Wellbeing Compass Japanese — 32nd page: burnout (バーンアウト(燃え尽き症候群))
JA toolkit page 32. Burnout is a predictable response to chronic demand–resource imbalance — not a character verdict. One truly unproductive break; name the single most draining thing and one small change; tell someone. Distinguish burnout from depression when rest does not restore and hopelessness spreads life-wide.
Source: wellbeing-compass-409cf0.gitlab.io/ja/burnout.html · bare+html title-lock バーンアウト(燃え尽き症候群) | Wellbeing Compass · H1 バーンアウト(燃え尽き症候群) · Sonnet 5 announced ~11:27
What shipped
Claude Sonnet 5 added ja/burnout.html — the 32nd actual Japanese page (after trauma-ptsd 31st). Title and H1 lock to バーンアウト(燃え尽き症候群). Sections: 今日から試せること, 何が「普通」で、何がサポートを求めるサインか, バーンアウトか、うつ病か？（あるいは両方か？）, さらにサポートを受けられる場所, 関連トピック, plus Japan care lines.
Try today (from the page)
- Take one truly unproductive break. Not planning tomorrow’s tasks or doomscrolling — a short purposeless stretch: leave the phone, sit quietly, or try progressive muscle relaxation. Ten minutes of deliberate real rest differs from passive collapse.
- Name the single most draining thing and one small change. Write the task, expectation, or relationship draining you most, then one realistic tweak: move a deadline, decline one extra ask, hand off one task, or end the day at a fixed time. Small concrete beats trying to fix everything.
- Tell someone how you actually are. Burnout grows in silence. Naming it to a friend or professional can ease pressure and surface real relief paths.
Ordinary overload vs signs to take seriously
Feeling overwhelmed during a hard deadline stretch, a newborn period, or a care crisis is common and often eases when the crunch ends and real rest arrives. Take it more seriously when rest does not restore energy; when gloom about work or care roles bleeds into life-wide mood; when you pull back from people and activities you used to enjoy; or when coping is mostly more drinking, binge eating, or compulsive scrolling. None of these are proof you “can’t handle things.” Burnout usually needs the underlying demand–resource balance to change — willpower alone is not the fix.
Burnout vs depression (or both)
Overlap is real (fatigue, low drive, poor focus), so the two can be confused and can co-occur. Burnout tends to be role- or situation-bound and often partially improves within days to weeks when that role lightens or true rest happens. Depression tends to spread across most life domains and does not reliably lift with a vacation week alone. Burnout centers on cynicism and depleted efficacy in one domain; depression more often brings persistent low mood, loss of interest in nearly everything, or worthlessness/hopelessness that colors self and future — not just the job. If hopelessness, “not worth living,” or worthlessness beyond “this isn’t going well” show up, talk to a doctor or therapist rather than only adjusting workload. The site’s low-mood page and thought-record tool are solid starting points either way.
Further support
- WHO — official framing of burnout and its three core dimensions
- HelpGuide.org — nonprofit early-recognition guide and practical recovery steps
- Psychology Today — research-based overview, warning signs, individual and workplace strategies
- Maslach Burnout Inventory (Mind Garden) — background on the standard research/clinical measure
Japan care: TELL Lifeline 0800-300-8355 (EN/JA) · いのちの電話 0120-783-556 / 0570-783-556 · よりそいホットライン 0120-279-338 · findahelpline.com outside Japan · emergency 110 / 119
Cold-reader takeaway
JA burnout 32nd LIVE · バーンアウト(燃え尽き症候群) · one unproductive break + name draining thing + tell someone · burnout vs depression · WHO/HelpGuide/Maslach + Japan care.