What Is Burnout? Signs, Causes and How to Deal With It

Burnout happens when ongoing stress leaves you exhausted: emotionally, physically, and mentally. It can happen when you’re trying to handle too many things (work, school, parenting, caregiving, or other duties etc.). After a while, you may feel drained, disconnected and overwhelmed and experience mental tiredness.

What Is Burnout?

According to WHO and ICD-11 ,burn-out is defined as follows:

Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
• increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
• reduced professional efficacy.

Herein the emphasis is on occupational burnout and it is not classified as a medical condition, rather is seen as a syndrome.

Do You Have Burnout? A Quick Self-Check

• There is a feeling of energy depletion or exhaustion.
• There is an increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job and
• Professional efficacy is reduced.

Burnout vs Depression

Many of the signs of burnout are similar to signs of depression, but they aren’t quite the same.

• Burnout is usually tied to specific roles or responsibilities and can improve with rest or reduced demands.
• Depression affects all areas of life and doesn’t go away just by taking a break.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

Emotional Signs and Emotional Exhaustion

Some of the first changes that you’ll notice if you’re on the road to burnout are emotional in nature. You may have a growing sense of failure or hopelessness. You may begin to doubt yourself or lose your sense of self-worth. There may be moments when you feel trapped in your own body. Conversely, you may feel detached, as if you are watching a movie of your life rather than living it. You’ll likely find yourself thinking pessimistically and wondering whether things will ever get better. As time goes on, you’ll find your motivation sapped and even when things go well, you’ll find yourself focusing solely on what could have been better.

• and Cognitive Signs

  You may feel self-doubt, helplessness, defeat, and failure. You may feel that you are on your own, lose your sense of purpose, and feel increasingly cynical, dissatisfied, and incapable.

• Physical Signs

  In addition to emotional damage, burnout can also create serious physical problems for you. It often begins with a sense of weariness. You’ll find that even after a good night sleep, you still feel tired. One of the reasons for this is that burnout will often cause your sleeping and eating patterns to change. You’ll go from being a morning person to a night out or vice versa. You may not be able to sleep at all. And you may find that you either want to eat more often than normal or you completely lose your appetite. Beyond that, you may find that you’re experiencing more frequent headaches or even muscle pain. And as time goes on, your decreased immunity can lead you into more frequent bouts with sickness.

As time goes on, you’ll likely find an increase in these physical symptoms if you are experiencing burnout. As your body begins to be affected by the stress, your behavior and attitudes will likely change as well.

Behavioral and Work-Related Signs

Burnout can happen when the work pressure becomes unmanageable and causes a prolonged stressful condition, it can look like compassion fatigue along with physical fatigue or increased cynicism along with reduced professional efficacy are all indicators of burnout.

Compassion Fatigue

Compassion fatigue specifically results from empathic engagement with suffering. It emerges from the cost of caring, the secondary traumatic stress that comes from bearing witness to pain, crisis, and trauma over time.

Compassion fatigue can occur alongside burnout and often does. But a therapist working reasonable hours with deeply traumatized clients can develop compassion fatigue without burning out from workload; a data analyst working 80-hour weeks can burn out without compassion fatigue.

The distinction matters for treatment: burnout requires systemic changes to work conditions; compassion fatigue requires attention to the emotional and relational nature of the work.

Cynicism and Reduced Professional Efficacy

Increased cynicism or dark humor with your colleagues or clients is also an indication of compassion fatigue. The person may withdraw from colleagues, friends and family for example: cancelling prior made plans. They may neglect their own physical and emotional needs and forget to eat or address their issues. They can have difficulty being present fully in the moment leading to more errors in judgement.

Causes and Risk Factors of Burnout

Work-related causes

• Unmanageable workloads
• Unfair treatment at work
• Confusing work responsibilities
• Lack of communication or support from managers
• Immense deadline pressure
• Too much work, not enough time to rest (downtime)
• A feeling that work or life is out of your control
• Feeling unrecognized or unrewarded
• Work or responsibilities that feel too demanding
• Boring or routine work, or chaotic or high-stress work
• Taking on too much without asking for help

They may not even realize burnout is happening and keep working like this until their relationships and personal life starts getting affected or someone may notice that they’re struggling and help them reflect.

