Stressed, Depressed, or Burned Out? The Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore (Data Saturday Oslo 2023)

depressed?
Burned Out?
The Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore
by Cathrine Wilhelmsen

© 2023 Cathrine Wilhelmsen (hi@cathrinew.net)
This session mentions self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide.
If you need help, please reach out to a professional.
🤍

Session Description
We all experience stress in our lives.
When the stress is time-limited and
manageable, it can be positive and
productive. This kind of stress can
help you get things done and lead to
personal growth. However, when the
stress stretches out over longer
periods of time and we are unable to
manage it, it can be negative and
debilitating. This kind of stress can
affect your mental health as well as
your physical health, and increase the
risk of depression and burnout.
The tricky part is that both
depression and burnout can hit you
hard without the warning signs you
might recognize from stress. Where
stress barges through your door and
yells "hey, it's me!", depression and
burnout can silently sneak in and
gradually make adjustments until
one day you turn around and see
them smiling while realizing that you
no longer recognize your house. I
know, because I've dealt with both.
And when I thought I had kicked
them out, they both came back for
new visits.
I don't have the Answers™️ or
Solutions™️ to how to keep them away
forever. But in hindsight, there were
plenty of warning signs I missed,
ignored, or was oblivious to at the
time. In this deeply personal session,
I will share my story of dealing with
both depression and burnout. What
were the warning signs? Why did I
miss them? Could I have done
something differently? And most
importantly, what can I - and you - do
to help ourselves or our loved ones if
we notice that something is not quite
right?

@cathrinew
cathrinew.net

Migraines
Sleep Problems
Extended sick leave
due to burnout
Diagnosed with
clinical depression

I don’t have the Answers™️ or Solutions™️
…but I can share my story

🤔
Recognition
🥰
Understanding
❤️‍🩹
Treatment
💡
Awareness

Have you ever been stressed?

👩🏼‍💻
Work
💸
Finances
💊
Health
👨🏼‍👩🏾
‍👧🏽 ‍👦🏼
Family
🏆
Expectations
🤳
Perfectionism
👎
Pessimism
💔
Insecurity

What does stress feel like?
🚨 🫀 💥
Mentally? Physically? Emotionally?

What is stress?
Your mind responding to:
• Being under pressure
• Getting overwhelmed
• Having difficulties coping
Your body reacting to:
• Changes
• Challenges
• Threats

What happens when you get stressed?
Brain yells red alert, and organs ready shields and weapons:
• Hormones like adrenaline and cortisol get released
• Heart rate goes up
• Breathing becomes faster
• Muscles tense and tighten
• Digestive system slows down

Stress triggers your fight-or-flight response
When you get stressed, you instinctively prepare to:
Fight: Confront the situation
Flight: Run away from the situation
Freeze: Stay still to avoid a situation

Your body is literally trying to
keep you alive
This is great when you’re on a
quest to slay dragons!
But every day is not a
life-or-death adventure…

🙅‍♀️
Learn to
say “no”
📵
Disconnect
regularly
🤍
Reach out
for support
😃😄
Spend time
with friends
🌞
Go outside
😴
Get enough rest
🥗
Eat healthy
💃
Move your body

Just breathe

1. Sit up straight, shoulders down, unclench your jaw
2. Breathe in through the nose into your belly for 4-6 seconds
3. Hold your breath (but don’t hold in your belly!) for 4-6 seconds
4. Breathe slowly out through the mouth for 8-12 seconds
5. Repeat

Don’t let your stress…

…start to feel normal

Burnout

Warning signs of stress turning into burnout
anxiousness, irritability, anger, restlessness
insomnia, aches, weight loss/gain, low energy, acne
memory glitches, lack of focus, poor judgement
reduced activity, self-isolation, substance abuse

What is burnout?
Physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion
No longer able to function normally because of:
• Chronic stress
• Poor work-life balance
• Long-term emotional drain

Burnout is not something you just
feel for a day or two
Your mind and body basically
shuts down

Why do you burn out?
You feel overworked:
• Overwhelmed
• Long hours
• Little downtime
• Too many responsibilities
You feel undervalued:
• Understimulated
• Treated unfairly
• Lack of meaningful work
• No control over own tasks

What are the warning signs of burnout?
In addition to chronic stress:
• Unable to focus and complete tasks because of brain fog
• Working long hours to make up for it
• Getting sick during weekends and vacations
• Becoming cynical and passive-aggressive
• Feeling angry and resentful

How do you prevent burnout?
Sometimes requires lifestyle changes:
• Understand how you feel stress and how to manage it
• Schedule and take regular time off
• Cut back on activities and responsibilities
• Learn to say no

How do you recover from burnout?
If you are burned out, recovery will be difficult and take time:
• Identify and change underlying issues
• Go on sick leave
• Get a new role
• Start a new job

Hi, I’m Cathrine,
I’ve burned out twice…

2016 vs. 2020
Overworked vs. Undervalued

depression

How do you imagine
a depressed person?

Depression is an illness
It is not a mood, feeling, or choice!

Depression makes you believe
you are worthless
You see no hope for the future
You don’t necessarily want to
die, you just don’t want to live

How is burnout and depression different?
Burnout:
• Response to a situation
• You feel drained
• You stop caring
• You have no motivation
Depression:
• Intrusive internal beliefs
• You feel hopeless
• You believe you are worthless
• You don’t want to live

What does depression feel like?

How do you treat depression?
When you are depressed, three things will help you the most:
• Time
• Therapy
• Medication

Hi, I’m Cathrine
I have chronic depression…

How to be unhelpful:
Toxic Positivity

How to be helpful:
Be There

You are allowed to feel the way you do even if:
• You have it better than someone else
• Your challenges are not as difficult as someone else’s
Another person’s struggles does not invalidate your own

You are not lazy…

…you are surviving 🤍

Thank you so much!
hi@cathrinew.net
@cathrinew
cathrinew.net

Stressed, Depressed, or Burned Out? The Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore (Data Saturday Oslo 2023)

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