How to Bounce Back from Mental Burnout: Signs, Causes and Recovery

Burnout Builds Slowly

Mental burnout usually strikes at the worst time, hitting when we have a fast-approaching deadline, are dealing with a new job, or a stressful all-consuming project. After experiencing consistent, high levels of stress, we reach a state of emotional exhaustion. From that point on, motivation levels drop, we start to believe nothing really matters, and we start to downplay our successes.

Burnout happens gradually, so you might not notice the symptoms immediately. But it can negatively affect your abilities and attitudes across all aspects of life, whether the pressure comes from work, study, parenting or caring for someone.

The good news is that people do recover. It takes time and real changes, not a long weekend, but the steps below help.

What is Mental Burnout?

In 2019 the World Health Organization defined burnout as an occupational phenomenon: the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It has three signs:

• Exhaustion: feeling drained, with nothing left at the end of the day.
• Cynicism: feeling distant from your work, negative about it, or that none of it matters.
• Reduced efficacy: getting less done, and doubting you can do it well.

The definition is about work, but the same pattern turns up wherever demands outrun support for too long: parenting, caring for a relative, studying, or all three at once. Two things make it more likely:

• Cynicism and low mood often set in when a person is not in control of their work, or is forced to complete tasks that conflict with their values.
• Exhaustion sets in when a person has too many responsibilities and too little support.

Signs You Might Be Burned Out

• You wake up tired, however long you slept.
• Small tasks feel huge, and you keep putting them off.
• You feel irritable, flat or detached, at work and at home.
• You get ill more often, or have headaches and a tight stomach for no clear reason.
• You lean on caffeine, alcohol or endless scrolling to get through the day.

Stress usually feels like too much: too much pressure, too much to do. Burnout feels like not enough: not enough energy, not enough care, not enough point.

How to Bounce Back

1. Find the Source

It’s difficult to overcome burnout if you don’t know the root cause. What’s triggering your anguish? What one thing stresses you out, eats up your time, and leaves you feeling exhausted? Burnout often relates to professional triggers, but other common everyday triggers include:

1. An intense academic schedule.
2. Relationship issues that seem to go in circles and have no real solutions.
3. Caring for a loved one with a serious medical issue.

If exams are the trigger, our guide to avoiding exam burnout is written for students.

Burnout can also be caused by a compound of multiple triggers. Imagine you’re a single parent, trying to do night school, while working in the day. Each one might be manageable on its own, but the combination of stress without a break will inevitably overwhelm you.

Trying to do too many things causes burnout. To properly deal with this, identify the tasks that are grinding you down. Often, we don’t deem these tasks worthwhile or meaningful; they are an unnecessary and pointless trigger of stress. Knowing that, we can avoid them on our road to recovery.

2. Re-Evaluate Your Priorities

Burnout is a sign that we haven’t got our work/life balance right. Rather than dedicating time to something enjoyable and worthwhile, we’re overcommitting ourselves to stressful and pointless tasks. If this is something you’re experiencing, you need to re-evaluate your priorities.

Instead of letting them consume you, manage your burnout triggers where you can. Of course, avoiding them altogether might not be possible; some of us must work a stressful job to pay the bills. But you can set boundaries and limit the amount of time you spend on these tasks, and remind yourself that saying no to requests, so you can work on yourself, is perfectly acceptable.

Use that spare time to nourish your creative side. One reason burnout occurs is because we’re spending so much time on tasks we don’t deem worthwhile. In combating it, take some time out to assess your hopes, values, and dreams. Ask yourself: “am I neglecting something that’s important to me?” You can combat burnout by creating a sense of purpose, making a positive impact on others’ lives, and creating meaningful change.

Breaks matter too. Insufficient breaks are a leading cause of chronic stress, so set time aside each day to switch off and relax and let your mind and body recover.

3. Protect Your Evenings

If you’ve got a lot going on at work, it can be difficult to fully switch off when you get home. With technology at our fingertips, it’s tempting to check your work email, or work through the night to get that stressful task out of the way as quickly as possible.

Pick a time when your working day ends and stick to it. Turn off work notifications, log out of work email and chat on your phone, and keep your laptop out of the bedroom. If willpower isn’t enough, FocusMe can block work email and apps after hours on a Weekly Schedule, so the evening stays yours.

4. Allow Time for Your Mind and Body to Recover

Recovering from burnout is a process that takes time. You can’t expect instant recovery. Instead, you need to stay committed to taking care of yourself emotionally and physically. Even if you’re raring to get back to work, resist the temptation to overdo things. Aim to create healthier long-term workplace habits that involve regular breaks. Take up a new hobby that you enjoy, spend more time with friends, or just set time aside to watch a new Netflix series.

Start with the basics: regular sleep, daylight and a walk most days, proper meals, and less alcohol and caffeine. Together they give you something to rebuild on.

5. Get Support

In most cases, it is worth creating a support network of people who can help you through the process, as they will be able to hold you accountable and point out when you’re causing self-inflicted burnout. Better still, you can use this network to relieve some of your daily stress by talking through problems.

Most importantly, to create a sustainable work-life balance free from burnout, you must be willing to dedicate time each week to restoring your mind and body. If work requirements don’t allow you the room to properly look after yourself, then it might be time to find a new job or drop that task that’s consuming your time and effort.

When to See a Doctor

Burnout is not a medical diagnosis, and it can hide depression or a physical cause such as anemia or a thyroid problem. See your doctor if:

• rest and the changes above haven’t helped after a few weeks;
• you feel hopeless or low most days, or have lost interest in things you used to enjoy;
• you can’t sleep, or can’t cope with daily life;
• you are relying on alcohol or drugs to get through.

If you ever think about harming yourself, get help straight away: call your local emergency number or, in the UK, Samaritans on 116 123.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

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