Sent in to save a floundering nonprofit, Jim suddenly found himself surrounded by a hostile staff loyal only to the director he’d replaced, a board that blocked his every initiative, and an organizational audit snapping at his heels.
After treading water in this poisoned well for months, he was emotionally drained, fighting one illness after another and in such a deep mental fog that solutions felt impossible. At the end of his tether, Jim called his supervisor, begged to be reassigned, and was then placed on a three-week leave.
A phenomenon once reserved for stress and emotional depletion at work, burnout, no longer stays at the office. Instead of just feeling mentally and physically exhausted by the work we do, we now find ourselves feeling burned out by our very existence. In simple terms, the way we live is stressing us out, affecting not only our ability to cope but also the way we treat those around us.
Always a post, text, or phone call away from stress-inducing stimuli, the only thing we can count on is uncertainty when it comes to the economy, the political climate, and even the weather. Spiraling, we find our energy sapped and our goodwill in short supply, snapping when we should pause to recalibrate. At sea in this maelstrom of stress, it’s no wonder our psychological rope is frayed at both ends, and we’re at risk of becoming just another victim of the burnout epidemic.
In this blog, you’ll learn what burnout is, its causes, whether we’re in an epidemic or not, why we’re feeling more burned out than ever before, as well as strategies you can use to recover.
What does burnout mean?
Although sometimes confused with stress, burnout is a different animal altogether. While stress can involve pressure piled on to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, those who are experiencing it can still see the light at the end of the tunnel, whereas those living with burnout can’t. Burnout is about feeling like you’re running on empty—that you no longer have the bandwidth to find a solution to the challenges you’re facing, and since everything feels hopeless, there’s no reason to try. It makes us feel as if there’s an impenetrable wall between us, the people around us and the things we’re trying to accomplish.
A condition that can cause mayhem for us mentally, burnout also drags physical consequences in its wake. In addition to making us more susceptible to illness, it can give us a tension headache, muscle strain, and disturb our sleep. It makes us short-tempered and hyper-vigilant about imagined catastrophes. Causing us to pull away from others, burnout gives us permission to jettison new responsibilities and turn to mind-altering substances for relief.
Are we really in a burnout epidemic?
Coming up against more stress on the job than ever before, 72% of US employees report that they feel moderate to high levels of stress at work. But since burnout is used to describe everything from the tiredness we feel after a “bad week” to the exhaustion inherent in a variety of life’s pressures, experts warn against claiming epidemic status. They also point out that many of these everyday stressors don’t reach clinical levels and that applying this label to the exhaustion we feel at work may lead us to blame ourselves rather than systemic issues in the workplace, thereby depriving us of the opportunity to change things for the better.
But considering the increase in personal care provision for aging family members, the avalanche of political, economic, and interpersonal stressors we face today, an argument could be made that the bone-jarring fatigue and hopelessness of burnout is no longer just a product of our job but springs from an ever-changing variety of situations and events in our lives, and that its epidemic status will only increase with time.
What are the causes of burnout?
The seeds of burnout flourish in an environment of relentless, unattended stress. We experience it when perfectionist tendencies plague us, or if we have a hard time separating our personal and professional lives.
We’re more likely to face burnout on the job if we say yes when we should say no, if there’s never enough time due to unrealistic deadlines, if we’re micromanaged, or if we don’t have clear guidelines on how tasks should be completed. We might also be struggling with burnout if we work in an environment poisoned by favoritism and a lack of recognition for a job well done.
Feelings of energy-sapping fatigue surface in our personal lives if we don’t give ourselves time to recover after completing difficult tasks; if work dominates our lives to the exclusion of time spent with family and friends; or if we stop doing things that give us pleasure and purpose.
Why do we feel so burned out these days?
The frazzled nerves and overwhelmed psyche we face today are firmly rooted in our need for 24/7 digital connectivity, relentless caregiving duties, out-of-control workloads, and a chronic lack of respite. To better understand the climate of burnout, let’s take a deep dive into the reasons behind it:
- Living in Panic Mode: We’ve trained our emergency response system to remain on high alert whether we need it or not. What used to be triggered by a crisis can now be ignited by an unanswered text or email, flooding our bodies with stress hormones that will eventually leave us feeling exhausted by nothing at all.
- Digital Euphoria: Like pulling the lever on a slot machine, scrolling on our favorite platform gives us tiny hits of endorphins. As a result, we’ve become addicted to digital surfing and drained by mundane tasks like putting together a budget or cooking a meal.
- Working in Our Heads: Even when we’re not in a meeting or doing a crucial errand, our brains are perseverating over the latest scrolled tidbits, waiting for the other shoe to drop, or fretting about the fact that we have to be available 24/7 to succeed—all of which can leave us feeling hopeless and overwhelmed.
- Value Dissonance: When what’s important to us and the reality of what we’re actually doing don’t match, we soon feel stressed and exhausted. These feelings also crop up when our efforts are unappreciated, and things feel out of control.
How to Recover from Burnout
Coming back from burnout is no easy task. It requires not only a reorganization of our priorities but also a new way of looking at things. It’s about taking care of ourselves, learning to say no when we need to and even changing the way we live. It involves not only dealing with exhaustion but also the reasons we feel it in the first place. Here are some strategies to help us combat burnout:
- Hit the Pause Button: Pull back from responsibilities that overwhelm you and regroup. Take a long weekend, a vacation, or even a leave of absence. While you’re at it, unplug from the scrolling, emailing, and texting that have been ruling your life. This will give your brain a chance to reset and recover.
- Set Limits: Guard your energy stores by learning to say no. Build a wall between your work and home life by sticking to a schedule of when you’ll be available for both. Remember, there’s no need to take on extra burdens.
- Take Care of You: If there ever was a time when eating right, getting enough rest, and indulging in regular bouts of exercise was important, this is it. Besides limiting your alcohol intake, try giving yourself little breathers throughout the day, even (or especially) when you’re at work.
- Keep in Touch: We’re much more susceptible to burnout when we try to handle everything ourselves. Let a trusted friend know about the overwhelming exhaustion you’re feeling, and accept the support they can offer. If you still can’t keep your head above water, it’s time to seek professional help.
- Cultivate Joy: Make a list of what overwhelmed you and use it to sort things out and let go. Relink to the things that made you happy pre-burnout and remember what made you feel worthwhile.
Conclusion
Burnout will always lurk at the edges of our existence, whether from emotional and physical exhaustion on the job, personal care responsibilities, digital overexposure, or the political and economic unrest we face daily. But if we take a vacation from the things that harm us, unplug from our digital addictions, separate our professional and personal lives, take care of our minds and bodies, reach out to trusted friends and reconnect to the things that bring us joy, we’ll not only conquer the ravages of burnout but learn to move past it and thrive.
References
Biali, Susan. MD., (2023, February 1). How to Know if You’re Burning Out. Psychologytoday.com. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prescriptions-for-life/202302/how-to-know-if-youre-burning-out
Morin, Amy. LCSW, (2026, April 12). Is Believing You’re Burned Out Burning You Out? Psychologytoday.com. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/202604/is-believing-youre-burned-out-burning-you-out
Charles Davis is an essayist who has written for a variety of academic publications, The Gay & Lesbian Review and The Christian Science Monitor. Mr. Davis also writes a blog on navigating loss and building a new life at: https://gayandgrieving.blog. He was a semifinalist for the 2023 Mason Jar Press 1729 Book Prize in Prose.