Burnout is a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion that comes from workplace stress. Burnout can occur in the workplace, but symptoms may extend into a person’s home life and prevent them from enjoying hobbies, social activities and events with friends. According to a 2022 survey by Deloitte, 77% of full-time professionals (out of 1,000 respondents) say they have experienced burnout.

Burnout isn’t easily treatable and the symptoms can last for several months after they appear — especially if the workplace conditions don’t change. Learn more about the physical aspect of long-term burnout to see how your mental health can affect your physical well-being.

What causes burnout?

The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that burnout is an occupational hazard, which means it forms when people are overworked and overstressed at their jobs. There are multiple causes of burnout and every case is unique. Here are a few examples of how burnout forms:

• An employee has more work on their task list than they can handle over long periods of time. 
• An employee works long hours for a prolonged period — arriving early and staying late. 
• An employee is “always on,” and responds to calls and emails at night, during weekends and while on vacation. 
• An employee takes on multiple stressful projects at once where there are serious consequences if they fail. 
• An employee has an emotionally taxing job, like a caregiver.

In each of these examples, employees are unable to step away from work mentally because there is so much that needs to be done or the work is so intense. Almost anyone (even entry-level interns) may notice problems with their mental health because of their jobs. A poor workplace environment can be taxing on anyone and cause burnout.

Burnout vs. depression

Burnout and depression have similar symptoms (extreme exhaustion, feeling down and exhibiting poor performance); however, these two conditions are significantly different from each other. Symptoms of depression aren’t limited to the workplace and will expand into other parts of a person’s life. You might also experience feelings of hopelessness and low self-esteem that prevent you from enjoying your favorite hobbies.

What burnout feels like

It’s not uncommon for symptoms of burnout to creep up on someone who experiences it. They dismiss their fatigue as a normal part of the job or justify a bad mood because of a personal issue or client problem. Eventually, these symptoms will increase in severity until they are too big to ignore. Here are a few warning signs that you (or someone you know) are developing burnout.

• You experience mental and physical fatigue: You feel tired at work and don’t want to do anything when you get home. 
• Your sleep patterns change: You might have a hard time falling asleep at night or you could wake up frequently. Even small amounts of sleep deprivation can impact your mental health. 
• Your diet changes: You might crave sugary, fatty and salty foods or you might lose your appetite. Stress can lead to disordered eating. 
• You have frequent mood swings: Your coworkers might think you are chronically in a bad mood or you could switch from joyous to angry within a few minutes. 
• You lose your motivation: You are no longer able to focus on your work or feel excited about new projects. This can extend into your personal life as well.

Symptoms of burnout may look a lot like depression and chronic stress. In all three cases, the body’s mental state negatively impacts the physical side. When you aren’t sleeping, eating and exercising in healthy ways, your body’s physical condition will suffer.

Burnout in the long term

Burnout is incredibly hard to treat because it often requires employees to make significant changes to their work environment. If someone has a peanut allergy, they don’t have to eat peanut butter. However, someone who is mentally and physically affected by work doesn’t always have the luxury of stepping away. They continue working and the burnout symptoms get worse.

Here are a few physical symptoms that can develop because of chronic stress and untreated burnout.

• Gastrointestinal issues: Poor diet can cause gastrointestinal distress while increased stress can elevate your risk of ulcers and other digestive problems.
• High blood pressure: Stress may cause your blood pressure to rise and stay at dangerous levels. Burnout may also lead to other cardiovascular problems like the development of heart palpitations.
• Migraines and frequent headaches: Burnout may lead to different types of headaches. These range from tension headaches to migraines that cause you to miss work and social events.
• Weakened immune system: When your body is in a state of stress, its energy goes toward preservation and survival. This can leave you vulnerable to illnesses, colds, the flu and other side effects of a weakened immune system.
• Substance abuse: You might be more inclined to destress with alcohol after work or could develop a dependence on substances that give you energy throughout the day.

While all of these symptoms are correlated to burnout, they could also be warning signs of serious issues. If you experience some of these symptoms (like prolonged GI distress or frequent migraines) talk to your primary care doctor. They can get to the root cause of the issue and develop a treatment plan for better health. If your symptoms are unmanageable and prevent you from navigating day-to-day life, visit your local urgent care center immediately.

Dealing with burnout

The best way to treat burnout is to acknowledge it. You or your loved one can’t treat the symptoms unless you recognize the source of the problem and take steps to acknowledge it. The next step is to reduce the causes of burnout which lead to negative symptoms. Here are a few ways that mental health professionals recommend treating burnout — it will likely take multiple courses of action to address the issue.

• Set boundaries: Learn to step away from the office on weekends and in the evenings. Some employees may need to talk to their managers about reducing their workloads. 
• Identify triggers: Everyone has unique triggers that cause stress, from a terrible client to an annoying coworker.
• Track emotions: Identify when you feel angry, annoyed, sad or upset. Acknowledge these feelings and the cause of them. 
• Build a support system: Consider meeting with a therapist online to discuss your burnout. Talk to a loved one or trusted coworker about your experiences.

Know that in some cases, you may need to step away from that work environment entirely — either temporarily or permanently. Not every office culture is open to employees working on their burnout. Leaving one company and finding work at another might be the best choice for your health.

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