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Discussion on: Is It Burnout or Job Dissatisfaction?

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Jean-Michel (jmfayard.dev) • Edited

I always had a feeling that burnout is a politically correct equivalent of depression.
Burnout sounds like something anyone can have at work.
Depression sounds terrible - because it is terrible.

To clarify that point, I had a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational...
And indeed:

A growing body of evidence suggests that burnout is etiologically, clinically, and nosologically similar to depression.
In a study that directly compared depressive symptoms in burned out workers and clinically depressed patients, no diagnostically significant differences were found between the two groups; burned out workers reported as many depressive symptoms as clinically depressed patients.
Moreover, a study by Bianchi, Schonfeld, and Laurent (2014) showed that about 90% of workers with very high scores on the MBI meet diagnostic criteria for depression.[81] The view that burnout is a form of depression has found support in several recent studies.
Some authors have recommended that the nosological concept of burnout be revised or even abandoned entirely given that it is not a distinct disorder and that there is no agreement on burnout's diagnostic criteria.
A newer generation of studies indicates that burnout, particularly its exhaustion dimension, problematically overlaps with depression

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), occupational burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic work-related stress, with symptoms characterized by "feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and reduced professional efficacy". While burnout may influence health and can be a reason for people contacting health services, it is not itself classified by the WHO as a medical condition or mental disorder. WHO additionally states that "Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life."

Ok, so burn out means depression, and depression is reallly different from job dissatisfaction. The symptoms are more numerous, more acute, lasts for a longer time, and you feel/are powerless against them.

If you think you may have burn out / depression, absolutely seek professional help.