In this post, you will learn the signs and symptoms of burnout. Here’s what will be covered:
A quick recap of the definition of burnout
How and why burnout is not considered to be a mental health, or medical problem
An explanation of how your stress hormones change in burnout- and how this can cause signs and symptoms
An outline of the physical symptoms of burnout
An outline of the emotional and mental symptoms of burnout
How and why chronic stress leads to some shocking long-term health complications in burnout*
How to help a family member that you think might be burning out, based on their signs and symptoms.
*TRIGGER WARNING
If you are feeling massively burned out right now, then learning about how burnout affects your health might not be helpful for you. Be kind to yourself if you’re unsure. Feel free to come back to this at another time when you have a little more capacity. Please know that the health risks that burnout cause can be reversed with recovery. What burnout does to your brain and body is TEMPORARY.
In part one of the burnout basics series, you will have learned the definition of burnout. You will also have learned how it is different from simple stress. If you missed the article, you can recap it here, but alternatively, let’s quickly touch on the World Health Organization definition of burnout.
Let’s get started!
The definition of burnout
Burnout syndrome was first described in the 1970s by psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, who worked with stressed healthcare workers in a free HIV/AIDs clinic in New York. What they saw was different from other stress-related problems that had previously been defined. It was a very stressful experience to work in this type of clinic, at this particular point of history. But what was unique about what was happening to these workers was that their stress was causing them to become unwell for a long period. Worse, their recovery was more complex and difficult than expected.
Although burnout was first recognized back in the 1970s, the World Health Organization didn’t officially recognize it, or define it, until 2019.
They describe burnout as, ‘an occupational phenomenon that arises as a result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.’
The World Health Organisation identifies three parts to burnout:
- Depersonalization: The cynicism, apathy, or lack of caring that develops with burnout.
- Emotional exhaustion: The physical and emotional fatigue of caring for too much for too long.
- Reduced performance at work.
You must have all three of the above components and have been under intense stress at work for a prolonged period of time, to have burnout syndrome.
One thing to note about the definition is that burnout is not considered to be a medical condition. It’s also not considered to be part of the wider group of mental health conditions, which include depression and anxiety.
This is because burnout develops as a result of work-related stress. The World Health Organization believes that burnout is the body’s normal response to chronic fatigue, long-term stress, and working a stressful job. It’s a gradual process that causes mental exhaustion and physical exhaustion- but it happens because of work stress.
How the signs and symptoms of burnout are linked to your body’s response to chronic stress
When you get stressed and your brain detects a threat, your body produces adrenaline and cortisol. This stress hormone response is designed to deal with immediate and short-term threats by going into “fight or flight” mode.
‘Fight or flight’ mode has evolved to help protect from physical threats, such as a lion appearing on the horizon. But, in the modern world, your stress response tends to be activated more frequently by perceived or emotional threats (such as doing a presentation or opening an email) rather than physical threats. This might mean that by simply walking into your office, your ‘fight or flight’ mode could be activated, causing your heart to start pounding and a feeling of overwhelm. Your body’s stress response is the same because it does not know the difference between a physical and a perceived threat.
If your stress is short-lived and not too intense, then a little bit of adrenaline and cortisol can be helpful for performance and productivity at work.
The stress response curve (or Yerkes-Dodson Law), illustrates the relationship between stress levels and performance nicely. According to this model, as stress increases, performance initially improves—but only up to a certain point.
Here’s how to interpret the stress-response curve to better understand the signs and symptoms of burnout:
- Low stress: When stress is too low, we often feel unmotivated or bored. There’s no sense of urgency, so it’s hard to engage fully with tasks. This is the left side of the curve, where performance can stagnate.
- Moderate stress (The Optimal Zone): With a moderate level of stress, our body releases cortisol and adrenaline, which can increase alertness, focus, and motivation. In this “sweet spot,” we’re energized, driven, and working at peak productivity. This moderate level of stress pushes us just enough to stay engaged, set priorities, and work efficiently without feeling overwhelmed.
- High stress: When stress levels exceed the optimal point, performance starts to decline. High stress causes fatigue, anxiety, and eventually burnout, placing us on the right side of the curve. Here, stress is no longer helpful; it inhibits productivity and can negatively affect both mental and physical health.
A graphic illustrating the stress response curve.
- Low stress (left side): This leads to lower performance due to a lack of motivation or urgency.
- Optimal zone (center): Moderate stress enhances focus, motivation, and productivity, leading to peak performance.
- High stress (right side): As stress continues to rise, performance drops off, often resulting in fatigue, anxiety, and burnout.
This curve visually demonstrates why a balanced level of stress can be beneficial while too much stress has the opposite effect on performance.
In burnout, your stress hormones stop being the helpful, short-term response to a threat that they are designed for. Instead, this chronic activation of ‘fight or flight’ makes the body’s response to stress change from being potentially helpful to unhelpful and harmful.
Your body’s response to long-term stress is what causes the signs and symptoms of burnout that you experience.
