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You know that feeling when your to-do list seems to multiply overnight, your inbox is overflowing, and you’re running on your third coffee before 10am? We’ve all been there. But here’s the question that keeps coming up in my practice: when does normal, everyday stress tip over into something more serious? What is stress vs burnout?
As a burnout therapist and coach, I see this confusion daily. People arrive at my door wondering if they’re “just stressed” or if something deeper is happening. The truth is, understanding the difference between stress and burnout isn’t just academic; it’s crucial for your wellbeing and knowing when to seek support.
What is Stress, Really?
Stress, in its healthiest form, is actually your body’s way of rising to meet a challenge. It’s that surge of energy you feel before a big presentation, the focus that kicks in when you’re working to a deadline, or the motivation that gets you through a particularly demanding week.
Here’s what I see in my practice: healthy stress has a rhythm. It comes, you meet the challenge, and then it goes. Your nervous system has a chance to reset. You might feel tired afterwards, but there’s often a sense of accomplishment, even satisfaction.
The research is clear on this: short-term stress can actually be beneficial, sharpening your focus and boosting performance. But the key word here is short-term.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law describes the relationship between stress and performance. It states that there is an optimal level of stress corresponding to an optimal level of performance. The below video by @Thinkdev describes this and shows how, when we are exposed to too much enduring stress, that our performance quickly falls. At its worst, this take people into burnout.
When Stress Becomes Something More
Burnout is what happens when that stress response gets stuck in the “on” position, or increases beyond that point at which we perform optimally. It’s not just feeling overwhelmed for a few days or weeks, it’s a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that develops over time.
You know that Sunday evening feeling when work thoughts start creeping in? Now imagine that feeling never really goes away. That’s your nervous system trying to tell you something important.
In my work using Hypno-CBT and ACT alongside coaching psychology, I help people recognise these patterns before they become entrenched. Because here’s the thing: burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual erosion that often goes unnoticed until you’re in quite deep. And the idea of stress vs burnout is something we work on refining over time.
The Three Key Differences: Physical, Emotional and Mental
Stress vs Burnout: Physical Differences
With stress, your body mobilises energy. You might feel energised (even if tired), your heart rate increases to help you perform, and once the stressor passes, your body naturally returns to baseline. Sleep might be affected temporarily, but it generally recovers.
With burnout, your body is depleted. You wake up tired despite sleeping, experience chronic fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest, and may notice changes in appetite, frequent headaches, or a weakened immune system. Your body has essentially used up its reserves.
I often explain it to clients like this: stress is like sprinting (intense but manageable for short bursts). Burnout is like trying to sprint a marathon; eventually, your body simply can’t keep up.
Stress vs Burnout: Emotional Differences
Stress tends to involve feeling overwhelmed but still emotionally engaged. You might feel anxious about a deadline, but you still care about the outcome. Your emotions are heightened but present.
Burnout brings emotional numbness and detachment. You might find yourself not caring about things that used to matter to you. There’s often a sense of cynicism or feeling emotionally “flat.” It’s not that you’re sad, it’s that you’ve stopped feeling much of anything.
Here’s what I notice in my practice: people with burnout often describe feeling like they’re “going through the motions” or watching their life from the outside. This emotional disconnection is one of the most telling signs that we’ve moved beyond healthy stress.
Stress vs Burnout: Mental Differences
Stress can actually sharpen your mental faculties in the short term. You might feel mentally “switched on,” able to focus intensely on the task at hand, though this can come with racing thoughts or difficulty switching off.
Burnout affects your cognitive function in concerning ways. You might notice difficulty concentrating, memory problems, or feeling mentally “foggy.” Decision-making becomes harder, and you might find yourself making more mistakes than usual.
The cognitive behavioural patterns I work with show that burnout often involves a shift in thinking, from “I can handle this challenge” to “I can’t cope with anything.” This mental shift is both a symptom and a maintaining factor of burnout.
The Progression: How Stress Becomes Burnout
Understanding this progression is crucial. It sometimes follows a pattern:
First, you experience increased demands or pressure. Your stress response kicks in, and initially, you might even perform well. But if the pressure continues without adequate recovery, your resources begin to deplete.
What I see in my practice is that people often push through this depletion phase, thinking they just need to “tough it out.” But without proper rest and recovery, the stress response becomes chronically activated.
Eventually, your system becomes overwhelmed. This is when the physical exhaustion, emotional numbness, and mental fog of burnout set in. Your body and mind are essentially saying, “We can’t do this anymore.” So it’s not really stress vs burnout, it’s stress becoming burnout.
Why this Matters to High-Achieving Women
Recognising where you are on this spectrum isn’t about labelling yourself, it’s about understanding what kind of support you need. If you’re experiencing healthy stress, you might benefit from stress management techniques, better boundaries, or simply ensuring you’re building in adequate recovery time.
But if you’re moving toward or experiencing burnout, you need a different approach. This is where therapeutic interventions become important. In my work, I use a combination of hypnotherapy, CBT, and ACT to help people not just recover from burnout, but develop the skills to prevent it from happening again.
The hypnotherapy helps reset your nervous system and create new neural pathways around stress and rest. The CBT work addresses the thinking patterns that contribute to burnout, while ACT helps you reconnect with your values and what truly matters to you.
Moving Forward
If you’re reading this and recognising yourself in the burnout description, please know that you’re not alone, and more importantly, this is treatable. Burnout isn’t a personal failing, it’s a sign that you’ve been giving more than you have to give for too long.
Recovery is possible, but it often requires support. Just as you wouldn’t expect to treat a physical injury without proper care, burnout benefits from professional guidance.
The integrated approach I use – combining coaching psychology with therapeutic techniques – addresses both the symptoms and the underlying patterns that contribute to burnout. It’s about more than just managing stress; it’s about creating a sustainable way of living and working that honours your wellbeing.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
If you’re recognising signs of burnout in yourself, or if you’re concerned about your stress levels, I’d love to support you. Working together, we can help you understand your unique patterns, develop effective coping strategies, and create a path back to feeling like yourself again.
The journey from burnout to wellbeing isn’t always linear, but with the right support and approach, it’s absolutely achievable. You deserve to feel energised, engaged, and excited about your life again.
If you’re interested in exploring how 1:1 support could help you navigate this transition, I invite you to book a free introductory call – this is a zero-pressure chat to see if we’re a good fit.
