signs & symptoms of burnout

In this post, I’m sharing a not-exhaustive list of the ways that Burnout can manifest - and it’s worth noting that this isn’t a case of needing to tick every single symptom off the list before you can consider yourself ‘Burned Out’. Burnout Symptoms are many and varied, and Burnout can show up differently in different people, in different environments, and under the influence of different stressors.

I have a bit of a boilerplate of what Burnout is that I like to call upon when a concise definition is needed:

Burnout is complete emotional, mental and physical exhaustion, caused by chronic and continuous stress that manifests as disconnection, apathy, cynicism and a loss of passion, and ultimately has a knock on impact on professional and/or personal performance.

Succinct, right? I know, but this is as short as I could get it! Because the thing is, Burnout isn’t a simple thing. In many ways it’s different for everyone, but the above description is relevant to most, I’ve found.

So, let’s explore the Symptoms of Burnout. 

I think it’s really important to know that if you FEEL Burnt Out, if that is your reality and it doesn’t let up, then you don’t need a list of symptoms to validate that. If you feel Burned Out, and that feeling is constant, you are Burned Out. 

But just because you don’t need it, doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful in beginning your journey. So here’s my list.

Common Symptoms of Burnout & Chronic Stress (that I have found so far):

• Total Physical Exhaustion

• Emotional & Mental Exhaustion

• Chronic Fatigue/Adrenal Fatigue

• Anxiety Disorders 

• Low Mood/Depression

• Self-doubt/Imposter Syndrome

• Insomnia/Sleep problems

• Negativity & Cynicism

• Apathy & a loss of Passion

• Lack of Motivation

• Isolation & Disconnection

• Feelings of Hopelessness

• Deeply Unbalanced Mindset

• Inability to Focus - or keep focus

• Procrastination and Avoidance

• Feeling stuck, frozen, unable to move forward

• Emotional Outbursts

• Anger & Frustration

• Brain Fog & Memory problems

• Digestive Disorders

• Hair Loss & Skin Conditions

• Stress Induced Illness

• Hormone imbalances

• Trauma response to triggers (PTSD)

• Increased reliance on Drugs/Drink/Food/other

• Increased need for escapism (mental or physical)

The way that we fix Burnout for good is not by addressing the Symptom.

Sure, that’s a part of it. If we’re exhausted we need to rest. If we’ve got stress induced illnesses, we need to treat them. But in order to heal long term, break the cycle and enter into a healthy, balanced, Burnout-free life, we need to address the underlying causes of what led us to Burn Out in the first place.

I’m going to get into those underlying causes. Sign up to my Mailing List to be notified when I post these!

But staying on the symptoms for now; to give a bit of context to some of these, here are some of the ways that a few of these symptoms manifested for me:

Extreme Exhaustion: This is the kind of exhaustion that cannot be slept off or stretched out. It’s the kind of exhaustion that is deep set to your bones, and to your soul. You can take a weekend off, go to a spa, go on holiday, come back rested, and the moment you get back to reality you’re immediately exhausted all over again. For me, this meant it was damn near impossible to get out of bed (the Anxiety and Depression played a part here too), the motivation to do anything was gone, the very act of opening a laptop and sending an email made me ready to go back to bed. I couldn’t do anything beyond getting myself to work and back again. And by the point of my actual Burnout, I couldn’t even do that.

Apathy and Loss of Passion: My job was my whole life. I was living my dream, literally walking in the shadow of my childhood heroes and by the time I Burned Out I absolutely did not give a shit about any of it. Things happened, and I didn’t care. I couldn’t summon the will to do anything about it. I just wanted to go back to bed, and leave it all to crash and burn without me. And this wasn’t just work related - I used to write and create and dream, and by the time I Burned Out I couldn’t be arsed with any of that either. I’m only just now, two years on, finding the creative inspiration to write again.

Anxiety: This genuine mental health disorder has become a bit of a buzzword over the last decade or so. So much so that I used to wear a necklace with the word ‘Anxiety’ around my neck while popping anti-anxiety meds, as a sort of half-arsed attempt at acknowledging my experience. But wearing a necklace and popping pills does literally nothing to address the underlying issues bringing this symptom to the surface - and so by the time I burned out my Anxiety was so extreme that I couldn’t make a single simple decision for myself.

Digestive Disorders: The amount of times over the course of my life I’ve been to the doctor to try to get to the bottom of my IBS, which has been chronic and crippling for most of my adult life. Every time, they would blame it on stress, give me some medication that made no difference, and suggest some diet changes. By the time I Burned Out, the only things I could eat with minimal reaction were steamed veg, chicken and salmon. Spoiler alert: since I reset my life, addressed the root causes of my stress and began healing from my Burnout and everything that led to it, I can eat anything I like.

Emotional Outbursts/Anger and Frustration: This did not manifest as anger at work, at work, it was all about overflowing emotion. I cried in the toilets at least three times a day and hid there with my makeup bag until my face was passable again. The anger came out in my personal life, in petty arguments with friends and rants at family members. It came out in clashes in the comments sections of Facebook and Instagram posts with complete strangers. It came out when I was drunk, which was often. I was never directed any anyone who deserved it.

Trauma response to Triggers (PTSD): I used to have a panic attack at 2PM every day for about six months after my Burnout, because that was historically when my inbox would be flooded with emails from America when their working day began. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have that inbox any more, it didn’t matter that it was no longer my responsibility. At 2PM every day, my body shifted to fight or flight mode, and there was nothing I could do about it. 

I could write about this stuff for days, but I’ll leave it there for now. If you can relate to any of these little snippets of my story, or if you have a different experience that you want to share, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch! I do free 30 minute consultation calls with absolutely no obligation beyond that 30 minute chat.

Let’s have a coffee and talk about your Burnout Symptoms, and see what comes next!

What I do want to leave you with is a reminder that treating the Symptoms of Burnout is not enough. I look at this list, and thankfully I no longer experience most of these symptoms, and when I do start to experience them I know immediately what to do about it.

Symptoms are a sign that something deeper needs addressing, and it takes time, and often a good deal of support, to be able to do that.

Join me again next week, when I’ll be talking about those pesky underlying issues that lead to these Symptoms manifesting for me - and get on my Mailing List to be notified when my next blog is posted! You’ll also get a free guided Meditation video, and a bunch of other freebies to help support you on your Burnout Journey when you sign up.

I’ll also be talking about Burnout Symptoms more on Instagram (@maggiesupernovacoach) and in my free Facebook Group (join here) so make sure you’re signed up to both.

Until next time!

Mx