Your body knows you have burnout. Here's how to spot it.

It was a very average day when everything went wrong for Taryn.

She was in the kitchen — as she was most mornings — preparing school lunches and getting her seven-year-old twins out the door, which she describes as "chaos in itself".

It had been a difficult time for her. Taryn had been facing big life events and problems with her extended family for years, on top of the daily load of life as a parent. Things were starting to pile up.

All of a sudden, Taryn became acutely aware of her heart.

"It was beating like it was going to burst from my chest, so strong, I could feel the pulsing in my head," she told Mamamia. "You instinctively try to appear normal for your kids, but inside, I had a million scenarios running through my head. 'Am I having a heart attack?'"

Taryn slid to the floor, overcome with the strange feeling that she was going to die. She called her husband to take the kids to school, which he promptly did before taking her to the hospital. The last question her son asked before being dropped off was: "Is Mummy going to die today?"

"It still breaks my heart writing it. My kids were petrified," she says.

It wasn't until she went to the emergency department, had her heart checked, and an IV drip placed in her arm that the doctors told her she definitely wasn't having a heart attack.

No, she'd had a panic attack.

That awful feeling that life was slipping away from her had been the result of severe, prolonged stress. The incident triggered Taryn to actually look into the long-term burnout she'd experienced over the years, and finally address it. She now runs Centred Magazine, where she often discusses burnout and what she calls 'integrated exhaustion'. 'Integrated' because the exhaustion isn't isolated (it's the combined effect of multiple stressors) and 'exhaustion' to convey the severity, she explains.

Unsurprisingly, Taryn is not the only Australian woman who has reached her wits' end.

@sharnlarissa Rest? Never. #burnout #healing #adhd #wlw #coping #rest ♬ original sound - Youranxietyislying2yew 🖤

In a 2024 Liptember study, burnout was the leading reason for more than half of working women to experience a decline in their mental health.

This was followed closely by the mental load and the juggle of work, life and family balance. It's clear Australia's women are overloaded and under supported. And it's stealing our wellbeing right from under our feet.

When we began to reach out to everyday Australians about their struggles with burnout, the response was intense. This was not one or two people. It is a huge proportion of our society who feel that they are pouring from an empty cup.

It's a feeling that mum of three and business owner Rebecca* knows all too well. For her, the final straw was when she crashed her family car, and couldn't remember how old her son was. She was burnt out so badly that she needed to rest for over six weeks in order to recover.

We also spoke to Nirusha, who ended up in hospital at the end of 2024 because of burnout.

Listen to Mamamia's new Well. podcast, a full body health check for the Australian woman. Post continues below.

"I have a lot of personal and work-related stress, I think burnout was inevitable," she told Mamamia. She also suffers from Type 1 diabetes and depression, and eventually needed medication and an inpatient stay to get her physical wellbeing under control.

"I think it's very hard for people to understand the mental load of a chronic condition," she says. "You never get a day off, you can never give someone else the responsibility or 'switch off'. Diabetics have to make an extra 180 decisions per day!"

Alex was living life with ADHD and had two children with the same neurodivergence. She says that she had to resign from her job to regain some "semblance of sanity, control, flexibility and peace."

"Burnout stole joy from our lives for years. We were flat. Always flat. Always just trying to keep our heads above water."

For others, their burnout is leading them to finally get the support they need. We spoke to Kerry, whose counsellor says she may be experiencing autistic burnout.

"I am nervous about an ASD assessment, but at the same time hopeful that some understanding and accommodations might actually help to improve my situation," she says. "

@nott.clarity

it comes in waves and not everyday is what we hope it to be

♬ burnout - emma chamberlain quotes ♡

Even Mamamia staffer Charlie Begg has opened up about the impact that burnout had on her.

"One Saturday night, while I was curled up on the couch watching a movie, I felt numb. Tears rolled down my face, and I had no idea why. It got to the point where it was affecting me every day. I would either snap out of nowhere, or burst into tears.

"During my appointment with my GP, I kept repeating to her, 'I'm not myself. I can't stop crying or getting angry or feeling sad.'"

None of these women are alone. They are sharing their stories so that the countless other women like them realise that their feelings are very common, that they are valid. That being at the end of your tether with no way to ease that stress is not OK. 

Burnout is a cruel reality, where we try to navigate a hamster wheel that feels impossible to get off.

So, what is burnout, and what can we actually do about it? I sat down with two clinical psychologists to ask our burning questions, no pun intended.

Do you have burnout, or are you just tired?

Hands up if you're soul-weary and burnt out. Image: What To Expect When You're Expecting

No, burnout isn't just feeling tired or like you're fed up with work every now and again. According to clinical psychologist Amanda Gordon of Edgecliff's Armchair Psychology, it's a lot more than that.

