Stress vs Burnout: Know the Difference & Reclaim Your Energy

Stress is a regular part of life, but when it becomes a permanent state and starts to feel like your new personality, you may be crossing into burnout. While stress typically comes in waves and responds to rest, burnout feels more like a slow, heavy drain on your energy, motivation, and overall well-being. Knowing the difference between stress vs burnout can radically help your mental health.

In this guide, we’ll break down how to determine which one you are experiencing, what warning signs to watch for and practical steps you can take to feel like yourself again.

What Is Stress? What Is Burnout?

Stress is the feeling of being under pressure or weighed down by demands or stressors. It can be a result of both real stressors (e.g., deadlines or medical issues) and perceived stressors (e.g., believing a task needs to be “perfect”, or that you “should” complete a to-do list in one day).

While a person is experiencing stress, their body shows certain signs as it attempts to return to homeostasis, or its baseline, normal state.

These can include physical symptoms like gastrointestinal distress or breathing problems. They can also include psychological symptoms such as changes in mood, nervousness, feeling immobilized or problems with memory or attention.

There are two types of stress: acute and chronic. Acute stress is short-term and typically resolves quickly, such as when you have to slam on the brakes in traffic. Chronic stress, however, persists for an extended period, such as work pressures or financial struggles.

What is stress vs burnout? Stress can occur in any part of life, whereas burnout is specifically a term used to describe the long-term response to chronic stressors on the job. Burnout gets in the way of functioning effectively.

Recognizing burnout signs and symptoms, as well as understanding why it occurs, is the first step toward adopting effective stress management strategies.

Key Signs & Symptoms

The body’s stress response includes the release of hormones that increase heart rate, muscle tension and alertness.

This is the body’s way of preparing you to handle a stressful situation. However, chronic stress leads the body to function like this over an extended period of time, which in turn causes physical and mental issues.

Signs of chronic stress include symptoms like:

Headaches
Sleep problems
Forgetfulness, or lack of energy or focus
Fatigue
Aches or stiffness
Gastrointestinal problems
Sexual problems

When such symptoms persist over an extended period, there is an increased risk of chronic health problems.

Physical & Emotional Consequences

Chronic physical and mental effects of stress can take their toll on the body and increase the risk for long-term health problems, including:

Depression or anxiety
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Skin problems like acne or eczema
Menstrual problems
Diabetes
Obesity

However, understanding why burnout happens can help plan recovery and prevention strategies.

Why Burnout Happens

Signs of burnout include cynicism, a lack of job fulfillment, fatigue, difficulty focusing, failure to complete tasks and emotional exhaustion. Various theoretical explanations exist for burnout, differing in their emphasis on individual versus workplace factors.

Social Cognitive Theory

This theory suggests that burnout can develop if someone doubts their abilities. This doubt may stem from past failures or a lack of role models who demonstrate confidence and work effectiveness.

Social Exchange Theory

Social Exchange Theory proposes that burnout occurs when a person perceives a lack of equity in the distribution of work.

Organizational Theory

This theory of burnout suggests that burnout occurs when organization and work-specific stressors occur with inadequate coping strategies.

Demands-Resources Theory

This view postulates that burnout occurs when there are more workplace demands, such as time pressure, work overload or interpersonal conflict—than resources to handle them.

Structural Theory

Structural Theory suggests that burnout occurs because coping strategies are ineffective.

Theory of Emotional Contagion

When people work together, especially over an extended period, they commonly share experiences and, as a result, also share emotional reactions to those experiences.

Thus, like catching a cold, this theory believes that a person can “catch” burnout from coworkers.

Triggers of Burnout

Regardless of the theoretical explanation of burnout, it can be triggered by:

Work overload
Emotional labor, like the need to hide or control negative emotions
Lack of freedom at work or inability to influence decisions
Ambiguity with work responsibilities
Lack of support or supervision
Introverted personality
Mental health conditions
Perfectionistic tendencies or a “type A personality”

While the significant burden for preventing burnout falls with organizations and employers, there are things you can start implementing now that can help.

