How To Deal With Burnout

Burnout: What is it?

We all know life can be very demanding at times. Most of us are juggling multiple responsibilities including work, family and personal commitments. Add in caring for young children, older parents or an unexpected curveball and the scales can easily tip in the direction of pure chaos. Excessive and prolonged stress is known to result in exhaustion or burnout.¹ This can impact our ability to perform at our personal or professional best and interfere with our health, happiness and relationships.

Burnout can happen to anyone, but it is common with a skewed work-life balance. Studies show that burnout occurs when professionals use ineffective coping strategies to counteract work-related stress.² Personality traits can also contribute to burnout and those who have perfectionistic tendencies, are high‐achieving A-type people, feel the need to always be in control and/or see the glass half empty appear to be most at risk.

What is the difference between stress and burnout?

While burnout usually stems from unrelenting stress, it isn’t the same as too much stress. When we’re stressed, we tend to feel overwhelmed but are able to imagine that once we get back into control everything will be ok. However, people experiencing burnout will usually feel devoid of motivation, beyond the point of caring and unable to see any positive change in their situation.

Burnout symptoms

It’s important to be able to recognise the symptoms of burnout and to act early. Some of the signs of burnout can include³:

• Emotional and physical exhaustion
• Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• Feeling anxious, tense, pessimistic, sad or detached from the world
• Inability to make decisions and an increase in procrastination
• A sense of ineffectiveness and lack of productivity
• Frequent back pain, muscle aches and headaches
• Overall poor health
• Changes in weight or appetite
• Outbursts of anger and social withdrawal

Burnout is typically work-related and leads to exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced performance. If symptoms persist beyond work-related stress, please talk to your healthcare professional.⁶

How to deal with burnout:

Burnout recovery is possible.

1. Open up — Sharing your feelings with trusted friends, family members, or colleagues is a great way to reassure yourself that the weight of the world isn’t on your shoulders and that you’re not alone. Alternatively, you can seek out a qualified counsellor.
2. Take a step back — Learning to delegate and saying “no” to extra demands on your time is an important strategy to regaining control over your stress.
3. Move your body — Exercise can be a great distraction. Plus, the release of endorphins may increase your ability to deal with stressful situations that may arise.⁴
4. Make time for relaxing activities — Learning how to manage stress through yoga, meditation can be helpful.
5. Look at your lifestyle — Adopt healthy eating and sleeping habits.
6. Take a break — We all need to take some time out, even if it’s just a long weekend away now and again.
7. Consider taking a supplement — Clinical studies suggest that Sensoril, a standardised extract of Ashwagandha, may help to relieve symptoms of mild anxiety⁵. This extract is found in Nature’s Own™ Mild Anxiety Ashwagandha. Nature’s Own™ Mild Anxiety Ashwagandha also contains vitamin B6 to support nervous system function and Chamomile.

You may also consider other products in our Stress and Anxiety range such as Nature’s Own™ Mood Balance St John’s Wort to support nervous system health, and Nature’s Own™ Ultra B 150 Forte to help support healthy nervous system function.

If your symptoms of burnout persist, it is important that you seek the advice of a medical professional. They will be able to rule out other causes and provide you with a plan to manage your stress.

1. Understanding Chronic Stress and Burnout – Neurocare Clinics
2. Montero-Marin J, Prado-Abril J, Piva Demarzo M, Gascon S, García-Campayo J. Coping with Stress and Types of Burnout: Explanatory Power of Different Coping Strategies. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(2):e89090. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0089090
3. Mental Burnout Symptoms – Neurolaunch
4. Exercising to Relax – Harvard Health
5. Sensoril (Ashwagandha) Clinical Study – ClinicalTrials.gov
6. Ashwagandha – NCBI Bookshelf