Healing from Burnout: Practical Steps to Reclaim Your Life

Burnout might sound like a modern term, but it isn’t. After industrialization, burnout symptoms started to be diagnosed among workers. What is it exactly? Burnout is the feeling of emotional exhaustion that leads to behavioral and physical symptoms of tiredness and depression.

There are some myths regarding the term. People often misdiagnose—or more like self-diagnose—tiredness or similar symptoms as burnout and depression. Some distinctive symptoms and stages are observed in the case of confirmation.

Feeling tired is not burnout. Also, feeling sadness or exhaustion for a period is not burnout. Christina Maslach, a psychologist known for her Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), developed a tool to assess burnout. MBI serves as a standard foundation for diagnosing the syndrome. It assesses burnout using three key dimensions:

Emotional Exhaustion: Feeling emotionally drained and losing interest in hobbies, interests, and work.
Depersonalization (Cynicism): Negative thoughts about work, colleagues, and other relationships.
Reduced Personal Accomplishment: Feeling inadequate, ineffective, and unable to achieve meaningful results.

What Causes Burnout?

Every illness and syndrome has some underlying causes, but they are not universal to all. People can face burnout due to many different factors, depending on their unique behavioral patterns and characteristics. Some common factors that lead to burnout syndrome are:

Overcommitment

Often, to achieve a goal, people overcommit to relationships or work. When one takes on more responsibilities than they can handle, it creates stress and drains their energy. Ultimately, stress, an inability to fulfill commitments, and pressure lead to burnout.

Values Mismatch

People might find themselves in an environment where their values are not aligned. This happens a lot in workplaces when the values of a boss and worker don’t match. The gap in power dynamics plays a role in causing exhaustion. Not everyone has the luxury of just leaving their job or situation. They have to deal with that mismatched environment for a long period. The ultimate consequence is losing enjoyment in work and feeling frustrated with life.

Unfairness

The gap between what we deserve and what we get is what we call unfairness. The sense of not meeting expectations creates a pile of exhaustion. Maybe an employee deserves a promotion, but instead, a less deserving employee gets the position. Constant unfair situations in different aspects of life contribute to burnout.

Sense of Rewards

When a student prepares hard for an upcoming exam, they expect a good result as a reward in return. A reward system motivates people to strive toward a goal. When the sense of reward is weak, losing motivation and feeling numb becomes a natural phenomenon in life.

Symptoms of Burnout

Emotional Symptoms

Feeling tired even after proper rest.
Lack of motivation and feeling of unworthiness.
Developing a negative, cynical attitude toward work and people.
Feeling numb toward situations.
Persistent sadness and feeling unmotivated toward tasks you once cared about.

Physical Symptoms

Weakened immune system and digestion issues.
Irregular sleep patterns—either insomnia or oversleeping.
Eating too much or too little.
Intense fatigue.
Frequent headaches, tense muscles, colds, and other illnesses.

Behavioral Symptoms

Getting irritated easily with situations and people.
Feeling detached from everything.
Isolation from friends, colleagues, and family.
Reducing social interactions.
Neglecting self-care.
Reduced empathy toward people.
Procrastination and inability to fulfill commitments.
Unhealthy coping mechanisms like addiction to drugs and alcohol.

7 Stages of Burnout

Burnout doesn’t occur overnight. After crossing some initial phases, people eventually fall into the pit of exhaustion. That’s why tiredness is not simply burnout but rather a symptom of the process. People don’t even realize they are progressing toward burnout before they completely collapse. Recognizing these initial stages is a must to avoid the inevitable overall downfall. If, in the initial stage, people can recognize that they need to address the problem, it can save them from going through a long and difficult period of suffering.

A Desired Level of High Achievement

This is more like a honeymoon phase, where a person is motivated and feels like they can achieve everything at once. High energy and enthusiasm toward their goal drive them to set high expectations based on motivation.
Overcommitment to work as a strong desire to prove oneself is an early sign of exhaustion in this stage.

Neglect

As you take on a pile of responsibilities and struggle to balance your schedule and work, you start ignoring priorities like self-care, adequate sleep, healthy food intake, and efforts in relationships.
You slowly build stress, and in trying to fulfill commitments, you lose the balance of daily life.

Denial

Due to rising stress, you keep blaming others and external circumstances rather than recognizing that overcommitment is taking a toll on you.
Denial of your situation leads to irritation and mental exhaustion. A very common scenario is when someone with a heavy workload unexpectedly lashes out—for example, shouting at a junior or getting irritated in slightly difficult situations.

I am sure you have experienced a moment in your life when you thought, “That’s it. I can’t take this anymore. This is too much for me to handle.” Maybe the situation wasn’t that bad, but you were under too much pressure to handle it. Recognizing the denial stage is crucial.

Withdrawal

As you get irritated and behave unlike yourself, you start to feel guilty, which causes more stress. Unable to handle yourself properly, you give up on trying and instead isolate yourself.

This situation can unfold in two ways:

You are afraid of hurting others with your stressed state, so you think, Maybe I should reduce communication to avoid further problems.
You feel that situations are unfair and your expectations are not being met properly, so you start to withdraw from friends and people around you.

Signs: Isolation, canceling social plans, ignoring interactions, and losing interest in things you used to love.

Emptiness and Depersonalization

Withdrawal and isolation eventually lead to feeling alone and empty. Feeling lonely means that even in a room full of people, you still feel isolated.

