6 Traits to Tell if You Are Lazy, Have Burnout or Depression

Hey there everybody, and welcome to this presentation on six signs that you are burned out or depressed, but certainly not lazy. I'm your host, Dr. Donnellice Snipes. So let's start out with lazy. Lazy people are not motivated, this is true, but they are perfectly happy not to do anything. They're not laying there going, oh, I just don't have the energy, but I really should get up and do something. Lazy people are laying there on the couch going, yeah, I'm fine with the fact that I'm sitting in my own squalor. Telling yourself you're lazy is self critical and can contribute to depression and low self esteem. If somebody is unmotivated and they continue to tell themselves that they're lazy, that implies that they have the ability to make the choice to get up and do something, that they have the energy stored up somewhere. If the person is depressed or burned out, that just ain't the case. Burnout is a state of exhaustion that may or may not meet the clinical diagnostic criteria for depression. Depression and burnout look very similar. Depression can be caused by a lot of things, not just burnout, but they do look very similar. Signs of burnout or depression are very similar. Exhaustion and lack of energy. It's not this, I've had so much fun and I'm just pooped. It's complete exhaustion from stress. Whether it's stress at work or stress at home or sometimes you just get burned out from life, there has been so much stress over the past, you know, several years that a lot of people are just playing burned out. They turn on the television and or they try to watch the news or they try to go to social media and they're just bombarded with negativity and stuff and they're just like, I just can't, I just can't. I'm too exhausted to even cope with this right now. And that is one symptom that's pretty ubiquitous to burnout and depression. If you're laying there going, I just can't, then that indicates that your HPA axis, your fight or flight mechanism, you're already over past fight or flee and you're into the forget about it. And there's usually another F word I use, but YouTube won't let me use that word. So burnout is when you're past fight or flee. Your body just says, I don't have, I don't have the energy, I don't have the gas, so forget about it. Feeling disconnected is another sign of burnout or depression. Now people can feel disconnected For a variety of reasons. And disconnected or ness or depersonalization is a common symptom in people who've experienced trauma. But people who are burned out can also feel disconnected because it's just, it's too much to feel anymore. They don't have the energy to feel. It's too overwhelming to feel the stress. So they just become disconnected from their feelings. It's almost like they pull the plug and they put the feelings over here or the experiences over here and they kind of walk around sort of in a numb state, if you will. They don't feel like they can connect with other people either. It's like you, you're operating in two different spheres. People who are burned out or depressed often withdraw when they can. If they have to go to work and they're able to go to work, they may go to work. But they often avoid as much social interaction as possible. Not because they don't like these other people that are their friends or their co workers, but they don't. You don't have the energy. Interacting with people takes energy. Even if you like interacting with people, it takes energy. And when people are depressed and burned out, sometimes it's just overwhelming to try to deal with other people's stuff or even to try to be empathetic and focused and, you know, engage even in a somewhat superficial conversation. It takes energy. And people who are burned out and depressed ain't got it. Moodiness and irritability is very common in people who are burned out or depressed. They have experienced so much stress again, they can't take it anymore. Irritability is often a form of anger, and that is a fight response. The person becomes irritable because they're overwhelmed, they don't have the energy, or they can't figure out how to find the energy to change the situation. And you're just adding one more thing and that's a threat because I'm already getting crushed by everything that's coming down on me. Lack of motivation. Now, remember I said people who are lazy lack motivation too. But it's not because they are exhausted and overwhelmed. It's because they just don't have motivation. They're fine with the way things are. There is no need in their mind for them to do anything. They're like, whatever. A person who is burned out and depressed is depleted. They often see things that need to be done or they'd like to do. And maybe it's even like hobbies or things. And they're like, yeah, you know, I really do like painting. But I just. I don't have it in me right now. That is more of a sign of exhaustion and burnout. So where is this lack of motivation emanating from and has it always existed? That's another thing that we want to look at. People who are lazy have often historically been lazy. People who are burned out and depressed, this often gradually creeps in over a few weeks, a few months, even a few years, as they get progressively exhausted and worn down. So can you look back and find a time when this person was motivated and energized? And finally, loss of interest or apathy? This is a very common sign because when people are burned out and depressed, it means their dopamine levels and their norepinephrine levels and their endorphin levels are low. It means that they're having trouble finding pleasure in anything. It means that