’
thel
p, t
hent
alkto
yourdoct
or.Youc oul
ds t
artwit
hyourpri
marycar
edoctororyoucoul
dseeatherapi
sttoseeifyou’
rest
art
ing
t
odev el
opadepr es si
on.

Awar
dedSt
atusasaLuxur
yCl
assRehabbyWor
ldsBestRehabMagaz i
ne
www.wor
ldsbest
.r
ehab