Jo van Every – Spotlight on: Burnout

I published my first post with “burnout” in the title, “Burnout is real”,  in 2022. We were just coming out of the most intense phase of the COVID pandemic disruptions. The term was familiar to people, but the idea that it might be a real diagnosable medical condition was less well known. It might still be.

In March 2024, I interviewed a client of mine who had taken sick leave for burnout about her experience with clinically significant burnout. I learned a lot from that conversation. It gave me a different perspective on the situations other clients were facing, and a new perspective on some of the topics I’ve been writing about for years.

Burnout is characterised by severe fatigue. Physical fatigue may even result in collapsing at work. That physical fatigue will be accompanied by cognitive fatigue, symptoms of which include inability to concentrate, memory problems, and so on. Fatigue also contributes to emotional dysregulation.

Another major sign of burnout is starting to hate what you used to love. This may also present as a kind of malaise in which things seem meaningless.

Burnout is caused by exceeding your capacity for an extended period of time. Your physical capacity. Your cognitive capacity. Your emotional capacity. Your body will use adrenaline and cortisol to help you do this, but at some point, even your adrenal glands will give up. I hope you don’t get there.

If you get to that extreme stage, it is going to take time to recover. It is crucial to address fatigue earlier.

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