Personal and lifestyle factors

• Few supportive or meaningful relationships
• Personality traits such as perfectionism, pessimism and a need for control
• Lack of sleep

Higher-risk groups

In a survey, by a career transformation US based company, conducted by self-selected group of 29,333 career assessment takers (February - November 2026), 48% selected burnout as a current pain. It ranks first among reported pains in 11 of 13 professions we track.

Caregiver burnout is very common. Studies show that more than 60% of caregivers experience symptoms of burnout.

The role of a caregiver could include:

• Helping with a daily routine like toileting, bathing, getting dressed or brushing hair.
• Preparing meals.
• Completing housework.
• Medication management.
• Managing finances.
• Transportation.
• Monitoring health.
• Advocating and communicating their needs with healthcare providers or agencies, etc.

Caregiver burnout can affect your ability to care for yourself and the person within your care. Caregiving for long periods of time can especially increase the risk of burnout and vulnerability to physical and mental health conditions.

Stages of Burnout

Burnout develops over time, and it's hard to realize at first. Two psychologists, Gail North and Herbert Freudenberger, came up with 12 stages of burnout.

1. An urgent need to prove yourself. In this earliest phase of burnout, you want to do well to the point of perfectionism for fear of not fulfilling demands.
2. Working harder. You feel the need to do everything yourself and complete tasks as soon as possible.
3. Neglecting your needs. You think the stress of work or activities, such as caregiving, is normal. You neglect your social life and look down on others who pursue one. You begin to make small mistakes.

4. More interpersonal conflicts. You have conflicts with co-workers, friends, or your partner. You don't sleep well, have other physical complaints, or become forgetful.
5. Revision of values. You see things differently and begin to seem insensitive to others around you. Friends and family become secondary to your goals.
6. Denial. Bitterness and cynicism creep in, and you begin to cut yourself off from others, becoming impatient, intolerant, and angry. Your performance suffers, and you feel physical discomfort.
7. Withdrawal. Dealing with others feels like a burden. You get angry if someone criticizes you, and you may feel disoriented or helpless. You may try to self-medicate with alcohol or illegal substances.
8. Behavioral changes. Apathy sets in and nothing matters. You avoid additional responsibilities.
9. Depersonalization. You lose your sense of identity, seeing yourself only as the vessel through which work and responsibilities are completed.
10. Feeling empty. Exhaustion, anxiety, and panic set in.
11. Despair. You may have feelings of self-hatred or depression coupled with suicidal thoughts.

How to Deal With Burnout

• Talk with your supervisor/ Reassess your workload: If you are in an environment where this is possible, try to explain how you’re feeling and discuss a more manageable workload and set boundaries. Communication is important for creating a healthy work environment.
• Get enough sleep: Sleep is vital for good physical and mental health. If you aren’t getting enough because of anxiety over your job, it’s likely to lead to burnout. Prioritize getting enough sleep.
• Try a relaxing activity: Yoga, meditation, or tai chi can be great ways to release stress. Burnout symptoms can appear physically, as you can hold onto stress in your body. Practicing these activities can help you release the tension.
• Be mindful: This gets you to focus on yourself internally and know how you’re feeling in the moment. Mindfulness can help you identify when you’re feeling overwhelmed and let you take stock of your emotional well-being. It can also help you manage the challenges of life and work.
• Find support: The support of trusted coworkers, friends, and family is important. Their support can help you deal with the stressors of your job. Finding a therapist is also a great way to discuss your feelings and get support.

How Long Does Burnout Recovery Take?

It may take a few months depending on how long you have undergone burnout.

When to see a doctor or therapist?

If bitterness and cynicism creep in, and you begin to cut yourself off from others, becoming impatient, intolerant, and angry and your performance suffers and you feel physical discomfort, you should definitely reach out to a psychologist.

Frequently Asked Questions