How to Recognize Burnout Symptoms and Support Your Body Naturally
- Bayan Shaheen
- Jun 20, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 23, 2023
Looking around, you may notice the societal value of quick, constant achievement. Everything seems fast-paced - the wifi, technology, work culture, constant information stimulation - it all drives our daily lives. But what happens when we become overworked and can’t keep up? We become stressed, and the perpetual pressure takes over.
Let’s discuss the burnout symptoms that come with this lifestyle, how they affect the body, and what we can do to discover the root issue and promote a healthier, more balanced way of living.
What are Burnout Symptoms?
The term “burnout” originally referred to people who felt long-term psychological effects from a stressful job. However, burnout symptoms have become more commonplace due to overstimulation, excessive active energy, and societal expectations.
According to research, burnout symptoms are defined as:
Overwhelming exhaustion
Feelings of cynicism and detachment
A sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment
Other symptoms may include:
Headaches
Apathy
Lack of concentration
Lack of quality sleep
Insomnia
Jumpiness
Muscle soreness
These symptoms do not have to occur in the workplace; in fact, they’re likely to arise from any stressful situation you find yourself in daily. Whether that’s being a mom, supporting someone with a mental or long-term health condition, engaging in extreme athletic activities, lacking social support, feeling misaligned with your life’s purpose, and more.
What Causes Burnout Symptoms
While burnout symptoms may feel mostly mental, they’re actually the outcome of a whole-body response; physical, mental, and spiritual. This response starts in the brain and triggers numerous processes meant to benefit us in the short term but can lead to long-term holistic imbalance. Let’s talk about the systems involved.
The Sympathetic Nervous System and the Fight-or-Flight Response
The body’s fight-or-flight response has been, and still is, a necessary tool to either fight danger, such as a harmful animal, or run away from a life-threatening situation. This response, also known as “the stress response,” occurs when the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is activated.
When the body comes in contact with a stressful situation, the SNS triggers a series of physiological events that start with the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is responsible for releasing cortisol, or the “stress hormone,” which leads to a burst of energy and numerous bodily changes, like:
Increased heart rate
Improved vision
Increased lung capacity
More glucose in the bloodstream
The fight-or-flight response prioritizes certain functions and “turns off” immediately non-essential functions, like digestion, to improve the body’s chances of managing and living through the stressful situation. And while this response is beneficial for us temporarily, the extended release of cortisol can harm the whole body.
The Effects of Stress in Modern Society
Although the physiological stress response has remained the same, the cause of stress has shifted. The body now reacts to traffic on the way to work or an uncomfortable social interaction like it used to respond to a lion. A response that used to occur occasionally is now happening many times throughout the day!
And what does that do to the body? Remember when we discussed the “burst of energy” from our organs? If sustained for long periods, that burst leads to overworked organs.
Daily heightened cortisol levels in the body compete with our sleep hormone causing poor sleep or insomnia, which can lead to brain fog and irritability.
Long-term cortisol can also cause an overactive immune response, leading to increased irritations, aches, and soreness.
The adrenals, the organ responsible for releasing cortisol, become just as burnt out as you are. And since the digestive tract isn’t receiving the energy it needs to digest food sufficiently, the body lacks proper nutrient absorption.
You can think of it like a bicycle. It runs perfectly at first, but if you continue to put lots of miles on it and don’t keep up with simple maintenance, it will break down. The “breakdown” of the body manifests in burnout symptoms.
How to Ease Burnout Symptoms
We’ve gone over why you may be feeling burnout symptoms, so let’s explore how you can support your body through these difficult sensations.
Before taking steps toward symptom management, it’s important to first understand the root cause of your burnout on an emotional, spiritual, and physical level. Understanding the source of your various discomforts will provide a sustainable platform for achieving balance in modern day society. Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) and herbal support are both helpful beginner tools for restoring harmony and encouraging continuous health.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis is a non-invasive analysis that uses a hair sample to measure mineral levels in your body. This valuable information provides concrete data on a person’s health (for the last 3 - 4 months) and may disclose insight into metabolism, energy production, stress response, hormonal imbalances, thyroid function, and more.
