Work Burnout Series #1: The Meaning of Burnout from a Massachusetts Depression Counselor

I’m Bronwyn, a counselor for depression. In my clients, I see a lot of work burnout. I’ve been interviewed about beating work burnout and written about how to prevent burnout.

Today I’ll be discussing what burnout means, and how to notice when it’s showing up at work.

Work burnout vs. depression

Burnout is not the same as clinical depression, but you hear them in the same sentence a lot because they are similar. As a therapist, I don’t actually spend a lot of time diagnosing. It’s not as important to me what your clinical diagnosis is as the specific ways that you experience whatever the diagnosis might be. Yes, we can parse out the difference between depression and burnout. As it was originally coined and researched in the 1970’s, burnout is situational, usually connected to caregiving or work. In contrast, depression affects all aspects of your life.

Treatment for work burnout is different from treatment for depression. Simply using your vacation time might be all you need to stay on top of burnout. However, as it pertains to psychotherapy, the differences are usually not as critical.*

In fact, therapy is a place where you can examine your experience in order to suss out the differences as well as the potential overlap in depression and burnout.

It isn’t always as cut and dry as burnout or depression, one or the other. Burnout can put you at greater risk of depression, and vice versa. You could be experiencing both at the same time. 

What is the meaning of burnout?

All that said, I like to use a simple definition of burnout. Burnout means that your body has had enough of being really stressed out for an extended period of time. It can happen if you’ve been running around on high alert, or only giving without being replenished, or simply burning the candle at both ends. It’s your body trying to protect itself by telling you it’s too much. We can tolerate any of these things for a bit, but not forever. Too much and you can end up burned out.

Some prominent characteristics of work burnout include exhaustion, cynicism and lack of interest at work, and difficulty doing any work. Inventories like the Maslach Burnout Inventory measure emotional exhaustion, disconnection from and lack of concern for your work or the people you are serving, and how successful and fulfilled you feel at work.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory asks things like:

How often does it feel like work is breaking you down?

How often do you feel insensitive to your colleagues?

How often are you able to handle emotional problems at work calmly?

But what does work burnout actually look like in your life?

There are so many ways it can show up, inside and outside of work. The meaning of burnout can be described as a number of characteristics. I find it helpful to divide work burnout signs into three categories:  Behaviors, Sensations, and Emotions. Behaviors you might notice include isolating from people, having a shorter fuse with colleagues, taking more sick days, and using substances more often. When I say sensations, I’m talking about things like dreading going to work. You might feel numb, distracted, foggy, or tight. (If you want more prompts of possible sensations in general, look at Pat Ogden’s work, she’s done amazing research.) Emotional signs of burnout could be helplessness, resentment, inadequacy, and shame. 

The thing about work burnout is that although it is technically relegated to work, it can leak into the rest of your life.

The thing about work burnout is that although it is technically relegated to work, it can leak into the rest of your life.

So you might be lashing out at your dog and really you’re afraid that your job is making you uncaring. It’s normal to feel some of these things some of the time. Take note, though, if you start to feel a lot of them consistently. Discerning whether it is burnout can be helpful in categorizing your experience to make more sense of what you’re feeling. I don’t care what you call it though, burnout or stress or being demoralized. What’s important is that you listen to whatever it is so it stops getting in the way of your life.  

What is the opposite meaning of burnout? 

It’s important whenever we are talking about the meaning of burnout to include defining the opposite meaning of burnout. Recovery from burnout also involves naming what you’re missing, what you want to feel instead of burned out. For example, the opposite of work burnout is looking forward to going to work, knowing you’re making an impact. When you’re not burned out, you feel excited, and able to enjoy your work. The opposite of work burnout is having clarity about what you can offer other people. It’s knowing what you need and protecting your time to get that. Feelings associated with the opposite of work burnout include feeling nourished, energized, and balanced at work, both with colleagues and task completion. When you’re not burned out, you’re more likely to feel fulfilled in the work that you do. You are able to make space for professional curiosity and creativity.

How would you define the meaning of burnout for yourself?

This is an important step in preventing and recovering from burnout. What burnout looks like to you is going to be different from how it shows up for other people.

Understanding what happens to you when you’re feeling burned out is critical if you want to figure out how to recover from work burnout.

What sensations, behaviors and emotions come up as your own meaning of burnout?

*Important Safety Note: One critical difference between burnout and depression is that burnout does not include thoughts of hurting yourself. That’s definitely in the realm of clinical depression and requires immediate attention. Ideally this happens within a team of therapist and psychiatrist, and potentially groups, depending on the severity of what’s being experienced. Please call 988 if you are in immediate danger of harming yourself.

About the Author

I’m a depression therapist who loves helping people find their own meaning of burnout.

I received my MSW from Smith College School for Social Work and have worked in community mental health and school settings as well as hospice. I’ve conducted workshops for hospice employees on work burnout. In addition to depression therapy, I offer counseling for anxiety and therapy for Highly Sensitive people. Owner of Bronwyn Shiffer Psychotherapy in Madison, WI, I offer telethealth therapy throughout Wisconsin, online therapy in Massachusetts, and virtual therapy in Washington, DC.