A biological perspective on differences and similarities between burnout and depression

Biological research on burnout-depression overlap: Long-standing limitations and on-going reflections

“…To conclude, we note that Orosz et al's (2017) findings are in fact consistent with the increasingly-supported view that burnout constitutes a depressive condition and not a distinct entity (Ahola et al, 2014;Bianchi et al, 2015c;Bianchi et al, 2017a;Bianchi et al, 2017b;Wurm et al, 2016). In recent years, empirical evidence for burnoutdepression overlap has accumulated along various lines of research.…”

“…Finally, we question the possibility of identifying a biological signature for burnout in light of global research on burnout-depression overlap. Orosz et al (2017) examined the question of whether burnout can be distinguished from depression based on three indicators, heart rate variability, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and hippocampal volume. The authors did not find conclusive evidence that burnout is biologically distinguishable from depression on these bases and suggested that more integrative research is needed to disentangle burnout from depression.…”

“…Second, biological research on burnout-depression overlap is undermined by the absence of a consensual conceptualization and operationalization of burnout (Bianchi et al, 2015a(Bianchi et al, , 2015bKristensen et al, 2005;Weber and Jaekel-Reinhard, 2000). This problem is obvious in the studies reviewed by Orosz et al (2017), in which burnout was assessed based on a variety of definitions and measures. This heterogeneity makes between-study comparisons difficult and may explain the inconsistencies found by Orosz et al (2017) in the literature dedicated to the biology of burnout.…”

“…This problem is obvious in the studies reviewed by Orosz et al (2017), in which burnout was assessed based on a variety of definitions and measures. This heterogeneity makes between-study comparisons difficult and may explain the inconsistencies found by Orosz et al (2017) in the literature dedicated to the biology of burnout. Interestingly, while burnout has been generally defined as a combination of exhaustion, cynicism, and loss of http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.10.019 Received 11 January 2017; Accepted 22 October 2017 ☆ Our commentary concerns the following article: Orosz, A., Federspiel, A., Haisch, S., Seeher, C., Dierks, T., Cattapan, K., 2017.…”

Personal risk factors associated with burnout among psychotherapists: A systematic review of the literature

“…Several studies indicate that the cluster of symptoms represented by burnout and depression are highly correlated, with the risk of depression increasing with severity of burnout (Ahola et al., ; Ahola et al., ; Bianchi, Boffy, Hingray, Truchot, & Laurent, ). However, burnout and depression may be distinguishable by the predominant symptoms that characterize them (Bakusic, Schaufeli, Claes, & Godderis, ; Kakiashvili, Leszek, & Rutkowski, ; Orosz et al., ), and by their respective associations with life stressors (Nyklicek, & Pop, ; Plieger, Melchers, Montag, Meermann, & Reuter, ). In support of this distinction, a recent study of critical care workers found a relatively modest overlap between depression and burnout, reporting a stronger correlation between burnout and both post‐traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, than with depression (Colville, & Smith, ).…”