Understanding Burnout: Causes, Symptoms, and Strategies for Recovery

Do you find yourself juggling a million and one responsibilities, ranging from work commitments to daily chores?

Does it feel like you are running a marathon or as if you need two pairs of arms to adequately manage all of these tasks?

Of course! These daily pressures can be quite overwhelming. And if they are not managed properly, this can cause burnout, where you feel emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted.

In fact, a research study by Gallup indicated that nearly 76% of employees experience burnout on the job at least sometimes, with 28% saying they feel burned out often or always.

So, let’s delve into what burnout is, its signs and symptoms, and practical strategies to help you recover from and prevent it in the future.

What Is Burnout?

This happens to every single one of us at some point in our lives. You may get caught up in responsibilities and forget to take a step back and focus on your own well-being.

When this happens, burnout can set in.

Burnout is a form of mental, physical, or emotional exhaustion that occurs as a result of prolonged stressful situations.

Over time, burnout can lead to feelings of hopelessness, cynicism, and resentment, which can impact your personal and professional development.

It is particularly common in the workplace or in caregiving settings. But it can also occur in other aspects of life as well.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

If you are feeling chronically overwhelmed, unappreciated, and as if getting any tasks done feels like climbing a mountain, you may be showing the signs of burnout.

These signs and symptoms usually are gradual and may not be noticed at first. Over time, as the symptoms become more pronounced, you may notice:

Physical Symptoms: Chronic fatigue, frequent illnesses, headaches, and changes in sleep or appetite.
Emotional Symptoms: A sense of failure, low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness, cynicism, and emotional detachment.
Behavioural Symptoms: Withdrawing from responsibilities and relationships, procrastination, taking frustrations out on others, reduced performance, and increased cynicism.

Stress Versus Burnout

It’s easy to confuse burnout with general stress because they both look similar. You become overwhelmed with life.

However, while stress typically involves being overwhelmed with too many demands, burnout usually reflects not having enough emotional or physical energy to complete tasks, despite how many tasks you have to take on.

Depression Versus Burnout

Burnout and depression can be difficult to tell apart because they share some common symptoms. In particular, whether you are depressed or burnt out, you may experience fatigue and trouble focusing.

Despite these similarities, burnout and depression are fundamentally different from one another in some key areas.

While burnout is usually related to external stressors, such as work and caregiving responsibilities, depression is usually caused by a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors.

Furthermore, burnout is not a diagnosed medical condition, and it primarily relates to work, school, or other areas of stress. Whereas, depression is a medical condition that can have pervasive impacts on all areas of your life.

Lastly, rest may alleviate the symptoms of burnout, but for most people with depression, it typically requires medical attention, such as medications or therapy.

The Connection Between Neurodivergence and Burnout

Some research suggests that there is a strong link between neurodivergent traits and burnout such that neurodivergent individuals, such as those with ADHD, are more susceptible to burnout.

Autistic burnout, in particular, involves chronic exhaustion and difficulties in skills acquisition due to societal pressures and high expectations. There exists a mismatch between societal expectations and autistic needs, which exacerbates feelings of overwhelm.

Types of Burnout

There are several different types of burnout, and each has its own distinct characteristics, including

Overload Burnout: Often experienced by high achievers who push themselves beyond healthy limits to achieve perfection.
Under-challenged Burnout: Occurs when individuals feel bored, unappreciated, or don’t feel challenged enough within their workplace or other aspects of life.
Neglect Burnout: Linked to feelings of helplessness and incompetence. You feel as if you are not good enough and believe you can’t keep up with responsibilities, which is often associated with imposter syndrome.
Habitual Burnout: The most severe form, characterized by chronic fatigue and sadness. If this occurs for too long, it risks depression.

Stages of Burnout

Burnout occurs through gradual stages. According to two psychologists, Gail North and Herbert Freudenberger, there are 12 stages of burnout, which include

