[Depression and burnout]

Burnout is not a psychiatric diagnosis but a concept of the occupational psychology concerning the impact of working conditions on the psyche of affected persons. Burnout can be a mediator for clinical depression. Severe burnout fulfills mostly the criteria for an adjustment disorder. The treating physician is supposed to clarify the causes of a burnout. In addition to the causes related to working conditions, the role of certain personality traits should be elucidated. Psychological/psychotherapeutic approaches preferably focus on stress reduction. Empirical evidence for these approaches is rather weak.