Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place. You can experience reduced productivity, low energy and be left feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical and resentful. Eventually you may feel like you have nothing more to give.

What causes Burn Out?

Burnout often stems from your job and illness, though anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout (frazzled mum, aging parent, office worker, cancer patient). Your lifestyle and personality traits can also contribute to burnout. What you do in your downtime and how you look at the world can play just as big of a role in causing burnout as work or home demands.

In a nutshell, Burnout occurs when we have been running in Sympathetic Nervous System Mode for a prolonged period of time and therefore have depleted the important neurotransmitters in our brains. When the automatic stress response is continually switched on, too much Adrenaline, Cortisol and other chemicals are being used. It is going to get low sooner or later. It is important to deal with Burnout right away or at the earliest signs and symptoms, as the more burnt out you are, the longer the recovery time.

What is the difference between Stress and Burnout?

Burnout is a result of unrelenting stress, whether this be from work, lifestyle, pushing yourself when you are ill. It is not the same as too much stress though! You have now pushed it a step further. Stress is characterised by too much or too many pressures. With stress you can still imagine how to get everything under control. Burnout is characterised by not enough or feeling empty, devoid of motivation and beyond caring. Excessive stress is like drowning in responsibilities, burnout is being all dried up with no hope of positive change.

What can you do to regain your Health? 

There are plenty of things you can do to regain your balance and start to feel positive and hopeful again. The Key is to understand and accept what has happened to you and your Neurochemistry. You cannot pretend this hasn't happened and you do need to take it seriously, as this can lead to many other declining Health Conditions and Disease.

I highlight this point as I once suffered a serious Health Condition caused by organic chemical poisoning to my brain. As I can be a driven person, I expected myself to get better quickly and this wasn't the case. All the Burnout signs were beginning, but because I considered this a Health Condition not caused by Stress, I didn't heed the warning signs as suggested by certain practitioners and ended up pushing myself into Burnout. Another Key is to understand that illness is Stress!

What can you do?

1. Put a priority on face-to-face social contact with supportive people
2. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect from technology
3. Move your body frequently—don't sit for more than an hour
4. Make laughter and play a priority
5. Reduce your intake of alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine
6. Support your mood and energy levels by eating a fresh, organic, healthy, nurturing diet
7. Get all the restful sleep that you need to feel your best
8. Make exercise a priority
9. Reevaluate priorities
10. Reframe the way you look at work