What Is Burnout? Signs, Causes, and How to Recover
Burnout is more than feeling tired after a busy week. It is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that can develop when stress becomes chronic, and recovery feels impossible. Many people experiencing burnout find themselves overwhelmed, emotionally drained, disconnected from things they once enjoyed, and unable to recharge even when they take time off.
In this article, we'll explore the signs of burnout, common causes, and practical steps that can help you begin recovering and feeling more like yourself again.
Your alarm clock buzzes, and you feel it: the creeping sense of dread. You don’t want to get up. Thinking about work makes you want to cry, but you force yourself to go in anyway. At work, everything feels overwhelming.
For many women, workplace pressures, caregiving responsibilities, and unrealistic expectations can all contribute to chronic stress and eventual burnout.
Every small demand feels like it's tipping you over the edge. You wonder if you're just tired; after all, you haven’t been sleeping well. You feel like you need a vacation, but days off are far from relaxing.
Instead, you spend your time thinking about all of the things you could be doing, or you catch up on all the tasks around the house that you have been ignoring because of work. On Monday, you feel more exhausted, not less. It’s a cycle that you can’t seem to get out of. You start to wonder if this is more than just needing a break. You ask, “Am I in burnout?”
What Is Burnout?
Burnout is the exhausted feeling that comes from being stuck in fight, flight, or freeze over a long period of time. To explain more about burnout, we have to go a little deeper into how your body handles stress. Your body doesn’t know the difference between being stressed and being chased by a bear who wants to eat you, so it gives you enough stress chemicals to run from the bear. You do everything quickly, answering phone calls and typing emails at the speed of light. You are everywhere as your body tries to avoid the invisible bear. You are on red alert.
In the short term, this urgency might feel productive. You are busy and on the move, but when your body prioritizes the invisible bear, systems in your body that let you rest, relax, and process information shut down. You learn less effectively, solve problems less effectively, and might be more emotionally reactive. These are only a few of the signs and signals that you might be stuck in burnout.
Common Signs of Burnout
Burnout can show up in different ways, and the signs are not always obvious at first. Many people assume they are simply tired, need a vacation, or are going through a stressful period. However, when stress becomes chronic, the symptoms can start affecting your mood, energy levels, motivation, and ability to enjoy everyday life.
Some common signs of burnout include:
Feeling grumpy or irritable often
Feeling exhausted with no clear cause
Rest leaves you feeling more stressed
Feeling like you can’t enjoy anything
Feeling apathetic toward things you usually enjoy
Feeling a sense of dread before work
Feeling increased anxiety
You might also feel like everything is overwhelming, almost like you’re carrying a stack of plates that is about to fall over. Every little thing is just added onto the pile of stress, and you end up feeling the need to play catch-up and do tasks at lightning speed, or collapse on the couch and do nothing. Burnout is different from momentary stress.
If we are stressed, we deal with the stressful situation, we relax, and we recover. But in burnout, our system gets stuck in the "on" position. Stress hormones keep flooding us, and then our body experiences a crash. This cycle is more than just stress; it’s chronic overload that makes it difficult to get things done or enjoy life.
What Causes Burnout?
Ok, so what are the causes of burnout? Well, that is actually a little difficult to answer. Burnout can be caused by different things depending on how a person reacts to stress. For example, some people might find working in a fast-paced restaurant challenging and rewarding, while others might find that the stress stays with them long after their shift. There are some things that can cause a higher rate of burnout no matter the person, though, so let's explore those.
Negative self-talk. It sounds silly, but think about that negative little voice in your brain. The one that knows all of your insecurities and exactly how to get under your skin. Now imagine that you are trying to accomplish some work at your desk. All the while, your brain is flinging insults about how you aren’t good enough, or how you will probably get fired. You don’t feel motivated; you feel tense. You restart the project from the beginning and end up working late.
Perfectionism. You feel like you need to do everything perfectly all of the time. You give 200 percent, and your work gets praised, but behind the scenes, you are doing double the work that you need to be doing. You are going home late and skipping lunch to make sure everything is perfect.
Lack of rest. I hear you saying that you take time for yourself. After all, didn’t you binge that entire season of Bridgerton last week when you were supposed to be cleaning your house? Rest doesn’t feel restful, and you would much rather knock off another task from your to-do list, but the truth is you're treating rest like a reward instead of something necessary. When you do rest, you spend the time thinking about all of the things that you're avoiding. You haven’t made progress on any of those things, and you haven’t enjoyed your leisure time. No wonder you feel exhausted.
These are only a few of the common causes of burnout. There are so many others. In fact, it is important to talk to a therapist and explore all of the factors that contribute to the burnout you are experiencing.
How to Recover From Burnout
The first step is getting out of fight or flight. If your body thinks you are being chased through the woods by a task-obsessed bear, you’ll never be able to relax. Your body needs to know that you are safe, and I get that this is easier said than done.
A therapist can help you unpack why you feel like you have to be perfect. They can help you work on thoughts that are just heaping shame onto the symptoms that you are already feeling, and they can help you explore the patterns that have kept you stuck in the cycle of fight or flight and then exhaustion.
You are not alone in experiencing burnout, and the good news is that getting out of burnout will allow you to enjoy life more and maybe be better at work and at home. When your system is able to relax, you might find that you think through things more clearly.
If you're struggling with chronic stress, exhaustion, or the signs of burnout described in this article, support is available. Learn more about our burnout and work stress therapy services or schedule a consultation to explore what healing and recovery could look like for you.
Source: The Simple Guide to Emotional Regulation by Jenna Free