We talk a lot about burnout like it’s just a mindset problem, but it’s not. It’s a full-body breakdown with very real physical consequences.
When you think of burnout, what do you think?
Stressed beyond measure?
Frustrated?
Anxious?
Tired?
Sure, all of those things. But what about the other side of burnout? What’s happening under the surface? Yes, we can simply say “exhaustion,” but is that enough? Is it just tiredness or physical exhaustion, and that’s it? No. It’s not.
Whenever I’m speaking at a company or an event, I ask this: “How many of you have heard that stress is the number one killer?” Around 90% of the audience raises their hands.
I then follow up with, “How many of you take it seriously?” and you’d be surprised at how many hands start to lower.
And I think that’s the dilemma. We’ve been told that stress can drastically impact our health, but we don’t take it seriously… not until it’s a glaringly obvious issue, and by that time, it’s usually impacting every aspect of your life.
With 79% of the UK workforce experiencing burnout in 2024 and 82% of Senior Business Leaders also experiencing burnout, we’re at epidemic levels. And on top of that, the NHS is struggling with ever-growing waiting lists.
What Is Burnout?
Before we start looking at how burnout destroys your health, let’s have a little refresher of what burnout is, shall we?
Burnout is physical, mental, and emotional fatigue that stems from chronic stress (and if I were the WHO, I would add the caveat that it doesn’t just happen in the workplace… chronic stress, regardless of where it comes from, will lead to burnout. I shall leave that caveat out…).
The Biggest Causes of Burnout
- Life and relationship stress
- Unmanageable workloads
- Perfectionism/internal pressure
- Toxic workplace
- Financial stress
- Caregiving
- Lack of support or recognition
Just to name a few…
Of course, you can have a variety of different stressors. By themselves and in short bursts, they won’t typically lead to burnout, but over time and under varying factors? Absolutely can. And that’s why it’s so sneaky.
But What Does It Do to Your Body?
Let’s break it down into four key categories:
Sleep Disruption
Burnout throws your nervous system into overdrive. Your brain stays stuck in “go mode,” making it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or feel rested when you wake up. Even if you do manage a full night in bed, your body often hasn’t hit the deeper, restorative stages of sleep. Cue the morning brain fog, short fuse, and endless need for caffeine.
Gut Health
I love talking about gut health. This is something near and dear to my heart. Trying to fit it into a blog post is going to be hard, but I’m going to give it a red hot go! (PS: I started my career as a nutritionist and ended up a gut health specialist… how could I not love talking about gut health?)
Stress of any kind will impact gut health. When you’re in the fight-or-flight response, your body does not care about digesting your sandwich for lunch. All it cares about is fighting or running away from that stress.
Okay, cool?
But what happens when you’re under chronic stress? Well, your body doesn’t differentiate between short-term stress or chronic stress. It’s going to assume you must be running away constantly.
Leaving you unable to digest food properly.
What does that mean?
- IBS
- IBD
- Allergies
- Intolerances
- Autoimmune disease flare-ups
Just to name a few.
Lowered Immunity
Ever wondered why you get sick the first few days of your holidays? Kinda sucks, right?
Or why you catch EVERYTHING going around?
Or even why you can’t seem to fight anything off, and that illness that started off as a cold has taken on a form of its own?
Yeah… That’s chronic stress for you.
When we’re in the fight-or-flight response, our bodies do not care about fighting off bugs. It takes a huge amount of energy to do so, but you’re running and/or fighting for your life, so there aren’t a lot of resources to fight whatever you come into contact with.
But either the minute you slow down or when your body finally can’t take it, that’s when it will hit.
Inflammation
And this is the big one. This is REALLY where that whole “stress is the number one killer” comes into play.
When you’re under chronic stress, which leads to burnout, your body’s natural inflammatory response gets skewed, and it can end up causing low-grade inflammation throughout the body. Think joint pain, more severe gut health issues, skin issues (eczema, psoriasis, etc.), impact on your hormones, and in the long term, impact on your cardiovascular system (think heart attacks and strokes).
What’s really challenging is that this is when you start to get health issues that might be vague and difficult to describe. You can go to the doctors, and they won’t be able to find anything wrong. This can be infuriating, and it’s all to do with stress.
Final Thoughts
If this sounds familiar, if your body’s been throwing up red flags, you’re not imagining it. Burnout doesn’t just drain your energy. It affects everything.
The good news? You can turn it around and that’s what I help people do every day.
Next week, we will be going through the first steps of overcoming burnout. So make sure you subscribe and follow along.
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Ps If this sounds like you or maybe people in your team, feel free to reach out to me or book in a call. OR check out our webinars/talks or executive training course.
