If you’ve been feeling unmotivated and exhausted at work, you may assume you’re burnt out. You might be having a hard time concentrating or feeling detached from work you used to care about. But is it really just burnout, or could it be depression?

October is Depression Awareness Month, and it’s an important opportunity to look beyond burnout when people are struggling at work. Burnout and depression can both affect your energy, concentration, motivation, and ability to function at work. But they’re not the same thing, and they often need to be approached differently.

Understanding the difference can help employees recognize when they might need mental health treatment. It can also help managers make sure they’re addressing workplace conditions that contribute to both depression and burnout.

Understanding the differences between depression and burnout

Depression and burnout are highly related. One can lead to another, and they often have overlapping symptoms. But they’re not the same thing, and it’s important to be able to distinguish between them, especially as a manager.

Burnout is an occupational state, not a health condition. In other words, it’s an experience that you can have related to work or caregiving (although many have expanded the definition to apply to other areas of life). It’s caused by specific issues and conditions at work, so practical (and often organization-wide) changes are often at the forefront of addressing it.

Depression is a serious mental health condition that requires treatment. There’s no single cause of depression, although stressful or traumatic situations can trigger it. While symptoms can ebb and flow over time, depression is considered a chronic condition. But professional treatment can help you manage your symptoms, and many people achieve remission.

Depression isn’t a “worse” form of burnout. It’s a condition that’s independent of burnout, and many people with depression don’t experience burnout at all. But untreated burnout can absolutely lead to depression over time, along with other health conditions like heart disease, anxiety disorders, type 2 diabetes, and more.

Overlapping symptoms

One of the reasons why it can be confusing to tell the difference between burnout and depression is that they can look a lot like each other. In fact, some experts have argued that what we call “burnout” is actually a form of depression.

Some of the signs and symptoms that can be part of both burnout and depression include:

  • Exhaustion and low energy. Exhaustion is one of the core features of burnout, and fatigue or loss of energy is also a common symptom of depression.
  • Difficulty concentrating or making decisions.
  • Feeling less motivated or having a harder time getting started on tasks.
  • Irritability or feeling more easily frustrated than usual.
  • Sleep problems, including having trouble sleeping or sleeping more than usual.
  • Withdrawing from coworkers or other people in your life.
  • Feeling detached from your work or having a harder time caring about things that used to feel important.

How do you know if you’re depressed or just burnt out?

First of all, it’s important to clarify that this isn’t an either/or question. It’s absolutely possible to live with both depression and burnout, and many people do.

Burnout and chronic stress may have become a risk factor for developing depression. Or living with pre-existing depression may have affected your work life to the point where you started burning out. Regardless of which came first, you need to address both in order to feel better.

But it is also possible to live with one or the other. The only person who can tell you whether you are experiencing symptoms of depression is a licensed healthcare provider. But you may have moved beyond burnout and into depression if:

  • Your symptoms follow you outside of work. Taking the weekend off or going on vacation doesn’t significantly change how you feel.
  • You’ve lost interest or pleasure in things you usually enjoy, not only your job.
  • You feel sad, empty, numb, or hopeless most days for at least two weeks.
  • You’re experiencing significant changes in your appetite or sleep.
  • You’re struggling with feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or feeling like a burden to others.
  • You’re having thoughts about death or suicide, including passive thoughts like wanting to sleep forever or disappear.

If you’re having thoughts of suicide or feel like you may be in immediate danger, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 in an emergency.

Tips for managers

If you’re an employer or manager, it’s important to take both burnout and depression seriously. Don’t brush concerns off because your employees are “just” burnt out. Research shows that burnout can come with serious health consequences and can lead to depression over time.

Burnout also has enormous organizational costs; studies show burnout can cost employers up to nearly 3 times the average cost of health insurance per employee.

Regardless of whether you think your employee is dealing with burnout or depression, approach them with the same empathy and concern. Here are some tips.

  • Remember it’s not your job to diagnose employees or figure out whether they’re burnt out or depressed. Focus only on what you’ve noticed, like changes in attendance or performance, and give them an opportunity to tell you what support they need.
  • Look honestly at workplace conditions that could be contributing, and work toward changing them. High workloads, unclear expectations, understaffing, lack of autonomy, or a toxic workplace culture can’t be fixed with better coping skills alone, and it’s not your employees’ responsibility to address these issues.
  • Talk openly about flexibility and accommodations that may be available. This could include changes to workload, scheduling, deadlines, or where someone works. Never shame or punish employees for using these accommodations.
  • Respect employees’ privacy. They shouldn’t need to disclose a diagnosis or personal details about their mental health to feel supported at work.
  • Make sure employees know about your EAP and other mental health benefits and exactly how to access them. Consider hosting regular trainings or sending reminders so people know what resources are available to them.

How to deal with burnout

It may be possible to get through burnout without professional treatment. That doesn’t mean that it’s wrong or an overreaction to seek out support. Talking to a professional about burnout can help you understand it and figure out what needs to change. Mental health providers can also help you understand whether your burnout could actually be a sign of something deeper, like depression.

Since burnout is caused by specific stressors at work, addressing those issues typically needs to be a part of recovering.

  • Identify what’s contributing most to your burnout. Is it the amount of work, unclear expectations, lack of support, long hours, a toxic environment, or something else?
  • Talk to your manager or your human resources department about the things you’ve identified as contributing factors. For example, ask for clearer expectations if you’re constantly unsure about your responsibilities or what success is supposed to look like.
  • Set boundaries around your work hours and availability when you can. Try to protect some time when you’re genuinely disconnected from work.
  • Take as many breaks as you can. Use your PTO and take breaks during the workday. Rest alone may not resolve burnout if the conditions causing it stay the same when you return to work, but recovery time can still help.
  • Consider what changes would make your work more sustainable. That could mean changing responsibilities, moving to another team, reducing your hours, or even looking for a different job if your environment isn’t able to change.

Treatment for depression

Depression, on the other hand, is never something that you should try to deal with on your own. Coping skills can be important for getting through day-to-day life, but depression requires mental health treatment. It doesn’t usually go away on its own.

The most effective treatments for depression are therapy, medication, or a combination of both. If you’ve already tried those treatments, there’s still hope. There are newer treatments available for people with treatment-resistant depression.

A mental health provider can help you understand which options may be appropriate based on your symptoms, values/choices, and treatment history.

Your EAP can connect you with depression treatment

If you’re not sure where to start with finding support for burnout and/or depression, your MINES & Associates EAP can help. We can connect you with 24/7 confidential counseling and referrals to other mental health resources available through your benefits.

Contact MINES & Associates to learn what support is available and how to access it.

 

To Your Wellbeing,

The MINES Team