Signs and Symptoms of Burnout
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
Drained. Overwhelmed. Powerless. This is a short list of the signs & symptoms burnout causes in our daily lives, but the roots run far deeper and proper recovery isn’t just about getting more sleep.
Burnout is caused by chronic stress and choosing force/discipline to continue to ignore our body’s signals that something isn’t right.
When we continue to force ourselves through despite the physical resistance (unbearable fatigue, hormone issues, heart issues, chronic headaches, etc), our physical bodies will continue to pile on the issues and ramp up the severity of the issues until we either choose to listen or have no choice BUT to listen.
Physical symptoms of burnout:
Fatigue & exhaustion (physical)
Joint pain and regular headaches
Low energy
Swings between insomnia and inability to wake
Hormonal abnormalities, low libido, and/or struggles with sexual performance
Gut health issues
Heart health issues (rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, cardiac incidents, risk of stroke)
Can lead to Type 2 diabetes
More prone to “regular” illnesses like flu, cold, etc.
Mental and emotional symptoms of burnout:
Compassion fatigue - reduction in the ability to feel compassionate towards peers, spouses, kids, or anyone that appears to have it “easier” than you
Disruption of family or intimate relationships
Mental fatigue and brain fog
Symptoms of hopelessness & depression
Feeling immense pressure to perform and appear as normal
A lack of sense of purpose or joy
Short temper or anger flare ups
Lack of patience
Feeling like one is carrying the weight of the world and responsible for everything and everybody
Use of coping mechanisms or “masking”: Alcohol, drugs, shopping or sex addictions, plastic surgery, workout addictions, emotional eating - either to numb the pain, avoid problems we feel like we can’t solve, or try to perfect our outside appearance so nobody knows how not okay we are.
Important things to note:
Symptoms of burnout will vary depending on the root cause of the chronic stress. If the cause of burnout is strictly professional due to a toxic work environment or feeling trapped working outside of your passion, one will benefit immensely from simply switching careers.
Burn out in parenting (increasing as a result of remote learning, years of repeat sickness, and lack of stability) can cause mistreatment and/or neglect.
Here, we focus on burnout as it pertains to servant hearted action takers (who are often solutions oriented and in leader roles in their families, businesses, teams, and communities even if they don’t feel qualified or confident enough to lead).
Stay tuned for the next post where we’ll discuss how and why these leaders experience an entirely different level of burnout, why they can’t often see a way out, and why they’re actually more likely to consider or succeed in taking their own lives than any other group.
No matter what, please hear me say it’s NOT “just” stress and you do NOT deserve to continue living this way.