Burnout: A Response to Chronic Stress

Many folks experience moments when effort no longer produces the results it once did. Energy feels limited, motivation is inconsistent, and even small tasks can feel surprisingly heavy. When this happens, it’s easy to assume something is wrong—to interpret exhaustion as a personal problem that needs fixing.

A more compassionate and accurate understanding is that burnout is information. It is a signal from the nervous system that it has been carrying more than it can sustainably hold.

As described by Emily and Amelia Nagoski in their research-backed book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, burnout is not a failure of resilience or willpower. It is what happens when stress is experienced over time without enough opportunity for the body to complete its stress response, recover, and restore a sense of safety.

Chronic stress often shows up quietly, long before we have words for what’s happening.

Stress Isn't the Issue—Unfinished Stress Is

Stress itself is not inherently harmful. Daily life includes stressors such as work demands, caregiving responsibilities, financial pressure, and uncertainty. The body is designed to respond to these challenges.

The problem arises when the stress response is repeatedly activated but never fully resolved.

When stress responses remain unfinished, the nervous system stays in a state of readiness—conserving energy, narrowing focus, and prioritizing survival. Over time, this can show up as:

• chronic fatigue

• emotional numbness or irritability

• difficulty concentrating

• feeling “stuck” or shut down

• a sense that rest never quite works

  
  

Seen through this lens, burnout is the product of a nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do in prolonged demand.

Why Burnout Can Feel Self-Directed

One of the most difficult aspects of burnout is that it often looks like a loss of motivation or capacity without a clear external cause. We may know what we want to do, care deeply about our responsibilities, and still feel unable to follow through.

This disconnect can lead to harsh self-judgment: Why can’t I do what used to be easy? Why does rest not seem to help?

From a nervous system perspective, these experiences make sense. When the body has been under prolonged stress, cognitive insight alone is rarely enough to create change.

Caregiving can be deeply meaningful—and profoundly exhausting at the same time.

Recovery Supports the Body First

A key insight from Burnout is that we cannot think our way out of a physiological state. While reflection and understanding are important, recovery requires attending to the body as well as the mind.

Burnout recovery often begins with small, embodied forms of support, such as:

• movement that feels grounding rather than demanding

• rest that allows the nervous system to settle, not just pause

• emotional expression in safe, attuned relationships

• moments of connection, laughter, or creativity

• experiences of being understood without needing to justify or explain

These are not luxuries or rewards for productivity. They are biological needs that help the stress response cycle reach completion.

Importantly, recovery does not require doing more. In many cases, it involves reducing pressure, lowering internal expectations, and allowing change to unfold gradually rather than on a rigid timeline.

Burnout and the Role of Connection

Burnout is more likely to develop when effort feels endless and unsupported, and it often eases when people experience connection, shared understanding, and a sense of meaning that is not defined solely by productivity or output. For many people, therapy becomes a place to explore these dynamics with care and curiosity. Rather than focusing on optimizing performance, the work centers on understanding what the nervous system has been responding to and what support might look like moving forward. This process often involves grief, recalibration, and the gradual rebuilding of trust in one’s own limits.

Moving forward doesn't have to mean moving faster.

Moving Forward with Attunement Rather Than Urgency

If you find yourself moving through a period of fatigue or diminished capacity, it may be an invitation to relate to yourself differently. Rather than asking how to push through, a gentler and more effective question is:

What has my nervous system been managing, and what would support look like now?

Burnout is not something to fix as quickly as possible. It is a signal worth listening to. With time, care, and appropriate support, it can become a guide toward a more sustainable and compassionate way of living.

At McKee Collaborative Therapy, we support adults navigating burnout, chronic stress, and life transitions with care and curiosity. Therapy is not about pushing change before the system is ready—it is about creating space for understanding, regulation, and meaningful forward movement.

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