"Burnout is when you are no longer coping with things that you used to, and it's related, usually, to the amount of work that you are doing in that area," Gordon told Mamamia. "So, it can come either from the physical states that you get into as a result of the work you're doing, or the emotional."

She says it often creeps in subtly, but there are signs to watch for. 

"You're not enjoying what you're doing anymore, finding it harder to get up in the morning and get ready and say, 'I'm doing it.' You start with being reluctant to make those calls. You get tired for no reason," she describes.

Mood shifts and avoidance of everyday responsibilities are also common indicators. She says that some people might find they "start avoiding ordinary activity", and can "feel pretty lousy in yourself — sometimes a little bit irritable."

For clinical psychologist at Relationships Australia NSW, Elisabeth Shaw, burnout is often confused with fatigue, but in reality, they are very different. She says burnout is a much deeper and more chronic feeling. 

"When you're talking about burnout, it's more of a pervasive, persistent experience. And so, it's not about having a bad day or a bad week necessarily. Really, it's where you have a sense of emotional, psychological fatigue," she tells Mamamia. 

She explains, "You find that your mindset is more consistently negative, and the energy that you would have once brought to things seems to have really ebbed away."

Unfortunately, burnout isn't the kind of feeling that can be fixed by an early night. Leaving at 4pm instead of 5pm is not going to de-program weeks of wearing ourselves down.

When we start to get really burnt out, we need to look at more prolonged solutions to re-frame our situations, and allow ourselves to heal.

Your body might be sending SOS signals.

While burnout might start off emotionally, it can easily manifest in the body. Gordon explains that what we used to call "stress" has evolved into our modern understanding of burnout, and that the symptoms can be very physical.

"Some people develop aches and pains. Some people are just tired. Some can have digestive problems — just about any physical symptom can sort of rear its ugly head," she says.

"A sore neck can be symbolic of carrying too much weight on your shoulders. A sore gut — you're almost being made sick by all that you're being asked to do."

Gordon recommends treating it as if you were recovering from a serious illness. 

"You have a light diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. You do gentle exercise. You take lots of breaks. You rest. You make sure you have good sleep hygiene," she says. "By looking after your body, your mind will start to recover as well."

In this way, burnout becomes living proof of how deeply connected our minds and bodies really are.

Watch: Well podcast hosts Claire Murphy and Dr Mariam talk about the real truth behind period pain. Post continues below.

Burnout can spill over into our social life.

While burnout is seen as a personal battle, unfortunately, our friendships can take a hit too. It doesn't just drain our energy, but our capacity to interact with others.

Anyone who has been at the end of their tether and snapped when the smallest thing goes wrong will relate to this one. Irritability and frustration are natural companions of burnout.

Shaw explains, "Everything feels overwhelming, even though you know, once upon a time, you would have taken things in your stride... You feel more overwhelmed. You can feel more protective of what you do." This heightened sensitivity can affect how we interact with others, making it more difficult to handle even minor setbacks.

Shaw explains, "When you're burnt out, you tend to look more negatively right across your life. The strategies that would have once topped you up, like maybe a night out with friends, you come back and feel as flat as ever."

This can cause us to unintentionally push others away. 

"We become at the mercy of our own dark thoughts, and we'll often look for the 'new thing' to cheer us along," Shaw notes, adding that burnout is often beyond the situation. "Changing the workplace in itself won't necessarily make a big difference," she says.

She equates it to thinking a ride on the Titanic would be more comfortable if you just swapped out the chairs. Either way, the ship is still sinking, and it's that which we need to address.

"Who even am I anymore?"

@_journeystartshere This hits too close to home. #burnout #burntout #depressed #adhd #therapy #bedrotting ♬ original sound - 🎸🍸

One of the lesser talked-about areas of burnout is the way that it can slowly chip away at our identity, sense of purpose and self-worth.

Shaw says this happens to the most capable and hyper-independent amongst us. We're so used to being self-sufficient, that finding everything difficult all of a sudden feels like failure.

"If you have believed yourself to be resilient and optimistic, then an experience of burnout could really feel like you're letting the side down," she explains.

This disconnection from who we once were can feel like an existential crisis for some. She says these people tend to fight burnout, masking it while drowning under the weight of the pressure.

"Some people aren't tolerant and will fight the very idea of it because it's so at odds with how they see themselves," she says. "Some people who are defending against burnout do the opposite, where they think, 'I need to kick-start a better mood. So I will volunteer for a lot of things. I'll double down and work harder...'" 

This can create a cycle of overwork that doesn't actually address the root cause of burnout, but temporarily alleviates the feeling of failing.

Often these people's friends and families that end up being the ones to call it out.

"When people are trying to keep the show on the road, it can be others who notice it more," she says.

"But other people have it worse."

One of the toughest parts of burnout is the guilt and comparison game many of us play. We think we're not entitled to be burnt out. That other people soldier on and so should we.

