With so many overlapping symptoms of emotional burnout and depression, it can be hard to figure out what you’re dealing with when you find yourself struggling. Both conditions can be characterized by apathy and irritability, but there are some major differences. Below are some signs that might be dealing with emotional burnout and how it’s different from depression. Make sure to contact a medical or mental health professional if you’re experiencing symptoms of either to ensure you get the right care.
1. You Dread Specific Aspects Of Your Life.
Depression can strike even when there’s nothing going wrong in your life. Burnout is usually caused by overworking yourself, but it’s not always because of demanding jobs. You can also burn out from spending all your emotional (and physical) energy caring for others. People who are depressed experience symptoms every day, almost all day. If you’re burnt out, you might find that it’s work or your other specific responsibilities that you’re dreading the most.
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2. You’re Feeling More Stressed Than Usual.
If you have a tight deadline coming up or a big project at work, then it’s perfectly normal to be stressed — that’s just part of life. However, if you can’t cope with the regular demands of your job (or school) you could be emotionally burnt out. It’s not that people who are depressed no longer feel stress, but sometimes their depression can manifest as apathy, and they just don’t have the energy to get worked out about those things.
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3. You’ve Never Felt This Way Before.
Depression can strike anyone at any point in their life. With that said, if you started a high-pressure job a few months ago, are sitting important exams in school, or have taken on a caregiver role and only began to feel low after those things, the culprit is likely to be emotional burnout. People struggling with burnout can improve if they reduce their workload, but depression tends to linger even if everything in your life is objectively fine.
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4. Your work performance is suffering.
Some people describe the process of burning out as borrowing energy from the future until there’s nothing left. When you’re deep in emotional burnout, you won’t have the energy to do your work to your usual standard. You may start lagging on meeting deadlines or the quality of the work you are doing might begin to slip.
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5. You Feel A Bit Better After Rest.
As mentioned earlier, people who are depressed feel that way almost 24/7. If you’re burnt out, you might not feel 100% again after the weekend, but rest does help you somewhat.
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6. You Don’t Have The Energy For Your Hobbies (But You Still Care About Them).
One of the main differences between emotional burnout and depression is that someone who is depressed can’t find joy in the things they used to love. Someone who is burned out might not have the energy to do those things, but they still care. For example, someone who is depressed might feel nothing listening to their favorite song, but it could still bring someone whose burnout some joy.
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7. You Don’t Know Who You Are Outside Your Job Or Responsibilities.
People who make their job, their role as a caregiver, or academic achievements their entire identity are more likely to burn out since they probably don’t have a good work-life balance. While it’s good to take pride in these things, you’re so much more than what you do for a living. After all, who are you if you lose your job?
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8. You Feel Low But You’re Not Hopeless.
Burnout can make you feel pretty low, but things might not get so dark that you feel hopeless or want to harm yourself. You can be depressed and burnt out at the same time, but physicians believe that it’s depression, and not burnout, that makes people more susceptible to suicidal ideation.
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9. You’re Critical Of Your Work (But Not Everything About You).
Since your work is so tied to your identity, it feels like a personal failure if you’re not thriving in your career or make a mistake. People who are depressed might feel critical of everything about themselves, but people who are just burnt out are usually only critical of their ability to do their job.
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10. You Only Have Gastrointestinal Issues When You’re Stressed.
Although poor mental health can have an impact on our physical health, you might notice that you only have digestive issues when you’re stressed but feel fine after work. Still, never assume why you feel unwell and speak to your doctor if you’re concerned about your health or are experiencing new symptoms.
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11. Your Body Aches When You Think About Work.
Like the point above, you might have aches and pains when you’re stressed or when you even think about work (or whatever it is that burnt you out) but feel fine when you’re relaxed. With that said, you should always consult a medical professional with health concerns.
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12. You Gradually Began To Feel Worse.
Some people with depression find that their mood can spiral frighteningly fast (but this isn’t always the case). Since burnout is caused by prolonged stress, you might feel yourself gradually feeling increasingly drained until it overwhelms you. You’re chronically unhappy and you can’t quite put your finger on why.
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13. Your Sleep Schedule Has Changed.
Although you’re exhausted, you can find yourself under-sleeping or over-sleeping when you’re burnt out. This can be especially alarming if you’ve never struggled with sleep before. A change in sleep patterns is also a symptom of depression, but someone who has had multiple bouts of depression will, sadly, be used to it, but someone burnt out for the first time will be taken by surprise.
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14. You’re Doom Scrolling In Your Spare Time.
Since you have no energy, in your free time, you find yourself mindlessly scrolling social media for hours on end. It’s not that people who are depressed never do this, but depression often manifests as lying in bed without even having enough energy to look at your phone.
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15. You’re Happy To Talk About Anything But Work.
People who are depressed might not have the energy to talk about anything. If you’re burnt out, you can feel tired all the time, but will still enjoy chatting to people, as long as the conversation isn’t about what burnt you out.
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