Collecting and analyzing this information provides the foundation for understanding the root issue and managing your symptoms. You can then begin to build a proactive plan around the minerals you lack, like incorporating supportive herbs and foods. It’s best to start with herbs that support stress management because, to receive the benefits of mineral-rich foods, the stress response must be balanced so the digestive system can function optimally. I offer HTMA analysis, you can click here to learn more or contact me, at Bayan@wholesticliving.com, and get started today!
Herbs for Burnout Symptoms
One of the most effective, stress-supporting herb categories are adaptogens. Adaptogens work with the stress response by moderating the release of cortisol, providing the body with stable energy levels. These herbs are wonderful for soothing burnout symptoms as they help us build resistance to stressors so our response is less intense and our systems don’t become overworked. Some highly supportive adaptogens include:
Holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum)
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus)
Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea)
Ginseng (Panax ginseng) *look for sustainably harvested sources
Another group of herbs that is helpful for burnout symptoms are nervines. Nervines support the nervous system, working with and nourishing nerves. Some nervine herbs act like a tonic and strengthen the nervous system, while others soothe overworked and tired nerves creating a sense of relaxation and serenity. Nervines can be especially helpful in cases of adrenal fatigue when the sympathetic nervous system is constantly over-activated. Nurturing nervine herbs include:
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)
Milky oats (Avena sativa)
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
Hops (Humulus lupulus)
Lifestyle Choices for Burnout
Along with herbal support, it’s essential to ensure you’re setting yourself up for success with lifestyle choices that encourage harmony in your body. Consuming high levels of caffeine or spending many hours behind screens from early in the morning until late in the evening may exacerbate burnout symptoms. And while it may be unrealistic to cut some stressful factors out altogether, there are practices that may help you find the root cause of the stress and alleviate its impact.
Caffeine can be a supportive tool for boosting energy levels, but long-term intake can cause significant imbalance. Ingesting caffeine increases cortisol levels in the blood and blocks receptors responsible for telling your brain you’re tired. These two activities can cause your sleep cycle to become imbalanced and reduce the quality of sleep you receive. Additionally, blue light screens stall the brain’s melatonin (the sleep hormone) release, which can also throw off your sleep cycle. Moderating caffeine intake and time behind your screens may help mitigate burnout symptoms.
Easing Burnout
Another tool for alleviating burnout symptoms is to intentionally draw awareness to what causes stress in your life and craft a solution that either removes or reduces the stressor(s). For example, maybe you dread going to the grocery store. The crowds of pushy people cause your stress levels to sky-rocket and you always leave feeling drained and down.
What is causing your stress? The crowds of pushy people. How can you remove or reduce your exposure to these crowds? You could find a day of the week when the crowds are smaller, or you could opt for curbside pickup! Both of these options support a healthy boundary that you’ve created for yourself. This boundary protects your energy from stress by prioritizing your mental and physical wellbeing. For more information on how to set health boundaries and recognize your full potential, check out Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab.
Another example may be that you work from home and are constantly feeling drained from daily stress.
What is causing you stress? Sitting all day behind a computer with few breaks. How can you remove or reduce the stagnancy? You could purchase a standing desk, make time to go outside and walk in the middle of the day, or implement a nap. Research shows that moving the body improves alertness and attention and may help you maintain energy levels throughout the day. Additional research demonstrates that naps have a similar effect on your cognition and may leave you feeling less tired.
Lastly, incorporating whole foods into your diet can give your body the nutrients needed to carry out essential processes. After supporting the body with herbs and some lifestyle shifts to balance out the stress response, the digestive system will be able to absorb and metabolize vital nutrients properly, and you’ll reduce the likelihood of falling into the same burnout patterns.
In Closing,
Burnout systems are pervasive in the modern age and the clear result of a fast-paced society. Although they can sometimes be hard to avoid, some highly-supportive herbs and practices can either alleviate the intensity of these symptoms or avoid them altogether.
If you’re managing heightened feelings of frustration or hopelessness around some of these sensations and are looking for professional support, I encourage you to reach out at Bayan@wholesticliving.com. I would love to hear from you!
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