Gordon sees this a lot in women.

"We all have different levels of capacity. We shouldn't compare ourselves to others in terms of who is doing what," she says. 

"There are some people who really need to stop by seven o'clock every evening and can't do anything after that. There are some people who love to get up at five and go to the gym… You must know what works for you."

While society is slowly shifting, largely women still carry the invisible burden of emotional and household labour. "Even in couples who are entirely even-handed in everything, it tends to be [the woman] who takes on that organisation," she says.

Shaw agrees that women may face a heightened risk of burnout due to both the mental and physical load they carry. 

"Women are more at risk of it because not only do they literally do more domestic duties and caring duties on top of paid work, and there's plenty of research on that... women are socialised to worry."

The constant juggling act of managing home responsibilities and work obligations can create overwhelm, which makes it difficult for women to fully unplug and recharge.

The message? If you're feeling like what you've got is something worse than plain exhaustion, listen to it. Your body is trying to tell you something. As women, we need to give ourselves a bit of grace here. 

Some people are more at risk of burnout than others.

@nursesibs I legitimately called my boss after almost 6 weeks of mental health leave to quit… forever grateful she was accomodating of what I needed to come back to my passion 🫀👩🏼‍⚕️ #nurse #nursesoftiktok #registerednurse #burnout #nursinglife ♬ original sound - Nurse Sibs

Wonder why some people seem to float through life without batting an eyelid? It could be because of their personality traits. Shaw says that personality — in particular those with perfectionistic tendencies — can play into being more likely to experience burnout.

"People who, for a variety of reasons, over-function, those with tendencies toward perfectionism and people-pleasing are more vulnerable to burnout," she explains, adding that those who are overly anxious about performance or who struggle to delegate tasks are also at a greater risk.

Shaw says that people in care-taking professions, whose jobs rely on their constant empathy and putting others first, can also seriously struggle when it comes to getting burnt out.

"There are people in the helping professions, for example, nursing, community services generally, who often really do self-defeating things like put themselves last," Shaw explains.

She says that many people's nature in these professions is to help first, and that they may feel the need to care for others at the expense of their own well-being.

Burnout can morph into something more sinister.

The physical toll of burnout can also have deeper neurological implications if prolonged over time. Shaw explains that burnout shares similarities with depression, particularly in how it affects the brain's ability to process stress.

"Calling it 'burnout' can stop people taking it seriously and noticing when they've slipped into depression… because some of the features are the same," she explains.

This overlap can make it challenging to differentiate between the two conditions.

Shaw adds, "For some people, medication may play a role [to address depression]. Certainly, some therapy can play a role. Having someone sift through these thoughts with us and try and look at things in new ways can assist with decision-making."

How to pull yourself back from the brink of burnout.

So what do you do if you're feeling the signs of burnout creeping in? First, acknowledge it. Then, act before you're completely overwhelmed.

"Sometimes just acknowledging that you need to take a break from work, but doing it sensibly," Gordon advises. "You don't have to apply for stress leave straight away. If you've got leave accrued, take some of it.

"Taking a regular long weekend throughout the year, even using up some of your holiday leave, is a good way of protecting against burnout," she says.

But most importantly, don't wait until you're completely spent.

"It's honest and responsible for yourself to say, I need to have a break from time to time. It's healthy to do so."

Gordon recommends a few simple, protective coping tools. "Connect with others. Do something a bit out of your comfort zone and come back again and look at what it meant," she says. "Being out in nature, in the sunshine, can make an enormous difference to your sense of well-being."

And while it might feel tempting to take the edge off with wine or coffee, she suggests otherwise. "Non-caffeine drinks, non-alcoholic drinks are really helpful. One of the worst things you can do is say, I'll fix this by having a few drinks. It doesn't work. It makes it feel worse."

Above all, Gordon stresses that burnout is temporary and treatable. "Don't say, 'Oh my God, I've got burnout. This is terrible. I have to change careers.' Take responsibility for yourself and have a break," she says. "We're not machines, and we do need those breaks."

Four easy steps to deal with burnout. 

Know when it's time to take action. Image: Gilmore Girls.

When you're burntout, the last thing you want to do is add something to the to-do list. Shaw recommends following these easy steps to take things off your plate, to then also fill it up with the things that are going to nourish your soul. 

1. Bring back your self-care.

"People give up on their self-care... they avoid meetings, avoid social contact... some people might work from home, feeling that it's a buffer, but in fact, they're not getting the socialisation they need," she says. 

Shaw stresses that self-care isn't just about physical rest but also about emotional recovery and staying connected with others.

2. Drop what you can.

Shaw suggests taking a step back and evaluating your workload. "Do these things really need doing? And secondly, do they need doing by me?" she suggests asking ourselves. 

