If You're Feeling Burned Out, You Could Have A Way More Serious Health Issue

Work stress is just a part of life, right? Sure, responding to emails from your boss at 3 am isn't exactly pleasant, but everyone does it. You don't want to come off as a slacker.

But according to a new study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, suffering from burnout isn't all that different from suffering from depression -- which is a pretty scary concept, if you ask me.

For the study, researchers gave 1,386 teachers, who were generally in their 40s and from 18 different states, questionnaires on burnout and depression, and then they ranked their answers on a scale of mild to severe.

Then, they tested the teachers on depressive traits: Were they pessimistic? Did they blame themselves a lot? Did they fixate on problems and set impossibly high standards for themselves?

Of the study participants, 10 percent of women and 7 percent of men suffered from burnout symptoms, and 10 percent of men and 10 percent of women seemed to suffer from depression.

And here's where it gets really interesting. People who were burned out were also depressed.

Yikes.

If you have a feeling you're burned out (or at least on your way there), start taking action now. Seek support, set boundaries, adjust your attitude and make sure you're getting enough sleep and exercise.

Also, please stop checking your email at 3 am. It's seriously killing your vibe.

Citations: You Call It Burnout. These Scientists Might Call It Depression. (New York magazine)