Preventing Burnout starts with learning the Signs of Burnout: take it from a Depression Therapist based in Madison, WI

As a depression therapist, I see a fair amount of burnout. I’ve talked about recovering from burnout previously, which is often where most people start. You’ve burned the candle at both ends and just can’t keep going like that. We often think about burnout at work, but feeling burned out can happen in other places too.

I’ve talked earlier about one of the first steps in recovering from burnout, getting more joy.

Noticing joy helps us get more of it!

Focusing on joy is not only part of recovering from burnout, but also preventing it. Preventing burnout has two parts. 1) Understanding what burnout looks like, and 2) getting the things you need to be fulfilled. (One way to think about staying fulfilled is by focusing on the opposite of burnout.) Today I’ll be talking about the first part, recognizing the signs of burnout. The more you can spot the signs of burnout, the better you’ll be able to catch yourself before it gets worse.

Preventing Burnout Step One: Recognize the Signs of Burnout 

To prevent burnout, the signs of burnout need to be in your awareness. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s harder to find it. If you know what burnout feels like, you can become more adept at seeing the warning signs. Even if you are working really hard at preventing burnout, it’s bound to creep in at least some of the time.

The goal is to get your brain working on naming and noticing the warning signs, as well as keeping positives in front of you.

One way of describing burnout is to say that you’ve lost your joy. When we can’t feel joy, often it means we have emotions that have gone unprocessed. It makes sense then, that one of the roots of burnout is often stuffed or numbed emotions. Feelings have been coming up, but you may not be able to process them or listen to what they might be telling you. So the emotions get buried and ignored.

If we don’t feel our feelings, they come out in other ways, burnout-related or not. When talking about the signs of burnout, I like to break them down into three categories: behaviors, sensations, and feelings.

Behavioral Burnout Signs

The behavioral signs of burnout are actions you take as a result of being at the end of your rope.

Common behavioral burnout signs are snapping at people or zoning out in front of the tv all the time. Here are some others:

• Eating sweets or other comfort foods to feel better

• Drinking more caffeine or alcohol

• Missing work because you’re sick, or going to work even though you’re sick

• Isolating from other people

• Dreaming of quitting your job and escaping all your responsibilities

If you’re in healthcare or another helping profession, you might be thinking about your patients or clients when you’re at home. You may also start overextending yourself - crossing your own boundaries - with people at work or at home.

Sensation Burnout Signs

These signs might be a little less familiar and harder to access if you’ve never thought about them before. When I talk about sensations, I mean things you feel in your body. (People like Pat Ogden have done years of research on the ways that the body stores emotions and how that can show up.) Often, especially if you’re burned out, you are trying to avoid noticing anything you feel in your body because it’s painful. So tuning back in can take some time and patience. 

Sensations that you might feel if you’re burned out include:

• Heavy

• Foggy

• Numb

• Sore

• Empty

• Flat 

Sensations can also be more familiar physical signs like head and muscle aches, and digestive issues. 

Feelings Burnout Signs

Part of the difficulty in preventing burnout is that we are not often taught how to know what we are feeling. And knowing what you’re feeling is essential to preventing burnout. It’s not just a matter of knowing when you’re happy or sad. You want to be able to notice when you’re feeling guilty, annoyed, or resentful. Everyone has different warning signs. Here are a few more feelings burnout signs:

• Irritation

• Anger

• Helplessness

• Pessimism

• Discouraged

• Insignificant

Another sign of burnout is no longer feeling empathy. Especially if you’re Highly Sensitive, this one will stand out. If you find yourself no longer able to put yourself in another person’s shoes, it could be a sign of burnout. 

Bottom line is that if you’re not feeling like yourself, or not satisfied with your situation, it’s important to listen to that. It might not mean that you need to quit your job or move across the country. It probably means that there are things you’re experiencing that you need to pay more attention to. 

You have a number of choices when it comes to paying more attention to these warning signs. You could simply start taking a mental health break every day. You could intentionally reflect on your highs and lows of the day. You could start therapy, giving yourself regular time and space to pay attention and process with a professional. Therapy is a great place to take the feelings you’ve been burying. Whatever you choose, good for you for noticing! Know that you’re not alone and that it is entirely possible to recover from burnout.

About the Author

I’m a psychotherapist who loves getting to the root of burnout.

A graduate of Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, MA, I’ve worked in community mental health and hospice. Paying attention to my own burnout is what led me to open a private practice.

Owner of Bronwyn Shiffer Psychotherapy in Madison, WI, I provide telehealth therapy throughout Wisconsin and online therapy in Massachusetts. In addition to therapy for depression, I also provide counseling for anxiety and therapy for Highly Sensitive people.