According to this psychiatrist, burnout doesn’t actually exist

“The Netherlands is one of the few countries where burnout is diagnosed. In countries like America or France, burnout does not exist as a condition,” he begins to complain, as complaints simply fall under the heading of depression Symptoms that also occur with depression.

Stigma surrounding depression

Burnout is diagnosed more often among those with a scientific education, and depression more often among those with a practical education. “The stigma surrounding depression is great,” says Venkers. “With burnout this is less, perhaps because it has an image that someone held all the balls for a long time and ‘fought the fight.’ But I see a lot of overlap between burnout and depression, both of which can be interpreted as being serious.”

According to Vinkers, burnout is not caused by too much work stress, but by other reasons. “Because of financial concerns, relationship problems, informal care, or worries about the world. Work is not the only cause of stress.”

Stress is normal

The psychiatrist prefers to talk about stress rather than burnout. “Stress is very normal. If you live, you will experience stress. Whether and when stress is severe varies from person to person. We consider burnout separately as a result of ‘being too stressed,’ but almost all mental and physical illnesses are associated with too much stress.” It can make you feel sad or anxious or even become addicted, but physical conditions like obesity, autoimmune complaints, or heart problems also cause a lot of stress.

To address this stress, we don’t have to resort to self-help manuals or other unproven methods. “Unfortunate things happen in life, sometimes we work too hard and get anxious. That’s why I don’t believe in ’10 golden tips against stress’ or other tricks. It’s different for everyone. Then you can do your yoga exercises properly. Keep doing it But if you have relationship problems, yoga will not get rid of stress and if you set very high standards for yourself and run to reduce your stress level, you are not addressing the cause of the problem and you cannot deal with stress. Well, even if we talk about it in a worrying way, It will still be an individual search for the best way to deal with it.