What Burnout Actually is — and Why Rest Alone Does Not Fix It

The advice most commonly offered when you are experiencing burnout is "to rest". Take time off; step back". There is some truth in this, however, for most people, when you have genuinely reached burnout, rest alone does not resolve it. You return from a holiday or a quieter week and find that the depletion is still there and sometimes it is worse. Understanding why this is, requires a more nuanced account of what burnout actually is.

The difference between tiredness and burnout

Generally speaking, tiredness responds to recovery. Sleep and a few days away from the source of stress can make a meaningful difference. Burnout however, is something different. It is a state of prolonged depletion that has moved beyond the ordinary cycle of effort and recovery. The body that would normally recharge, has stopped responding.

Christina Maslach, whose research has shaped much of how burnout is understood, identifies three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism (or detachment), and a reduced sense of personal efficacy. The third dimension is especially important and often overlooked. Burnout is not simply feeling tired, it is also feeling that what you are doing no longer matters, or that you are no longer capable of doing it well.

What is actually depleted

It is not only our physical energy that burns out. We can also lose those internal resources that make sustained engagement possible. We lose our sense of purpose and the feeling that our efforts connect to outcomes. We can even lose the capacity to care about what we are doing.

The depletion can also spread, from one area of life (work, usually) to other areas. Our relationships can start to feel effortful. Activities that were we previously found restorative can lose their enjoyment. We start to withdraw from the things and relationships that might actually help, because we no longer have the emotional resources or mental capacity to engage with them.

The role of values, identity, and relational patterns

Burnout tends to develop when we have particular patterns: we find it difficult to say no, our sense of self is heavily tied to our competence or usefulness, we have learned to manage our own needs by attending closely to the needs of others. In these instances, burnout is not simply the result of us having too much work on our plate. It can be the result of life long patterns of placing our own needs and limits outside of the field of consideration.

What therapy can offer

Recovery from burnout requires more than rest. It requires us to honestly examine the conditions that produced the burnout in the first place. This is not just the external circumstances, but also the internal patterns that made those circumstances so depleting. Often this is routed in what we experienced or saw modelled in our early experiences. The things we were rewarded for and how we gained self esteem in our childhood and early adulthood. Therapy can offer a space to understand the wider picture of what has happened over time, and what would need to change for us to recover and avoid burnout moving forward.

If you are someone who rests and finds that the depletion still remains, it may be that rest is not quite the full picture of what is needed.

Dr Erin Reid is a counselling psychologist offering online, telephone and 'Walk and Talk' therapy. She works with adolescents, adults, couples, and families across the UK and internationally. Visit www.drerinreid.com to find out more.