Written by: Amy Korchinski, Registered Clinical Counsellor at Peak Resilience
Book a session with me | amy@somacuro.com
I worked in the corporate world for over 15 years and eventually I experienced burnout.
What Is Burnout?
Burnout is more than just being tired. It’s feeling drained, cut off from others, and like nothing you do really matters anymore. If you do not catch it early, burnout can lead to serious issues like fatigue depression, anxiety, and even long-term health conditions. It can also lower morale at work, reduce productivity, and make people leave their jobs, especially in jobs that involve caring for others, where emotional effort is high (Melamed et al., 2006).
Why Burnout Is on the Rise
More people are burning out than ever before. We live in a world that pushes constant work, with blurred lines between our jobs and personal lives. Burnout is not just caused by long hours. I believe it goes deeper and is about the dimming of your inner light, your purpose, your motivation, and your connection to what once made your work feel meaningful. Burnout can feel like a loss of connection to Self.
Why Self-Connection Matters
Staying in touch with your emotions, values, boundaries and what matters to you can help prevent burnout. When we lose sight of who we are and why we do what we do, we can start to feel empty and exhausted. Rest is important, but healing burnout takes more than that. It takes reconnecting with yourself and finding meaning again in what you do (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Spotting Burnout Early
It is easier to heal from burnout if you catch it early. According to Maslach & Leiter (2016), signs to look for:
- Constant fatigue
- Feeling irritable or short-tempered
- Trouble getting things done or feeling overwhelmed
- Feeling numb or checked out
- Not caring like you used to
- You might feel like you’re just going through the motions
What Helps?
To fight burnout, it helps to:
- Take time to reflect on how you’re really feeling
- Set clear limits between work and rest
- Reach out for support from friends, coworkers, or a therapist
- Try practices like mindfulness, journaling, or setting goals based on your values
- Work with a therapist like me, on finding ways to get connected back to Self and creating a life you love
These tools can help you feel more grounded, clear, and connected to Self again (Kakiashvili et al., 2013; Luken & Sammons, 2016; Regehr et al., 2014).
Let’s Work Together
If you resonate with any of this, I would be happy to chat with you. You can book a free consultation with me here or email me directly at amy@somacuro.com.
References
Kakiashvili, T., Leszek, J., & Rutkowski, K. (2013). The medical perspective on burnout. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, 26(3), 401–412. https://doi.org/10.2478/s13382-013-0093-3
Luken, M., & Sammons, A. (2016). Systematic review of mindfulness practice for reducing job burnout. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 70(2), 7002250020p1–7002250020p10. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2016.016956
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Burnout. In G. Fink (Ed.), Stress: Concepts, cognition, emotion, and behavior (pp. 351–357). Academic Press.
Melamed, S., Shirom, A., Toker, S., Berliner, S., & Shapira, I. (2006). Burnout and risk of cardiovascular disease: Evidence, possible causal paths, and promising research directions. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 327–353. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.327
Regehr, C., Glancy, D., & Pitts, A. (2014). Interventions to reduce stress in university students: A review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 148(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.11.026Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
