 Hi, Psych2Goers, and welcome back to another video. Thank you so much for all the love and support you've given us, enabling us to make yet another exploration into everyday psychology and mental health. So let's begin! Chronic fatigue, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, frequent lapses in memory, and emotional exhaustion. Now, does this sound like someone experiencing burnout, or are they suffering from clinical depression? More often than not, these two are confused. Burnout refers to a negative state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive stress and an inability to cope. While depression is defined as a mood disorder, characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness, and hopelessness. Because there's so much overlap between symptoms of burnout and depression, it can often be a challenge to tell the two apart. Mistaking one for the other could lead to a lot of harm, especially when trying to treat it. Before we begin, please remember that our purpose is to educate. Therefore, please do not use this information to self-diagnose. With that said, here are 7 important differences between burnout and depression. 1. Depression is a mental disorder Although burnout is a serious mental health issue, unlike clinical depression, it isn't recognized as a diagnosable mental disorder by the American Psychological Association. This is because it lacks what psychologists call the 4 D's of abnormality. Deviance, dysfunction, distress, and danger, which are all the hallmarks for a psychiatric condition to be considered a mental illness. And though burnout certainly impairs our functioning and brings us a lot of distress, it's not as serious of a threat to our mental health as depression. What's more is, burnout only has 3 identifiable symptoms. Exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficiency. While you only need to have experienced at least 5 out of 9 for a period of no less than 2 weeks to be diagnosed with depression. 2. Depression is more general Does it help get your mind off your problems when someone tries to cheer you up? This may work for burnout, but not for depression. Depression is more general than burnout. Because burnout is brought about by prolonged periods of extreme stress, usually work or academic related, the negative psychological effects we experience because of it often go away once the stressor has been removed. Depression, on the other hand, is so much more pervasive because it permeates not only our school or work life, but also our social life, our home life, and even our enjoyment of our own hobbies and interests. 3. Depression doesn't always have a trigger So what triggers burnout then, you ask? Like we said before, burnout is most likely to happen at the onset of highly stressful situations, often in the school or work setting. Common examples include studying for final exams, getting into a prestigious college, or a big promotion at work. But when it comes to depression, there isn't always an obvious trigger for why you develop it. 4. Depression erodes your self-esteem What is the one characteristic only found in depression? It is a lower sense of self-esteem. Many depressed patients struggle with feelings of worthlessness. All sense of purpose seems lost. Those who are burned out, on the other hand, feel the same loss in motivation, enjoyment, and interest, but their sense of self-esteem remains largely intact. And though you may sometimes feel frustrated, disappointed, or down about yourself, it's usually only a particular stressor causing you to feel this way. For example, hating yourself only because you failed a test. 5. Depersonalization is common in burnout Depersonalization is a persistent feeling of detachment from oneself. This occurs because people who are struggling with burnout have pushed themselves to the limit, physically, mentally, and emotionally, that it's now become difficult to function normally. You've been working yourself so hard for so long, treating yourself more like an unstoppable machine for productivity rather than an actual human being with needs that you start to lose touch with yourself. You don't feel like yourself anymore, becoming numb to emotions because of how overwhelmed you've been with stress. 6. Burnout develops in stages Did you know there are five major stages of burnout? Studies named them in increasing degrees of severity as the honeymoon phase, the onset of stress, chronic stress, burnout, and habitual burnout. But when it comes to depression, there are no stages because depression doesn't develop in a linear or progressive manner. Some people can have a depressive episode that only lasts a few weeks, is fine for years, and suddenly feel depressed again out of the blue, while others struggle with it for almost their entire lives, seemingly getting better only for it to get worse all over again. 7. Burnout is easier to treat Finally, but perhaps most importantly, because burnout isn't a mental disorder, it's much easier to treat than depression. For problems of burnout, a therapist or a counselor will advise you a few simple lifestyle changes, like sleeping earlier, starting a self-care routine, establishing boundaries, and learning better time management skills, and you'll start seeing improvements within a matter of weeks, depending on the severity of your burnout. As for depression, common treatment plans include not only lifestyle changes, but also antidepressants, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy, and psychodynamic therapy. We hope we were able to give you a little insight into some of the ways depression differs from burnout. Do any of these apply to you? Let us know in the comments below. If you find this video helpful, be sure to hit the like and subscribe button, and share it with someone who might. Don't forget to hit the notification bell icon to get notified whenever Psych2Go posts a new video. As always, thanks for watching.