When does burnout turn into depression?

[RainbowSearchParty]

Just wondering what insights you all have on this. When does it cross the line from burnt to depressed? How can you tell? And what can you do to avoid it?

I know I'm burned out. Absolutely. And I keep trying to add things in that will help mitigate that. Like more time at the gym, more contact with other people. Better nutrition. Better sleep. And it will feel like I do a little better for a week or two, and then a little worse (with poor choices around coping skills, mostly, and mostly when I'm lonely).

My in-person support system is pathetically small. Super small. And I've been trying to expand it by joining up to regular events (like a writing group and a yoga class). I'm also doing in-person group gym classes four days a week which gives me the chance to chat with other people, and that helps. But I'm still so, so, so lonely and I can't fix it, and I'm afraid that's the biggest contributor to how I'm feeling. I have plenty of friends back in my home country and stay in touch regularly via email, text, video, etc. But it's not enough.

So .... advice? I am not feeling great, but this doesn't feel like a huge problem ... yet. And I need to make certain to nip this in the bud because I can't, I just CAN'T get myself into a depression when what I'm working so hard on is building skills and stability to get myself out of where I'm living and back to a more supportive environment in the city I was in before I moved.

Edited to add: I just reopened a thread on practical tips to build community. So feel free to post there, too, or to just focus on the idea of burnout vs depression. Thanks y'all.

 

[Movingforward10]

I see the two as different?

Burn out I relate to piling on stress and it creeping up on you. Like a job. Or a combination of things. Where you're doing and carrying so much. And the way to deal with that, in my mind, is to move away from the thing that is burning me out. I recently left a job that I think was burning me out due to the toxic work culture there.

And I see depression as not that. As persistent low mood, no energy, no motivation, and it's a vicious cycle. Depression can exist alongside or separately from burn out?

 

[RainbowSearchParty]

I guess maybe part of the issue is that I only tend to recognize depression in myself when it is super bad. Nothing is super bad right now. But I feel the creep of low mood happening more than before, trouble with motivation, and using things like oversleep to try to deal. There are days where stying awake for the entire day feels too overwhelming and lonely so I take a nap hlafway through.

Maybe the better question isn't about how to label this, but how to deal with this.

 

[arfie]

i view it as a question of degree. like the diff between anger and rage.

 

[sidptitala]

For me, these have been one and the same - they have felt the same. But maybe it's that when other people told me I was depressed, I was actually burned out. Or I had both at the same time.

I'm aware that for alleviating depression, movement and expression is crucial.

And aware that for burnout, rest is the most important thing.

If you have both, it might be minding both at the same time. So resting above all, but being careful not to fall into the inertia of depression with that. By resting 80% and then trying to transition to slow movement, and limited expression.

I feel your paradox though, because with depression keeping yourself busy in the way you are describing will absolutely help. But it could make burnout worse.

I have a question for you - are you trying to crowd out your loneliness with activities?

If you are, it may be worth accepting that it is undeniably there? That quantity of social engagements probably won't fix it either - only deeper ones where you feel a sense of belonging.

I know you are in a different culture also and that's inherently inherently lonely and stressful. I remember how intensely alone I felt in a place where I couldn't communicate without barriers, where I meant one thing and people read another from me. I left that place and have never been so lonely ever again - but it gave me tremendous capacity to be alone, and now- I cherish that ability. Even though I wouldn't ever live in that environment again. Does your present suffering carry any meaning for you? (e.g. 'I have to do this to be able to afford to live healthily in the place I choose')

 

[Friday]

Just wondering what insights you all have on this. When does it cross the line from burnt to depressed? How can you tell?

When you don’t give a f*ck, anymore, about anything… not “just” the thing you’re burnt out on.

And what can you do to avoid it?

PASSION. Techinically? Assuming you were passionate about the thing you burnt out on? MULTIPLE passions.

So you don’t have ONE thing that gets you out of bed, thrilled to be back to it, day in and out… but many. So when one takes a punch to the gut, or has been worn away with sandpaper? You’ve got dozens of others that are equally, or more, thrilling to set yourself at.

The balance that creates, means one almost never gets burned out; conversely the passion of a single thing leads to imbalance, burnout, depression.

 

[anthony]

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