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This is a good opportunity to point out (to everyone, not just this parent comment) that there is a lot of overlap between burnout and depression. It's a commo

This is a good opportunity to point out (to everyone, not just this parent comment) that there is a lot of overlap between burnout and depression. It's a common mistake for people to think that because they can identify the cause of their current state (work-induced burnout from a bad job, for example) that their symptoms can't be from depression. That's not true. They're not mutually exclusive. In fact, they overlap heavily both in symptoms and possible treatments. The good news is that many of the techniques designed to address depression, such as CBT, self-guided therapy, exercises, and so on, translate quite effectively to helping with burnout, too. In fact, a burned-out person can pick up a CBT book or sign up with a therapist and drop right into helpful exercises to begin restoring a sense of agency, rebuilding autonomy, unlearning negative thought patterns, and other things that contribute to getting stuck in burnout.

dbcurtis 5y ago
Agreed. Burnout and depression may overlap. In my case, they did not. I’ve been burned out. I’ve been depressed. Burned out is better :) If you think you might be depressed, get some help. Joking aside, for me the therapy is the same for either. I need to selfishly attend to my own agenda for a while, and build something just because. My workshop is my therapy zone. YMMV.
- jkhdigital 5y ago
  > My workshop is my therapy zone. Hell yes, I bought like $3k worth of woodworking tools and supplies over the course of 2020 and that was my therapy. And the only actual project I finished is a janky dining table that’s too small for our 3 person family XD
yazaddaruvala 5y ago
Yeah I agree. I always thought burnout and depression were the same thing. How I’ve previously (maybe incorrectly) differentiated is: Disclaimer: Trying to be concise, I understand depression is a spectrum, different for everyone, and a lot more complex than these few words. Depression: You’re basically fried and can’t make decisions in any/all “verticals” (i.e. self-love, romance, professional, etc) not even to leave the house. Burnout / Heartbroken: A subset of depression for a specific vertical in life. Burnout is a depression from a profession, but you still enjoy/can go on dates or hang out with friends. Heartbroken is a depression from romance, but you still enjoy/can work to distract yourself, take up a hobby, etc.
- Applejinx 5y ago
  Um... nah. Anytime I've been in burnout serious enough to need more than a few months of recovery, everything was gone. Dates, no way, friends? No friends, just work. I don't understand this perspective of 'burnout, but can still enjoy'. A defining characteristic of it in my experience is that you get stuck in very mindless, reactive pursuits like doom-scrolling or video-watching, but you're not enjoying any of it, and you can't hang out with anyone because if you did you're harping on about the way you're stuck and still trying to fix work things, or you're griping about how burnt out you feel: the topic is all-encompassing. This correlates with the folks who are in burnout before they're reduced to total unfunctionality, because that's the part they're experiencing as they circle the drain: they're not unfunctional, but they can't go on dates or hang out with friends or enjoy anything because they're obsessed with what's happening to them, unable to let go. I guess the reformulation of it would be, if you're very unhappy with work but you still enjoy dates and friends and other things, and you're also able to do that work effectively but you're just hating it, that's not burnout. Seems like the danger point/red flag is how stuck you are to that work. Being able to decompress with other things is a sign that you're not too stuck to the thing, and it's a good sign that will save you. Being not able to enjoy is like depression and affects all things. Struggling harder and harder with a thing to the point that you're not able to enjoy, but you can't let go and have to keep increasing the pressure… that's leaning more towards burnout or at the very least what will get you into burnout.
JimTheMan 5y ago
A quick and dirty way to distinguish between work/stress fatigue and depression would be simply if you don't recover even when removed from work for a significant period of time.
oAlbe 5y ago
What does CBT stand for in this context?
- tdeck 5y ago
  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Lio 5y ago
  Thanks for asking that question, I had sort of assumed the parent meant Compulsory Basic Training. i.e. those horrid multiple choice training sessions that HR departments love so much.
  - dustinls 5y ago
    Wow I was even further off than that.

dbcurtis 5y ago

Agreed. Burnout and depression may overlap. In my case, they did not. I’ve been burned out. I’ve been depressed. Burned out is better :) If you think you might be depressed, get some help. Joking aside, for me the therapy is the same for either. I need to selfishly attend to my own agenda for a while, and build something just because. My workshop is my therapy zone. YMMV.

jkhdigital 5y ago
> My workshop is my therapy zone. Hell yes, I bought like $3k worth of woodworking tools and supplies over the course of 2020 and that was my therapy. And the only actual project I finished is a janky dining table that’s too small for our 3 person family XD

yazaddaruvala 5y ago

Yeah I agree. I always thought burnout and depression were the same thing. How I’ve previously (maybe incorrectly) differentiated is: Disclaimer: Trying to be concise, I understand depression is a spectrum, different for everyone, and a lot more complex than these few words. Depression: You’re basically fried and can’t make decisions in any/all “verticals” (i.e. self-love, romance, professional, etc) not even to leave the house. Burnout / Heartbroken: A subset of depression for a specific vertical in life. Burnout is a depression from a profession, but you still enjoy/can go on dates or hang out with friends. Heartbroken is a depression from romance, but you still enjoy/can work to distract yourself, take up a hobby, etc.

Applejinx 5y ago
Um... nah. Anytime I've been in burnout serious enough to need more than a few months of recovery, everything was gone. Dates, no way, friends? No friends, just work. I don't understand this perspective of 'burnout, but can still enjoy'. A defining characteristic of it in my experience is that you get stuck in very mindless, reactive pursuits like doom-scrolling or video-watching, but you're not enjoying any of it, and you can't hang out with anyone because if you did you're harping on about the way you're stuck and still trying to fix work things, or you're griping about how burnt out you feel: the topic is all-encompassing. This correlates with the folks who are in burnout before they're reduced to total unfunctionality, because that's the part they're experiencing as they circle the drain: they're not unfunctional, but they can't go on dates or hang out with friends or enjoy anything because they're obsessed with what's happening to them, unable to let go. I guess the reformulation of it would be, if you're very unhappy with work but you still enjoy dates and friends and other things, and you're also able to do that work effectively but you're just hating it, that's not burnout. Seems like the danger point/red flag is how stuck you are to that work. Being able to decompress with other things is a sign that you're not too stuck to the thing, and it's a good sign that will save you. Being not able to enjoy is like depression and affects all things. Struggling harder and harder with a thing to the point that you're not able to enjoy, but you can't let go and have to keep increasing the pressure… that's leaning more towards burnout or at the very least what will get you into burnout.

JimTheMan 5y ago

A quick and dirty way to distinguish between work/stress fatigue and depression would be simply if you don't recover even when removed from work for a significant period of time.

oAlbe 5y ago

What does CBT stand for in this context?

tdeck 5y ago
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Lio 5y ago
Thanks for asking that question, I had sort of assumed the parent meant Compulsory Basic Training. i.e. those horrid multiple choice training sessions that HR departments love so much.
- dustinls 5y ago
  Wow I was even further off than that.