Have you ever felt like you are doing your work just for the sake of doing it, and it makes no difference? This feeling of unworthiness is a common symptom of burnout. You start to feel like everything in your life is meaningless.

Reduced empathy and indifference toward work and people, along with emotional detachment, are known as depersonalization. These signs harm your relationships and performance, increasing stress to a harmful level.

Depression and Numbness

With constant stress, irritation, and detachment, you fall into depression. People live by holding onto something. In this stage, you are just existing, feeling numb, and unable to take any steps to uplift yourself.

Signs: Lack of motivation, feeling exhausted all the time, constant cynical thoughts, and persistent sadness.

Exhaustion and Collapse

This is the final stage of burnout. At this point, without medical help and therapy, people can develop severe mental illness.

Signs: Inability to perform daily tasks, feeling drained all the time, and collapsing into a cycle of sadness.

How to Heal from Burnout?

Burnout, stress, depression, or any other emotional or mental syndromes never heal from instant medication. A continuous healthy approach toward life and professional help will eventually lead to better progression. This is not medical advice but a lifestyle guide toward a happier you.

Identification Comes First

Without recognizing the problem first, the healing process can’t start. Understanding yourself comes first—follow your behavior and emotional patterns and accept that you are stressed or burned out and need to address this problem. The more you stay in denial, the more you progress toward a critical stage of mental barriers.

Learn to Say ‘No’

Setting boundaries is the first step toward self-love. Learn to say ‘no’ to situations and people you don’t want to be around. Stop taking every responsibility upon yourself. If you start setting boundaries, managing your space will be easier. I used to face difficulties in refusing anyone. Some situations were such that I deliberately took on so much workload that my schedule was crashing. From my mistakes, I have learned that saying ‘no’ sometimes creates inner peace. What else matters?

Recognize Your People-Pleasing Attitude

This might sound offensive, but it’s true that most of us are always trying to please others—be it your boss, your partner, or anyone. People-pleasing behavior is common among us; we think we are hurting someone by refusing. But remember that we cannot make everyone happy. The attitude of doing everything for others builds higher expectations. Then, when we don’t get the desired feedback from the other side, the disappointments are hard to endure. Why cause this pain for yourself?

Practice this mindset—you will only do what is healthy within your boundaries.

Set Your Priorities First

Managing work, relationships with partners, friends, family, and self—there are so many things, right? It’s normal to get overwhelmed from time to time. That’s why setting priorities matters. Even at work, everything is not equally important. Think about what matters to you most. For someone, career might be everything; for others, family might be their priority. What is the one thing you want the most in your life? Never bargain with that. You will find it easier to manage everything within your ability.

Prioritize Yourself First

Whatever happens in life, your mental and physical well-being come first. Nothing matters more in this world than yourself. If you collapse, then that’s the end. Make your sleep, appetite, and self-care top priorities—then everything else will follow automatically.

Focus on Building a Healthy Bond with People

Studies have shown that people who have a strong social circle and bonding live longer and happier than isolated ones. Interactions with friends and family help relieve stress. A strong social circle boosts confidence and community strength. The Japanese concept of ikigai promotes that a strong community helps people live longer than lonely, wealthy individuals.

Prioritize bonding over materialistic baggage.

Connect with Nature

Nature heals like nothing else. A daily 10-20 minute walk in nature will reduce frustration and stress. Take time to connect with nature every day. Understanding oneself, creative ideas, and problem-solving skills all improve when bonding with greenery.

Reconnect with Your Hobbies and Interests

I used to sketch and read books a lot. I was the happiest when I completed a detective book or a sketch. Over time, my hobbies disappeared in the crowd of exams, preparations, and work. Recently, stress and anxiety led me back to reading (a small step toward healing myself). I have realized how amazing it feels to reconnect with the things I used to love.

Do the same. Start making time for your hobbies. Reconnect with everything you stopped doing because of workload.

Build Long-Term Habits

Change doesn’t come overnight, and overnight changes don’t last long. Long-term habits are lifelong companions that won’t betray you in times of despair. Healthy habits work like healing properties during low phases of life.

Maybe a healthy sleep schedule, exercise, vacations, or spending time with family—these habits shape people’s identities. When a person feels burnout, long-term habits give them a sense of calm, ownership, and belonging.

Healthy Coping Mechanisms

Addiction is a coping mechanism. Social media scrolling to avoid overthinking or using drugs to escape sadness—these are common traits. In times of exhaustion and stress, hold on to healthy mechanisms that work best for you:

Journaling, running
Laughter therapy (watching comedy films)
Exercise, yoga
Breathing exercises to reduce anxiety
Meditation and mindfulness
Taking a break for a tour

Accept the Imperfections

Imperfection is the beauty of nature, yet we continuously fight to be perfect. But we can’t be, and that leads to frustration and burnout. Work hard and give effort to your responsibilities, keeping in mind that they won’t be perfect but will be the best of your ability.

Seek Professional Help

All of the above are healthy ways of dealing with life’s struggles. But when burnout reaches a critical point, those might not work. If you feel like things are beyond your control, seek professional help before it worsens. Experts will help you reclaim your life with medication, therapy, and whatever steps are necessary.

To live with fulfillment, one needs to follow a healthy path. Keep yourself out of over-stress and over-commitment. Find healthy life habits and identify your patterns.