Physical signs and symptoms of burnout Feeling tired and drained most of the time. Lowered immunity, frequent illnesses. Frequent headaches or muscle pain. Change in appetite or sleep habits.
The problem with burnout, then, is that our bodily systems become deprioritised for too long, and as a result we can experience additional physical symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, fainting, heart palpitations and chest and muscle pain, among other things.
We wind up fully depleted in a three-way shutdown: emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness. You feel chronically exhausted, weary to the bone, soured on work and life, and devoid of motivation or the ability to fight off the feelings of dread and doom.
Since burnout affects people differently, recovery time hinges on how a person experiences work-related exhaustion. Because of this variation, recovery time can take anywhere from a few weeks to several years.
It takes an average time of three months to a year to recover from burnout. How long your burnout lasts will depend on your level of emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue, as well as if you experience any relapses or periods of stagnant recovery.
Habitual Burnout. The final stage of burnout is habitual burnout. This means that the symptoms of burnout are so embedded in your life that you are likely to experience a significant ongoing mental, physical or emotional problem, as opposed to occasionally experiencing stress or burnout.
The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life—including your home, work, and social life. Burnout can also cause long-term changes to your body that make you vulnerable to illnesses like colds and flu. Because of its many consequences, it's important to deal with burnout right away.
When a person reaches a phase of burnout, they may be unable to complete their responsibilities at a job or at home. The inability to take care of day-to-day obligations will lead to increased stress and eventually to a mental breakdown.
Symptoms of burnout can be both physical and emotional. Physical symptoms include headache or back pain, disturbed sleep, nausea, tense muscles and tiredness. Emotionally, people with burnout feel irritable, tense, and unmotivated.
Interestingly, physical activity was correlated with recovery, so you may find it especially helpful to go for a run, take a hike in the woods or go to the beach with friends or family. Try to ensure you're not thinking about work-related content.
Stage 3 - Exhaustion
The symptoms include: chronic sadness or depression, chronic stomach or bowel problems, chronic mental fatigue, chronic physical fatigue, chronic headaches or migraines, the desire to "drop out" of society… the desire to get away from family, friends, and even recurrent suicidal ideation.
Stage 11: Depression
Everything becomes a blur. Life was once technicolor, but now it's gray and bleak. You're emotionally and mentally exhausted. You feel lost and unsure.
Burnout can lower your extraversion, making you less outgoing and energetic in social situations³⁶. Burnout can lower your agreeableness, making you more cynical and hostile towards others³⁴⁶. Burnout can increase your neuroticism, making you more prone to stress and emotional distress²³⁴⁶.
It's wise to listen to your body too. If you really feel tired, or if you are getting other physical complaints and a weekend isn't enough to recover, it's probably better to take some rest. Even if this means that you feel guilty or embarrassed in the first few days.
Recovery from burnout is a slow journey; not a quick dash to some imaginary finish line. You need time and space to recuperate, so don't rush through this process. The recovery strategies that we've outlined below are all useful in different situations.
Physical exhaustion at the end of the work day. Cynicism and detachment from coworkers and customers. Extreme dissatisfaction with your work, and uncertainty about how to improve and progress in your career. These are classic symptoms of workplace burnout, and more people are impacted than you think.
The fallout from our ability to maintain our work and life obligations from burnout can cause uncontrollable crying and long-term mental and physical health disorders.
While this may be true, burnout also significantly aligns with anxiety. Symptoms like inability to focus, changes in sleep, and lack of motivation can come from a depressed state. In contrast, these symptoms may also come from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
If you're “losing it,” you need eight hours of sleep plus two ten- to 15-minute relaxation breaks. “Hitting the wall” means eight to nine hours each night, plus two breaks. And once you're “burned out,” you need eight to ten hours of sleep, plus three 15- to 30-minute naps or retreats.
Burnout symptoms are usually temporary and disappear after you address them. If not addressed, these can also affect your physical health and cause heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol, and even type 2 diabetes. Depression symptoms, on the other hand, can get in the way of your daily life and are longer-term.
Just as the impact of burnout stifles healthy professional growth, emerging research shows that the chronic psychosocial stress that characterizes burnout not only impairs people's personal and social functioning, it also can overwhelm their cognitive skills and neuroendocrine systems — eventually leading to ...
Burnout is when a person reaches a state of total mental, physical and emotional exhaustion and it has some similar signs and symptoms to a nervous breakdown. Your doctor can prescribe medicines for many mental health conditions, and refer you to other healthcare professionals, such as psychologists or psychiatrists.