Burnout: the signs, how it differs from depression and what helps

You used to love your job, or at least do it calmly, and now in the morning you can barely bring yourself to open your inbox. Weekends don’t restore you, colleagues and clients get on your nerves, and tasks that once came easily take a huge effort. This is often what burnout looks like. It is not a whim or laziness but the result of long-term strain that has gone on for too long without relief.

What burnout is

The World Health Organization describes burnout in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as a syndrome that results from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. The WHO does not classify burnout as a medical condition but as an occupational phenomenon, listed among the factors that influence health, and it applies the term only to work. The WHO names three dimensions:

• Exhaustion: a sense that your energy has run out.
• Growing mental distance from your job: cynicism, indifference, irritation with the work and the people.
• Reduced professional efficacy: a feeling that you are doing everything worse and nothing is working.

Signs and stages of burnout

Burnout rarely arrives overnight. The signs usually build up over months:

• Tiredness that doesn’t lift after sleep or a weekend off.
• Struggling to start even simple tasks, putting everything off.
• Irritability, cynicism, a sense of “I don’t care any more”.
• A feeling that your work has lost its meaning.
• Poorer concentration and memory.
• Poor sleep, headaches, tension in your neck and shoulders.
• Wanting to shut yourself off from people, more coffee, alcohol or sugar just to “keep going”.

Online you will often see the “stages of burnout”: from enthusiasm and working flat out to fatigue, cynicism and complete exhaustion. Diagrams like these can help you notice where you are heading, but they are popular models, not an official classification: the WHO does not describe any stages. A more useful question to ask yourself honestly is: how much energy do I have left, and do I recover after rest?

Burnout or depression?

Burnout and depression look alike: tiredness, loss of interest, poor sleep. Researchers still debate how far the two overlap. One simple guide: burnout is tied to work, and on holiday or in other areas of life people usually feel some relief. In depression, low mood and loss of pleasure spread across your whole life: family, hobbies, the way you see yourself. Guilt and thoughts like “I’m worth nothing” join in.

If a state like this lasts nearly every day for two weeks or more, it is important not to write it off as “just burnout”. Sometimes depression hides behind what looks like burnout, so it is better not to wait.

Parental burnout

Although the WHO uses the term only for work, researchers also describe parental burnout, which many parents know well. It involves exhaustion in the parenting role, emotional distance from your children and a loss of joy in being a parent. Behind it there is usually not a “bad parent” but too many demands and too little support and rest. Mothers and fathers in this state are helped by the same steps: sharing the load, asking for help and finding time for themselves.

Burnout: what to do

• Admit that your reserves have run out. Trying to push through on willpower usually deepens the exhaustion.
• Rebuild the basics: sleep, food, movement, daylight. Without them nothing else works.
• Set boundaries: hours when you don’t answer work messages, and breaks during the day.
• Mark the end of the working day with a small ritual: a walk, a shower, a change of clothes. Your body and mind need a clear signal that work is over for today and it is safe to let go.
• Look at your workload. What can you hand over, postpone or do “well enough” rather than perfectly?
• If you can, talk to your manager. The WHO advises employers to reduce work-related risks to mental health, for example through flexible working, rather than simply expecting people to be resilient.
• Bring back what gives you energy outside work: people, hobbies, rest without guilt.

In therapy we look at what exactly is draining you, learn to notice the body’s signals earlier, and work with perfectionism, guilt and the habit of taking everything on yourself. Cognitive behavioural methods have good evidence for work stress, and body-oriented techniques help you notice tension and let it go.

When to see a specialist

See a specialist if rest no longer restores you, if you notice signs of depression or anxiety, if you have slept badly for weeks, if you rely more and more on alcohol or sedatives to keep going, or if this state gets in the way of work and life. It is also worth checking your physical health: tiredness can be linked, for example, to anaemia or thyroid problems.

If thoughts of death or of harming yourself come up, don’t keep them to yourself: tell someone close, write to me or call 911.

To see how much stress has built up, take the PSS-10 test (Perceived Stress Scale) on this site. If, besides tiredness, the joy has gone too, it is worth taking the PHQ-9 as well. The tests don’t give a diagnosis, but they help you see where to start the conversation. If you would like to work out together what is draining you, book a free 15-minute intro call. My sessions are held in Armenian or Russian.