their neurochemicals are out of whack. If they don't have the energy to do things, then it's going to be hard to get excited about anything. So those are some very important distinctions. Now, people who are burned out or depressed, there are things that they can do. Burnout and depression both represent a state of complete exhaustion coupled with a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. If you've ever been at a job, for example, and you started getting burned out, you know, think about it. Were you exhausted? Did you have feelings of hopelessness and helplessness? And the answer is probably yes. I've been there. I know a lot of us who have been in our careers for many, many years have probably got there at times where we don't feel like we're making a difference. We don't feel like there's any hope that we can achieve the goals that we had initially set out when we entered the field. There are a lot of reasons people may start to develop a sense of burnout. So what can you do? And this is, you know, four tips. Obviously, this is not everything you need to do in treatment, but these are four strategies to get you started. First, if you're exhausted, if you're burned out, if you're depressed, you don't have a lot of energy. So get back to basics. Identify the must dos, what needs to happen in your life. There are things that should happen you'd like to happen, like mowing the lawn. Of course, it's the middle of winter here right now, so that's sort of irrelevant. But if you don't mow the lawn this weekend, yes, it may start looking a little bit shabby. But is that a Must do. Or is it something that can be put off if you need to conserve your energy for something that is more important? To be brutally honest, define what a rich and meaningful life looks like to you. A lot of times when people are feeling burned out and depressed, they are focusing on the one or two things that are going poorly and they are not sure where to even shuttle their energy. It's like, okay, this is going poorly. I can't change it. I give up. I don't know what else to do. By defining a rich and meaningful life, people find force their mind to open and notice the things in their life that are important to them, that are going at least okay. I mean, could this be going better? Sure, maybe. But noticing some of the things that are going at least okay helps balance out the negativity from what's going poorly. Identify what's triggering your burnout or exhaustion and begin addressing. Could be work. It could be a certain person at work, it could be, you know, caseloads, it could be bills, it could be news and social media, whatever it is that is just sucking your energy dry and perpetuating this feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. Start listing those things down and then figuring out one by one, what can you do to mitigate it. So you can either avoid it or address it so you feel safe and as empowered as possible. And I know that's really vague, but burnout can happen to so many different people for so many different reasons. In this short video, it's really hard for me to identify particular examples. Finally, prioritize self care. Physical stress contributes to burnout and depression because physical stress depletes your energy, so you're already starting 40 yards back, if you will. So it's important to prioritize self care when your nutrition and your sleep are quality, adequate. You know, I'm not saying be a complete health fanatic, but when they are adequate, you're going to feel better. Your brain, when your circadian rhythms are stable because you're sleeping on a regular schedule and getting quality sleep, it helps stabilize your neurotransmitters and your hormones. When you are eating a healthy diet, you're giving your body the building blocks it needs to make the neurotransmitters and the hormones and those sorts of things. And, and if you're eating colorfully, you're giving it the antioxidants which can help reduce inflammation. And we know that stress and depression are both associated with increased inflammation. So if you can help reduce that inflammation, it can also help balance those neurotransmitters none of these are going to help overnight if you are burned out. It's something that has happened over a period of time, and it's important to identify again the things that are contributing to that burnout and what you can do to address them. And also, I know I already said this. What's important in your rich and meaningful life? You know, I. At one point, several months ago, I started getting overwhelmed because things kept breaking around the house and work wasn't going exactly perfect. And I started feeling just completely overwhelmed and just didn't seem like anything I did made a difference. And I was just like, screw it. Now, obviously, thankfully, that attitude only lasted a brief period of time because I stepped back and I said, all right, what is going well in my life right now? And I looked, looked around and I took an inventory. You know, my kids were doing well in school. The animals were relatively healthy. I had a roof over my head. I did have a job. We were all relatively healthy. So I took an inventory of those things that were important. I said, you know what? Even though some things really suck right now, there are a lot of things that are going pretty well that I wasn't noticing. Instead of waiting to be happy until I'll be happy, when it involved an attitude adjustment and me saying, okay, I'm going to be happy now. What can I be happy about now and endure the distress caused by these other things. So that's just one little case study, if you will, about addressing depression.