Therapy & Recovery Strategies

It is commonly believed that taking time off from work is necessary to overcome burnout.

However, while that may help you recover and recharge, time off alone does not address the factors that can lead to burnout happening again after you return to work. Therefore, the key is to integrate effective strategies into your routine.

Self-assessment

Self-assessment is the first key step to identifying, as well as preventing, burnout.

It includes paying attention to your physical and psychological reactions to stressors and how you’re coping with them. Keeping a daily diary can help highlight if you are, for instance, feeling fatigued or experiencing negative thoughts about work over an extended period.

Self-assessment also involves self-reflection, enabling you to gain a deeper understanding of your individual traits. For instance, realizing that you are more introverted can help you to prioritize alone time on an ongoing basis, especially if your work requires frequent interactions with others.

Alternatively, discovering that you are overworked or not receiving sufficient support from your manager may indicate it is time to schedule a meeting to discuss the issue. Yet another example is realizing you have experienced a lack of satisfaction in multiple jobs, in which case career counseling may be helpful.

Or, if you find yourself over a more extended period of time dealing with, for instance, uncontrollable worry about various things, lack of interest in activities you used to enjoy or sleep problems, it may be helpful to meet with a mental health professional and get assessed for anxiety or depression.

Therapy

Mental health conditions not only make burnout more likely, but they can also cause distress and keep you from living your best life. Conditions like major depression or generalized anxiety can be situational or inherited, and they make it difficult to cope with stressors.

The best type of therapy for you depends on the issues you want to address. Stress therapy can include a combination of enhancing coping and problem-solving skills, getting emotional support and mental exhaustion help or exploring and strengthening self-esteem, self-efficacy and assertiveness skills.

In addition to therapy, you can start implementing healthy habits now to achieve a more sustainable work-life balance.

Sustainable Boundaries & Habits

The first step toward adopting sustainable habits is establishing your priorities. This means deciding how much time per week is important to you for spending with family, pursuing hobbies and engaging in self-growth, among other things.

In other words, knowing what you want in your life can help you determine the boundaries you wish to enforce.

Self-care

Self-care is a buzz term these days and is often associated with massages or health retreats. However, self-care on a day-to-day basis is what is needed not only to recover from burnout but also to help prevent it. It includes physical exercise, a healthy diet, time for relaxation and enough sleep.

Time Management

Time management should be used not only to govern your work, but also to manage your life overall, allowing you to maintain self-care and a personal life regularly.

One overall time management strategy involves considering all professional and personal responsibilities and allocating the necessary time for each on a weekly and monthly basis.

It is helpful to plan a schedule and a to-do list each week, as priorities and deadlines can shift. Additionally, by using short time periods for tasks like phone calls and responding to emails, you can allocate larger chunks of time to focus on projects.

Interpersonal Connection

Humans are social beings, so interpersonal connection is an integral part of self-care.

Whether it is having a friend gathering once a month or talking on the phone once a week with a sibling, such interactions provide a sense of belonging and emotional support, which can help you feel less pressured and less alone in your struggles.

Self-expression

A person’s work identity is just one facet of their entire being. When other facets are expressed, it can be freeing and energizing.

Engaging in a hobby, learning a new skill or fostering a talent can enrich life, enhance work effectiveness and help keep work from consuming you.

Reach Out Today

It is possible to combat burnout; seeking help is never too late. Find a qualified therapist in your area and take the first step toward a healthier, happier future.

Stress vs Burnout FAQ’s

What is the Difference Between Stress vs Burnout?

Stress is the impact of demands on your resources. Burnout is the long-term effect of chronic stress, particularly in the workplace.

What Causes Burnout?

Various individual factors (such as mental health conditions) and external factors (such as workload) can cause burnout.

What are the Symptoms of Burnout?

Some symptoms of burnout include cynicism, fatigue, lack of job fulfillment and lack of focus.

How Do You Prevent Burnout?

Strategies that are woven into your daily and weekly life, such as practicing self-care, managing your time effectively, engaging in hobbies and seeking therapy, can help prevent burnout.

Stress vs Burnout: Recognizing the Difference and Reclaiming Your Energy