The difference between stress and burnout, and recovery tips

I’ve been thinking a lot about burnout because it’s hard to meet a helping professional nowadays who isn’t or hasn’t felt burned out over the course of the last two years and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant, and in many cases, negative impact on therapists, social workers, and doctors, etc. After reflecting on my own experience, I thought about how the number of trainings I took on burnout couldn’t have prepared me for the real thing. I knew the signs, I knew what it could do, but yet I had trouble recognizing it in myself, which now reminds me of something a trainer and psychologist once said to us, “Others around you might notice it before you do.” Hindsight is 20/20 and now it makes more sense than ever and highlights the importance of community. I learned that burnout can be subtle and gradual, and checking in with others for feedback is a necessity. It also had me wondering about the difference between stress and burnout. They are two things that are linked and often used interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing, or are they? So, how do we know which is which? Below I’ll share what I found in the research and what I’ve learned over the course of my career.

What is burnout?

Google defines burnout as the “physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.” Burnout is caused by prolonged stress and it can be a subtle and gradual process. The term was first coined by the psychologist Herbert Freudenberger in the 1970s when he was studying stress in the helping professions. Social psychologist Christina Maslach and colleagues have since contributed to the research by studying burnout in various professions such as IT, business, and sports among others. In the 1980s, Maslach and Jackson defined burnout as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment.” Burnout is characterized by feeling emotionally drained, having difficulty coping, experiencing cynicism about the workplace and/or colleagues, and reduced performance at work and/or home. Burnout is not a diagnosis though research shows that it may increase the risk of depression or anxiety. Some possible causes of burnout may include unclear or high expectations, heavy workload, unhealthy or abusive work dynamics, and a lack of support, among other things.

Signs of burnout:

• Feeling demoralized
• Experiencing self-doubt
• Frequent muscle pain or headaches
• Low motivation
• Changes in appetite or sleep
• Trouble concentrating and foggy thinking
• Isolating from others
• Taking out anger/frustrations on others
• Increased relationship conflicts
• Feeling your efforts are undervalued
• Misusing substances
• Feeling like you’re on autopilot
• Dreading work
• Neglecting your needs

What’s short-term* stress?

Google defines stress as “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.” Stress is common and a normal human reaction to a challenge or a stressor that may occur in daily life such as traffic, conflict with a loved one, presentation at work, and organizing events. Stress is not always a “bad thing.” For example, if you’re feeling stressed about a school project, it may encourage you to prepare for said project thus help you meet your goals. I won’t go into here, but chronic stress* is different, and research shows chronic stress may harm your health over time.

What’s the difference?

A lot of the signs of short-term stress are similar to burnout signs such as feeling tired, easily frustrated, muscle tension, worry, stomach issues, etc., which makes sense as the research explains burnout as prolonged stress. However, this article created a helpful chart detailing the main distinctions between stress and burnout. While stress is “characterized by over-engagement,” burnout is “characterized by disengagement.” While stress is marked by emotions that are overreactive, burnout is set apart by emotions that are blunted. While stress is distinguished as “loss of energy,” burnout is characterized by “loss of motivation, ideals, and hope.”

Tips on Recovering from Burnout

Like most things, it’s not a clear-cut response. It may be a trial-and-error process. As we know, healing is nonlinear. I think it’s also important to acknowledge certain stressors such as systemic issues, low wages, racism, etc. that may contribute to burnout may be out of our immediate control. This is not a one-size-fits-all, some of these may be right for you and others may not be realistic. Consider your own experiences, take what resonates and leave the rest.

1. Admit it to yourself and those you trust. I always say the first step to making any change is having awareness of and naming the problem.

2. Create a recovery plan (a therapist can help with this). This plan may include taking PTO or having a conversation with you doctor about taking medical leave. If your life circumstances allow, this plan potentially could include exploring other opportunities and finding a new job altogether.

3. Prioritize and honor your needs. Is there an area of your life you’ve been neglecting? It may be time to prioritize rest, health, body movement, relaxation activities, and reconnecting with others in order to reconnect back with your true self. Not the self that your supervisors and other demanding figures want you to be but your most authentic self (only you know this).

4. Assess your boundaries. What’s taking away energy and what areas of your life need to be replenished? Is work taking too much energy and you’d like to spend more of your energy on your relationships or on exercising? This will mean setting boundaries at work and you may begin by saying “no” more often, asking for a reduction in workload, or decreasing your work hours.

5. Acknowledge and honor your feelings. How are you feeling? I like to call my feelings “visitors” or “guests” based on The Guest House poem by Rumi. Feelings are our guide. They are showing up for a reason, sometimes they knock and sometimes they barge in demanding attention. Your feelings may need something, for example anger or resentment may show up when you haven’t been setting boundaries and they recognize how depleted you’ve felt because of it. Sometimes your feelings may need you to simply sit with them rather “doing.” What can be done to honor these guests?

6. Seek help from those you deem safe like friends, family, mentors, supervisors, doctors, therapists, etc. You don’t have to do this alone. People are not mind readers, ask for what you need, and avoid assuming others will know this without stating your clear needs and expectations. As the great late bell hooks said “Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”

7. Learn from this experience. Once you find yourself with more energy and the mental capacity to reflect on your experience, learn from it. Identify what was missed and by doing so, you may learn more about your own signs of burnout. One of my major lessons was understanding that I cannot work for a system whose values and ethics do not align with my own. The idea is you’ll be better equipped to manage stress and if you experience burnout again that you’ll be able to identify the signs sooner, understand your needs better, and act on it faster.

I hope this was helpful in distinguishing the difference between stress and burnout as well as how to develop a plan for recovery. What questions are you left with? Please share any thoughts by commenting below. I look forward to hearing from you. Until next time—

References

1. Borresen, Kelsey. “The Difference Between Stress and Burnout (And How To Tell Which You Have).” HuffPost, 2020, www.huffpost.com/entry/difference-between-stress-burnout_l_5f6b8cb2c5b6189caefb34c7. Accessed 7 December 2021.“
2. “Depression: What is burnout?” NCIB, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/. Accessed 12 December 2021.
3. “5 Things You Should Know About Stress.” National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress. Accessed 14 December 2021.
4. Gabriel, Kelly P, and Herman Anguinis. “How to prevent and combat employee burnout and create healthier workplaces during crises and beyond.” Elsevier, doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.037. Accessed 14 December 2021.
5. Job burnout: How to spot it and take action.” MayoClinic, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/burnout/art-20046642. Accessed 7 December 2021.
6. Lubbadeh, Tareq. “Job Burnout: A General Literature Review.” IRMM, doi.org/10.32479/irmm.9398. Accessed 14 December 2021.
7. Maslach, Christina, Leiter, Michael P. “Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry.” Wiley Online Library, vol. 15, issue 2, 2016, doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311. Accessed 14 December 2021.
8. Salvagioni, Denise Albieri Jodas, et al. “Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies.” Plos One, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185781. Accessed 14 December 2021.
9. “Stress.” Cleveland Clinic, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11874-stress. Accessed 14 December 2021.
10. Smith, Melinda, Segal, Jeanne, and Lawrence Robinson. “Burnout Prevention and Treatment.” HelpGuide, www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm. Accessed 7 December 2021.