Depression & Burnout
Every year, thousands of people consult their general practitioners because they feel depressed or suffer from symptoms of burnout or stress. Although the characteristics of depression and burnout are more or less the same, there is one important difference. Burnout is always preceded by a period of being stretched to the limit of one’s forces and beyond, while with depression this is not necessarily the case.
Characteristics of a depression or burnout
Frequent symptoms of both depression and burnout:
- low spirits, a dejected, sombre mood, the inability to be happy or feel interested in anything. Significant mood swings (which can last for months, especially in the case of bi-polar depression)
- feelings of guilt
- feeling desperate, devoid of hope ("nothing matters anymore")
- sleeplessness
- lack of energy; fatigue
- listlessness; lack of vim, no desire to undertake anything; not interested in having sex
- constant weeping
- less or greater appetite which contributes to a significant weight change (increase/decrease)
- continued restlessness or, quite the contrary, an inertia akin to laziness
- indecisiveness
- concentration problems
- forgetfulness
- prone to responding emotionally; for instance, being easily upset, quick-tempered, overly disappointed; being suddenly panic-stricken or having anxiety attacks
- irritability/irascibility
- physical changes for which no cause can be found
- loss of interest in and neglect of one’s work, sports activities, social contacts or housekeeping chores and tasks
Addiction and depressive feelings
In many cases, several of these characteristics can also relate to or simply be the outward signs of an addiction or substance dependency. Often, depression or burnout is diagnosed while in fact the client suffers the effects of an addiction. Addicts often do not speak of their alcohol and/or drug abuse to their attending physician . On the other hand, it is equally possible that an addiction has developed due to consistent feelings of depression. In an attempt to subdue such feelings many people feel compelled to turned to their drug of choice (alcohol, drugs, medicine, gambling and/or sex) and ultimately find themselves in a downward spiral.
Work addiction and burnout
Then there is a category of people who are obsessed with their work, who are always busy and on the go: they are the workaholics. Their reasons for their obsessive need to work are diverse. On the one hand, there is the ever-present need to be useful. The harder a person works the more valuable and indispensable he feels. Some people feel the incentive to be busy and actively involved all the time, and they always need to look for new challenges in order to be stimulated. Others cannot stop working because they simply do not know what else to do with their time. They are socially unadapted in that they feel awkward and may have impaired social skills. They find it hard to engage in a conversation if there is nothing (important) to discuss or they have difficulty enjoying any free time. In this category you are likely to find a number of people who have a strong but unsatisfactory marriage. They think they have no problems at home, so they put all their energy into their work.
People who experience a burnout are suddenly forced to pace themselves and to slow down or possibly to come to a complete standstill. Once they hit this stage, but preferably sooner, SolutionS can teach the workaholic how he/she is able to recognise what triggers them and how to deal with their problem. In an intensive programme they will learn to see that life has more to offer than work.
For the treatment of depression SolutionS works with the most state-of-the-art clinics in the world.