Providing Yourself Phase: In this initial phase, you feel committed to reaching your goals, and you have a strong desire to continue to perform well. This may lead to perfectionism because you fear failing to meet demands.
Pushing Yourself: You start to push yourself even harder to do everything yourself. This involves taking on more responsibilities, and you push yourself to complete these tasks quickly.
Needs Start to Get Neglected: During these stages, the stress of work and responsibilities feels normal. You start to neglect other areas of your life, including self-care.
Interpersonal Conflicts: Your neglect for your personal responsibilities starts to create tension at home and with your co-workers, friends, and families. This may even lead to sleep disturbances, physical complaints, and forgetfulness, which can impact your relationships further.
Revising Values: You may start to shift your perspective on responsibilities and become insensitive to your relationships. Your personal goals may come above your relationships.
Denial: You become cynical and bitter, and this leads you to isolate yourself from others. Irritability, impatience, and intolerance may set in.
Withdrawal: Interacting with others starts to become tiring and burdensome. Criticism may trigger anger and cause you to self-medicate.
Behavioural Changes: A sense of apathy starts to emerge. You start to feel as if nothing matters, and you avoid additional responsibilities and disengage from activities you once enjoyed.
Depersonalization: You start to feel disconnected from your identity outside of work and see yourself as someone who fulfills work responsibilities. You lose the meaning of your personal health and needs.
Feeling Empty: Chronic exhaustion and anxiety increase a sense of panic increase, which may further deepen your feelings of despair.
Despair: At this stage, you start to experience self-hatred and depressive symptoms, such as hopelessness and suicidal ideation.
Total Burnout: In the final phase you are now in a complete state of mental and emotional collapse, which requires intervention to address these severe burnout symptoms.

Recognizing these stages is crucial to understanding where you are currently at and addressing early stages of burnout before it escalates to the final stage.

Causes for Burnout

The term burnout is typically applied when thinking about work-related exhaustion.

But over time, the definition of burnout has expanded to include any situation that relates to prolonged, chronic exhaustion.

Several factors can contribute to your development of burnout, including:

Work-related Factors: Lack of control over one’s work, unfair treatment, excessive demands, too much work, unclear job expectations, and monotonous tasks.
Lifestyle Factors: Insufficient downtime, lack of sleep, unmanageable responsibilities, and lack of supportive relationships.
Personality Traits: Perfectionism, people-pleasing, a need for control, and a pessimistic worldview.

Strategies for Burnout

Burnout Prevention

Since burnout can have a profound impact on your daily life, it is important to address how to prevent it in the first place. Here are some strategies for the prevention of burnout:

Spend Time With Other People: One of the most effective strategies for working to prevent burnout is to lean on your support system. Maintaining social contact and spending time with others helps you maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Set Boundaries: Learn to say no and manage your commitments to avoid overextending yourself.
fFind meaning in your responsibilities, identifying their relevance to your life goals.
Practice Self-Care: Make time for physical activity, healthy eating, socializing, and hobbies.
Get Enough Sleep: A lack of sleep is related to a reduction in focus, cognition, and energy levels. Make sure you are getting enough sleep to maintain optimal energy, focus, and cognition levels.
Take Breaks: Regular breaks throughout your workday can help prevent exhaustion.
Limit Technology Use: Disconnect daily to recharge, enhancing your focus and relaxation.

Burnout Recovery

Once you have identified the signs of burnout, it is important to address the root cause of it. Here are some strategies to support you:

Acknowledge the Problem: Recognizing burnout is the first step toward healing.
Prioritize Health: Focus on sleep, nutrition, and exercise to support overall well-being.
Seek Help: Utilize support networks, speak with colleagues or family, or consider professional therapy.
Reflect on What Went Wrong: Understand the circumstances that led to your burnout and make necessary changes.
Take Time Off: If possible, remove yourself from stressors to give your body and mind a chance to heal.
Reframe Your Mindset: Try to look at mundane tasks differently. Look into how your role in these mundane tasks still helps others. Remember, there is meaning behind every task.
Reevaluate Your Priorities: Burnout is a sign that you are neglecting your own needs and the things that are important to you. Take time to reflect on what you can change to allow you to take greater care of your personal priorities.
Set Boundaries: Do you have too much on your plate? Try to practice saying no to others.
Get Creative: Creativity is a powerful way of relieving burnout. Set aside some time for a fun project or some artwork.
Exercise: Exercise is an important way to boost your dopamine levels, which is the feel-good chemical. It helps with improving your energy levels, resulting in more energy and reducing your burnout symptoms.

Book a Free Consultation With Bee Kind Counselling

Are you currently feeling , mentally, physically, or emotionally exhausted? Do you feel as if you can’t get tasks done, no matter how much you try?

Bee Kind Counselling is well positioned to support you with their team of therapists in Ontario, Canada.

You can book a free 15-minute consultation with a Canadian therapist for burnout by emailing admin@beekindcounselling.com, calling 519-757-7842 ext. 1, or booking through the website below.