Anxiety or Burnout: which one are you dealing with?
They look the same from the inside. They are not the same thing, and they do not respond to the same approach. Eight questions, written by a DHA-licensed clinical psychologist Sarah EL Nabulsi, M.Sc., M.A.,M.A. in Dubai.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between anxiety and burnout?
Anxiety is a threat response: the body prepares for something that has not happened yet. Burnout is a depletion state: the resources have already been spent. Anxiety tends to speed a person up and burnout tends to slow them down, which is why the same advice rarely works for both. Rest reduces burnout. Rest on its own usually does not reduce anxiety, because the thing keeping it going is not tiredness.
Can you have both at the same time?
Yes, and it is common. Long stretches of untreated anxiety are draining, and depletion makes anxious thinking harder to regulate. When both are present, most people get further by treating whichever one is driving the other, and that becomes clearer once you can see them apart.
Is burnout a mental illness?
Burnout is not classified as a mental disorder. The World Health Organization describes it in ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon, tied to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Anxiety disorders are classified separately, and are diagnosable and treatable.
What happens after I take the assessment?
You get a short read of which pattern your answers point towards, and the option to receive a series of emails explaining what that means and what shifts it. Nothing is stored unless you give an email address.