By sorting through tasks and responsibilities, we can relieve some of the pressure we place on ourselves.

3. Insulate your self-esteem.

Don't let your sense of self become eroded just because you're feeling overwhelmed. 

She explains, "If you believe yourself to be a failure, or you believe yourself to be an under performer, then what that does — it gets away from the fact that you just might be exhausted."

Be sure to give yourself some peace. It's important not to be too hard on ourselves. 

4. Take action.

Finally, Shaw encourages people to take burnout seriously and take appropriate action. "Be prepared to take the right level of action on this," she says. "It could involve taking a whole month off just to see if it is your particular job or something else. You can rest."

She also suggests finding time away from the problem, whether it's through taking extended leave, working part-time, or having regular long weekends. By understanding the root causes and taking proactive steps, we can better manage burnout and its long-term effects.

What should you do for food and exercise when you're burnt out?

Laura Henshaw knows first-hand what it's like to be burnt out. Image: Laura Henshaw/KIC

KIC co-founder & CEO, Laura Henshaw, knows all about what it's like to face serious overwhelm. 

"I'm no stranger to burnout. I know that in the past, I've pushed myself too hard (whether that be with work, social or exercise commitments, or a combo of all), I've injured myself, experienced panic attacks, and seriously burnt myself out," she tells Mamamia. 

Since experiencing this, she's really focused on how to approach diet and exercise as tools to help alleviate burnout, rather than add to it. "I give myself permission to really listen to what my body needs. Sometimes, that's a long run to clear my mind; other times, it's meditation and rest," she says. 

Ironically, well-being burnout is also possible, where we push ourselves to keep up with unrealistic health standards, making us feel drained of energy. 

According to KIC's physio, Ash Ormond, we can use exercise to boost mood, sleep and stress regulation, but should wade into it carefully. 

"If your nervous system is already running on empty, even movement might start to feel like another stressor," she says. "Chronic stress impacts your nervous system, and may affect how your body regulates cortisol levels (ie your stress hormone), which might make it harder to recover or feel energised after a workout.

"If your workouts are leaving you feeling more grounded, refreshed, or energised, amazing, you can likely keep going! But if they're leaving you drained, flat, or more exhausted than before, it might be your body gently telling you (see also: screaming) to rest," she adds. "And I mean a real rest, not just a lighter workout. And if rest, sleep, and self-care aren't helping after a few weeks, it's best to check in with your GP or healthcare provider."

When it comes to food, most of us will overthink it. 

"There was a time when food noise (intrusive thoughts about food) completely consumed my mind," Laura explained. "In the past, this constant, all-consuming mental load around food definitely drained my energy and led to feelings of burnout."

So, KIC's dietitian, Liv Morrison, recommends focusing on 'adding' foods, rather than restricting certain foods.

"Instead of cutting out sugar or carbs for example, focus on adding more protein, fruit, veggies and grains. Or instead of reducing takeaway — focus on increasing your home-cooked meals," she says. "That way you're setting yourself up with a clear, proactive plan on what to do — rather than focusing on what not to eat — which only fuels food noise and overwhelm."

Reframing burnout as a superpower.

Burnout is usually framed as a red flag — a sign that we've taken on too much, stretched too far, or lost our grip. But Gordon says there's another way to look at it: not as a weakness, but as a kind of emotional intelligence. 

"We don't have to see it as a burden. We can see it as a gift — that we know what's going on," she says. It's a shift in perspective that burnout isn't a failure to cope, but a powerful signal from our body and mind that something needs to change. 

Rather than ignoring or pushing through it, Gordon suggests embracing burnout as an early warning system — a built-in check engine light that asks us to pause, reassess, and realign.

Part of this realignment comes down to knowing ourselves better. Burnout, in this light, becomes less about weakness and more about wisdom — the recognition that your current way of living or working isn't sustainable, and that's something worth listening to. 

It's an invitation to get curious about your limits, your needs, and what genuinely fuels you. Instead of seeing burnout as something to be ashamed of, she encourages people to see it as an opportunity to grow into a more grounded, intentional version of themselves.

Recognising burnout as a signal rather than a flaw can be empowering. It invites us to make small but significant changes — not necessarily to quit our jobs or overhaul our lives, but to bring them back into balance. 

That might look like taking a long weekend before we're desperate for one, saying no without guilt, or even just acknowledging that we're running on empty. 

Burnout isn't a failure — it's feedback. And when we listen to it, it can actually lead us to a more sustainable, personalised version of success.

* Names changed for privacy reasons.

Featured image: Getty.

Well by Mamamia. Australian women, welcome to your full-body health check. At Well, our goal is to improve the health of one million Aussie women by delivering the game-changing health info they actually need. This initiative is made possible through the support of our presenting partner, Chemist Warehouse, and our mind topic sponsors, Ostelin and Medibank.