Why burnout is not the same as depression and how to identify each of them

Burnout and depression are two terms that are becoming more common within conversations. These emotional conditions may share some symptoms, but they’re not the same.

It’s important to identify their differences so as to take the appropriate actions.

What is depression

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is a common illness worldwide since approximately 280 million people in the world have it.

Depression is different from short-lived emotional fluctuations, making it a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act.

Some of it’s symptoms can be: 

Depressed mood (feeling sad, irritable, empty).

Loss of pleasure or interest in activities.

Poor concentration.

Feelings of excessive guilt or low self-worth.

Hopelessness about the future.

Disrupted sleep.

Changes in appetite or weight.

Feeling especially tired or low in energy.

What is burnout?

As of 2022, WHO has recognized the burnout syndrome as a work-related condition. The organization defined it as “the result of chronic stress in the workplace that has not been managed successfully”.

This disease officially entered its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) of the WHO, so that all member countries should consider it as an occupational illness.

Some of its symptoms can be on a physical, emotional, and behavioral level like:

Frequent headaches or muscle pain.

Feeling tired and drained most of the time.

Sense of failure and self-doubt.

Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated.

Loss of motivation.

Withdrawing from responsibilities.

Isolating yourself from others.

Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done.

Taking out your frustrations on others.

Differences between depression and burnout

Usually, burnout has been difficult to separate from depression since some symptoms of the first match those of the latter: extreme exhaustion, feeling down, and reduced performance.

Some people experience one but not the other, while others experience both at the same time. Because of this, some may be diagnosed with burnout although they really have depression— or vice versa. 

Careful precaution should be taken when trying to distinguish burnout from depression. The Blurt Foundation and El Camino Health noted that key differences between burnout and depression are the following:

Cause: Burnout relates to a specific circumstance whereas depression is more generalized. Burnout is often caused by excessive stress (long hours, heavy workloads, tight deadlines,…) for a prolonged period. Depression isn’t usually caused by a single circumstance or event. Often, several different things will feed into it (traumatic events, medical conditions, family circumstances…). Other times, we won’t be able to pinpoint anything specific at all.

Manifestation: Where burnout can cause us to feel negatively towards a specific situation, depression may make us feel negative about lots of different things at once. Ex. Living with burnout can cause us to lose confidence in some of our abilities; depression can cause us to lose confidence in our ability to anything at all.

Recovery: With burnout, most problems are related to work and adjustments made in relation to work will typically help. However, with depression, other important treatments such as therapy or medication may be needed.

The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care points out that it’s important to not (self-) diagnose too quickly. Doing so could lead to the wrong treatment. The best is always to contact experts or hotlines with help.

Furthermore, they mentioned that, although people with burnout don’t always have depression, it may increase the risk of developing it.

Mental health is essential for our well-being. It’s good to seek help and call on experts to know how to cope with it.

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