In the early stages, these symptoms might start as being reactive to work. But eventually, it will affect all areas of your life, including your personal life. It will deeply affect your physical health, as well as your emotional health.
Signs and symptoms of burnout: physical symptoms
Burnout is a surprisingly physical thing to go through, so let’s share the physical symptoms you might experience:
- Chest pain
- Heart palpitations
- Stomach pain
- Bloating
- Shortness of breath
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Increased minor illnesses and reduced immunity
- Poor sleep
- Physical fatigue
- Appetite changes
- Muscle tension and pain
- High Blood pressure
- Lack of energy
- Irregular periods
- Very low or high libido
Everyone experiences their physical burnout symptoms differently. For instance, if you are a working mom, then you’re likely to have problems with good sleep and fatigue already. And, if you were to see your doctor, they would not likely find an underlying medical cause for these symptoms. This is because these physical symptoms are caused by long-term stressful situations and your stress hormones, rather than a problem with the body itself.
Burnout fact:
The most commonly experienced physical symptom of burnout is muscle pain.
Signs and symptoms of burnout: mental symptoms
Here are some of the emotional symptoms of burnout. These include:
- Not getting enough sleep (can also be a physical symptom)
- Low mood
- Anxiety
- Worry
- Feelings of guilt
- Mild forgetfulness/memory problems
- Lack of focus
- Intrusive thoughts
- Cynicism
- Detachment
- Irritability
- Anger outbursts
- Guilt
- Decision fatigue
- Difficulty problem solving
Signs and symptoms of burnout fact:
One of the hallmark emotional symptoms of burnout is something called emotional dysregulation. This is when you find yourself flying off the handle and overreacting to minor things. Things that, before your burnout, you would have managed easily and calmly. This might look or feel like anger outbursts, irritability, or bursting into tears over small things. For instance, you could find yourself snapping at your kids, or your partner, when previously you wouldn’t have done.
If you read my previous blog about the definition of burnout, you’ll already know that burnout is not considered to be a medical or mental health problem. But, when you look at the list of problems it causes, and what it feels like to experience, it very much looks and feels like one!
The key to remember here is that burnout is reactive to the environment that you are in. So, when you leave the environment, or if you are able to make significant enough changes to it, then you will get better. If you are experiencing burnout, then this can feel like a huge mountain to climb, you will get there.
The shocking health consequences of burnout
Burnout feels like an incredibly difficult thing to experience. But, not only is it a difficult thing to experience, scientists have proven that burnout causes a significantly increased risk of the following (deep breath!):
- Type 2 Diabetes
- High Cholesterol
- Heart Disease
- Musculoskeletal pain
- Respiratory infections
- Stomach problems
- Severe injuries
- Increased risk of death from any cause under age 45
People with high burnout scores have a whopping 79% increased risk of heart disease over 3 years with burnout!
The most shocking health consequence of burnout is that it increases the risk of dying from any cause if you are under the age of 45. Put simply, you’re more likely to die young with burnout.
As you can see, burnout really is so much more than simple stress and the consequences are potentially very serious!
But, how does burnout cause this?
The science of health complications and early risk of dying with burnout
Here’s the science part! When you burn out, you develop physical and emotional symptoms because of a rise in your stress hormones. Initially, stress hormones rise, but over time, they fall. This drop, in the context of ongoing stress, triggers low-grade inflammation throughout the body. This is just one of the ways that burnout increases the risk of health problems. It also helps to explain why you’re more likely to die young with it too.
But there’s more to it than that. Burnout also causes health problems by causing problems with sleep, reduced immunity, and changes to how your blood clots (this is important because this affects your heart health). It is also thought that the negative impact of burnout on health behaviors also contributes. You’re more likely to smoke, eat poorly, drink more alcohol, and do less exercise when you’re burnt out because you’re just not going to have the energy or motivation.
What if you are worried that a family member, or loved one, is burning out?
One of the key things about burnout is that even though the signs and symptoms are significant, they might not be realized by the person who is burning out until they hit physical and emotional collapse.
However, the changes to the burnt-out person’s behavior and mood will be obvious to their loved ones before they collapse. Therefore, if you notice any of the common signs outlined above in this post, then you have a great opportunity to help your family member before they end up experiencing long-term burnout.
But- they are likely to deny the problems, even if they are showing a lot of the warning signs of workplace burnout, and you can see that they are high risk.
In this instance, a good start is just to open the lines of communication with the person that you think is likely to experience burnout. The first step might be to simply ask how they are dong, and then see where the conversation goes. Ensure that you give them the space to open up, without judgment. If they do realize that they’re burnt out, please sign post them to professional help.
The good news!
The good news is that with recovery all of these symptoms and health risks can be reversed.
It can feel very difficult if you are experiencing burnout to have hope about recovery because recovery is a long and tough road- but you will get there.
REFERENCES:
Salvagioni, D. A. G., et al. ‘Physical, Psychological and Occupational Consequences of Job Burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies’, PLoS One, 12(10) (4 Oct 2017), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185781