Chronic Stress and Burnout: Breaking the Cycle

Do you feel like too much is being demanded of you? You’re trying your best to keep your head above water, but it’s becoming more challenging with each passing day. Even when you catch your breath and take a break, the familiar fatigue still remains. 

When we’re subjected to chronic stress, we gradually deplete our physical, emotional, and mental reserves. Left unchecked, the relentless pressure we face leads to burnout. In this exhausted state, relatively minor setbacks can feel unbearable, causing us to doubt our own thoughts, feelings, and capabilities. Running a quick errand, writing a short email, or making a simple call can feel like an impossible task. 

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So Many Demands

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Today’s culture puts tremendous pressure on us to be productive. We are constantly bombarded with messages to do more at a faster pace. Our to-do lists are perpetually filled with more tasks with no end in sight. Frustratingly, the more productive we become, the more our schedule gets filled with additional tasks.

When we feel chronically overwhelmed, the enthusiasm we once had about our work, hobbies, and relationships begins to diminish. The people and things that used to bring us joy and satisfaction no longer do so. Our patience wanes and we become easily frustrated. We might find ourselves impulsively saying or doing something that we later regret. 

Perhaps the demands you face are largely internal. Coping strategies that you learned at an earlier time may be fueling your path towards burnout. When we aren’t in touch with our inherent value, we often work harder and harder to prove our worth. Over time as we continually neglect our needs for rest, recovery, and healthy boundaries, all aspects of our life begin to suffer. 

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Making a Change

Like most issues related to mental health, addressing burnout involves a multipronged approach that might include nervous system regulation, boundary setting, and clarifying one’s values and priorities. A place we might begin is by gently examining the conditions that led to this state. How did you get to be in this position and what changes can you make? Many stressors are not things that we can avoid, but we can shift and control how we relate to them. Counselling can be a place where we explore beliefs that can help make a situation feel more manageable. 

Importantly, burnout recovery also involves attending to our physical body which has been carrying the weight of our mental exhaustion. Listening to its physiological cues helps interrupt the spiral of stress and rebuilds trust between the body and mind. A tight chest, clenched jaw, or shallow breath are important messages from the body. Instead of ignoring these cues, we begin to view them as valuable information. 

If you resonate with these words, you don’t have to continue living in survival mode. I’d be happy to have a consultation call with you to see if we’d be a good fit.