Burnout 101
Burnout 101: What It Is, Where It Comes From, and How to Heal
Burnout isn’t new. It isn’t weakness. And it certainly isn’t something a bubble bath can fix.
If you’ve ever found yourself pushing through exhaustion, feeling emotionally flat, or wondering if it’s normal to feel this numb and tired all the time, you’re not alone. Burnout is more than a buzzword. It’s a deeply rooted nervous system response to chronic stress and long-term misalignment between your needs and your life.
Let’s break down what burnout really is, where it comes from, and how you can start healing.
Burnout Has Been Around Longer Than You Think
While we often think of burnout as a modern problem, it was first recognized in the 1970s by psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, who noticed that passionate, driven people were becoming depleted, cynical, and emotionally exhausted. Around the same time, Christina Maslach created the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which is still used to identify burnout today.
But burnout even predates psychology. Think about Elijah in the Bible, after a miraculous victory over the priests of Baal, he fled into the wilderness, exhausted, disillusioned, and emotionally shut down. Moses experienced it too, overwhelmed by leadership and the constant complaints of the children of Israel that he led.
Their stories mirror what many of us feel today: we’re expected to be superhuman in roles that demand everything from us. This especially applies to those in healthcare, teachers or parents.
The Three Hallmarks of Burnout
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome with three core symptoms:
Emotional Exhaustion- This is feeling drained, numb, or unable to cope. It's feeling exhaused working with people all day long, like your work is breaking you down and frsutrating.
Depersonalization or Cynicism – When you become detached or jaded, especially in caregiving roles. Your patients of those you help appear like problems and not people. I become cynical and sarcastic and don't really care about what happens.
Reduced Sense of Accomplishment – Feeling like nothing you do makes a difference anymore. You lose the connection to how your patients feel, you doubt your ability to help them or to have a positive influence on their life.
These aren’t just feelings—they are signs your nervous system is dysregulated, stuck in chronic fight-or-flight or shut down.
Burnout Is a Body Problem, Not Just a Mind Problem
Burnout isn’t about being weak or unmotivated, but it is about survival. It’s about your brain and body getting stuck in protection mode. If you’re always in high gear (sympathetic overdrive) or feeling checked out and numb (dorsal vagal collapse), your nervous system may be waving a red flag you’ve learned to ignore.
Burnout often follows this pattern:
Passion or pressure, either from yourself, others or your workplace or environment
Pushing through limits, there is no end in sight
Ignoring signs of fatigue, you put other's demands above your own
Adapting to dysfunction, after a while, this state feels normal and resting, being alone with yourself or sometimes with those you love feels off.
Crashing when the body can’t cope anymore, this is often the sign that finally gets attention.
So What Actually Helps?
Traditional “self-care” isn’t enough. Vacations, wine, or retail therapy can’t fix chronic nervous system dysregulation.
True recovery requires:
Restoring regulation through breathwork, movement, and nervous system retraining
Creating alignment between your values, needs, and work
Recognizing patterns and learning how to respond differently
Burnout is not a personal failing—it’s a physiological response. The good news? Your body wants to heal. You just need the right tools and support to come back into balance.
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