Depression or burnout?

The symptoms of burnout are similar to those of depression. The physical, cognitive, and behavioural manifestations in both situations are almost the same: sleep problems, asthenia, frustration, decreased motivation, tendency to isolate oneself, etc.

There are differences in the two phenomena, however. Burnout is work-related, whereas depression touches all aspects of a person's life. As the definition above shows, burnout results from a discrepancy between the worker's expectations and the reality of their professional life.

Even if they don't enjoy their job, people suffering from burnout can still remain enthusiastic in their private life. People suffering from depression, on the other hand, often have reduced self-esteem, which is not always the case for burnout. 

However, burnout can turn into depression if it affects one's private life. And depression can make someone predisposed to burnout. The separation between work and private life is so thin that it's sometimes hard to understand the problem and diagnose burnout correctly.   

The Job Demands-Resources Model

The study on burnout led by Isabelle Hansez was based on the Job Demands-Resources Model developed in the early 2000s. “This model, which comes from the field of positive psychology, is interesting because it doesn't focus only on workplace demands, but job resources as well," explains Isabelle Hansez.

The model first identifies the process of energy depletion: job demands can lead to loss of energy, exhaustion, and the risk of burnout, in addition to health problems and absenteeism in the long run.  Conversely, other aspects of the job can be considered as resources. They have motivating potential:  the more job resources are available, the more the employee feels stimulated, engaged, and recognised for their work, and the less likely they will want to leave the company or be absent. 

The main job demands identified by workers experiencing burnout are the workload, time pressure, and organisational changes. As an integral part of daily work life, these demands have a very strong impact on workers' perceptions. Support from superiors, respect, and recognition are often lacking, even though these resources would help employees feel better, become more engaged, and feel that their work is appreciated.

In a context in which demands are extremely high and dictated by the need to be internationally competitive, the benefit of this model is that it helps companies think about levers that can be used to improve resources. Restoring more decentralised management, maintaining high work quality, clarifying certain procedures, and proposing interesting objectives and projects are all resources that can be provided to employees.

How to detect burnout?

One of the objectives of the research on burnout was to measure the extent of the problem in Belgium. "We wanted to know how many people in Belgium were affected," explains researcher Julie De Cia. "Surveying all Belgian workers was impossible, of course. We thus decided to identify the number of burnout cases via consultations with health providers. We thus created a sample of doctors throughout Belgium, 346 general practitioners (GPs) and occupational physicians who participated on a voluntary basis. To measure the extent of the problem, we created our own detection tool which we provided to health professionals, rather than using existing tools based on self-assessments (in which employees evaluate their symptoms themselves).”