How to Recover From Burnout: 7 Ways to Treat Burnout

Burnout syndrome is a type of psychological and physical distress that results from overwork. The symptoms are diverse and can even manifest as a physical illness. Many people experience burnout after long periods of unsustainable mental and physical exertion in different areas of life, making burnout recovery difficult.

There can be several causes for burnout, including:

1. 1. Work: Optimal mental and physical health requires a balance of work, play, and rest. An overly heavy workload, either from long hours or excessive responsibilities at home or the office, can cause an imbalance.
2. 2. Stress: Excessive stress in one’s home life is a significant risk factor for burnout. Being a caregiver for loved ones or keeping the household running over a long period can wear one’s emotional reserves down, creating conditions for burnout. Work-related stress, like looming deadlines, can also contribute to burnout.
3. 3. Mental health: The causes and effects of burnout can intermingle and be hard to differentiate. For example, conditions such as anxiety or depression can cause burnout, and burnout can lead to bouts of anxiety or depression.
4. 4. Physical health: Similarly, physical health problems can also affect a person’s ability to cope with everyday stressors and responsibilities. People experiencing chronic illness, injury, or other physical health symptoms have a greater risk of burnout.
5. 5. World events: Even if you practice a healthy work-life balance, major global events can create a challenging emotional environment and set up the conditions for burnout.

Burnout can produce a wide range of symptoms, making the diagnosis of the condition challenging, but some common behavioral, physical, and emotional symptoms include:

1. 1. Physical exhaustion: One of the most common signs of burnout is feeling tired all the time, even after getting enough sleep and rest. Sustained levels of elevated stress hormones like cortisol can affect your sleep quality and circadian rhythm, leading to burnout.
2. 2. Emotional exhaustion: You can experience burnout due to excessive emotional exertion. For example, dealing with conflicts and managing others can drain your overall energy reserves, leading to feelings of emotional or mental exhaustion.
3. 3. Insomnia: It might seem paradoxical, but the constant wear of burnout on your system can make it harder to sleep. If you’re spending too much time in a hyperalert state of mind, your body will have a more challenging time knowing when to relax and get adequate rest, causing insomnia or overall poor sleep quality.
4. 4. Physical illness: The chronic stress of burnout puts a burden on your mind and body. If left untreated for too long, this can manifest in physical symptoms. A stressed body can lead to an impaired immune system, making you more susceptible to infections. It can also affect the digestive system and overall inflammation levels, causing muscle soreness and tension, headaches, and hypertension (high blood pressure).
5. 5. Irritability: Stress can put a hair-trigger on emotions. If you are experiencing burnout, you might feel impatient, angry, or even aggressive.
6. 6. Depressed mood: A person experiencing burnout might feel unmotivated and unproductive in life and work and have low self-esteem.

There are steps you can take to prevent and recover from burnout. Consider the following methods:

1. 1. Take an emotional and physical inventory. If you regularly check in with yourself about your feelings and emotions, you can more easily spot the signs of burnout and identify stressors that can lead to burnout. Track your sleep and how you feel physically and note when you experience any bodily discomfort or symptoms of illness.
2. 2. Practice boundaries. When you track your emotions, you will notice patterns of cause and effect in your personal and work lives. For example, if you can identify patterns of how you feel after an interpersonal conflict or a high-stress event, you can better prepare for future challenges.
3. 3. Move your body. Physical activity is one of the most effective ways to prevent and treat burnout. Regular exercise can help strengthen your physical and mental conditions, moderate stress hormone levels, improve sleep quality, and lower inflammation.
4. 4. Improve your sleep quality. Getting good-quality sleep can have lasting effects on your overall health, especially if you feel burnout. Build a bedtime routine and stick to a regular sleep schedule.
5. 5. Seek emotional support. Emotional support is an excellent way to treat burnout, whether it means seeing a health care professional, therapist, or life coach or developing a network of friends and family members you can easily talk to. Sharing what you’re experiencing, both good and bad, can lower cortisol levels and provide clarity and a sense of relief.
6. 6. Build a wellness routine. A self-care routine can go a long way in both the prevention and the treatment of burnout. In addition to regular physical exercise and good sleep habits, self-care practices like a morning ritual to affirm positive emotions and foster well-being can help combat burnout.
7. 7. Make a life change. Sometimes, changing your circumstances is the best way to treat and prevent burnout. Removing yourself from a bad work environment or an unhealthy relationship can be an essential step to recovering from burnout.

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