Experiencing Signs of Burnout? Restore Your Mental Health

The National Alliance on Mental Health states that as recently as 2024, half of American employees felt signs of burnout. If you’re one of them, with the right support, you can regain good mental health.

“Mental wellness is an internal experience that encompasses multiple dimensions: emotional, social and psychological,” says Dr. Suza Scalora, assistant professor of psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and assistant attending psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. “It’s a dynamic, renewable and positive resource that requires initiative and conscious action.”

Keep reading to learn common symptoms of burnout and what actions can help you build and maintain mental resilience.

Common Signs of Burnout

When chronic stress wears you out, burnout sets in, leaving you feeling overwhelmed. Soon, you may feel your work is meaningless. You may even become uncaring toward others.

Job burnout isn’t the only type of burnout. Anything that causes long-term high stress levels can lead to burnout symptoms. That includes parenting, school and other responsibilities.

According to Mental Health America, common signs of burnout include:

• Being irritable or anxious on a regular basis
• Developing frequent headaches, muscle tension, digestive issues or other physical symptoms
• Experiencing dread when required to perform tasks you once enjoyed
• Feeling emotionally drained or unmotivated
• Having trouble concentrating or focusing
• Making more mistakes than normal

Recovering Your Mental Health

If you experience any of these signs, take heart. You can recover from burnout and regain good mental health. To do this, you’ll need resilience, the ability to adapt in the face of adversity.

“Resilience is not a trait that you do or don’t have,” Dr. Scalora says. “It’s a skill that can be learned.”

There are a few ways to boost resilience and overcome burnout:

• Accept change. Change is part of life. Resisting it can cause stress, which can lead to burnout and other mental health challenges.
• Build healthy relationships. Good relationships remind you that you’re not alone. Prioritize and cultivate relationships with trustworthy, compassionate people.
• Cultivate healthy thoughts. Pay attention when you feel overwhelmed. Then remind yourself you’re not helpless, and that this, too, will pass.
• Find a purpose. Volunteer with a local nonprofit or find ways to serve your neighbor. Helping others can remind you of your own self-worth and strengthen your resilience.
• Practice self-care. Practice meditation or deep-breathing techniques and exercise regularly to reduce stress. Improve your resilience even further through counseling.

“Mental wellness is about finding balance, purpose and connection in your life,” Dr. Scalora says. “It’s an ongoing journey, not an endpoint.”

The Bottom Line: Noticing the Signs of Burnout

If you experience burnout, it doesn’t have to affect you forever. Detecting burnout early and taking action can help you move past the condition and prevent it in the future.

1. Common signs of burnout include physical health problems, such as headaches or digestive problems.
2. You may also become irritable, make more mistakes than usual or feel emotionally exhausted.
3. To restore your mental health and move past burnout, work to become more resilient. Two ways to do this are to accept change and to seek counseling.

Need help moving past burnout? Find a doctor at Weill Cornell Medicine to get started.