If you’re physically and mentally exhausted due to pushing yourself too far for too long, that’s called a burnout. Burnout is a serious condition that can drastically change your life. Common symptoms include feelings of depression, heightened anxiety, a cynical perspective of the world, physical complaints and trouble sleeping.

So what exactly is burnout?

You get burnout because you’ve pushed yourself too far for too long and have exposed yourself to too much stress. Your body can persevere with that for a while but not forever. The moment that your body steps in and pulls the emergency brake is called a burnout.

What are the symptoms of burnout?

The moment your internal battery is empty, or almost empty, is when you’ve reached burnout. As much as you would like it, there’s simply no more energy to do all the things that you want to do. Try to fill up your day, and you’ll quickly find that it’s all ‘too much’.

That empty battery causes numerous mental and physical symptoms:

• Feeling down or depressed
• Getting stressed and anxious more quickly
• Sleeplessness
• Finding that things quickly get ‘too much’
• Having a pessimistic outlook on work and life
• Having no enjoyment in (work) tasks, finding everything a checkbox on a ‘to-do’ list
• Suffering from physical pains or problems
• Suffering from headaches, stomachaches or bowel problems
• Neglecting personal needs
• Increased escapist activities (such as alcohol and drugs)
• A desire to push ‘pause’
• Feeling empty and missing feelings of satisfaction
• Making small problems big
• Social withdrawal

What kind of people get a burnout?

Burnout especially affects people who push their limits too far for too long and therefore often affects:

• Ambitious people
• Perfectionists
• People who want to be in control
• People who take on (too much) responsibility for things
• People who set (too) high goals for themselves
• Overperformers

A burnout therefore doesn’t only affect ‘weak’ people. In fact, it’s actually hard workers who push and push themselves who end up getting a burnout.

How do you get a burnout?

In almost all cases, a burnout comes about because people have a ‘negative energy balance’. In that case, you’ve generally used more energy than you’ve taken in over a long period of time and have almost certainly emptied your internal reserve battery. When your battery’s hit zero, your whole system begins to malfunction. Eventually, your body will throw in the towel. That’s the moment that you realize that something’s wrong and will be diagnosed with burnout.

Are environmental factors also at play?

Yes, that’s often the case. People who have a burnout often suffer from one or more major sources of stress. A major source of stress is a structural and almost daily source of stress, worry or frustration. It could be work related, such as having a nasty boss or a project team where you don’t fit in, but it could also be something else. Many common sources of stress include home renovations, worrying about a sick family member, divorce, children, financial problems, or an internal struggle (such as mourning, a trauma or maybe problems with your self-image). Such a major source of stress leads to your energy ‘leaking out’ on an almost daily basis. This quickly results in a negative energy balance and so, slowly but surely, your battery hits zero.

What is the difference between chronic stress and burnout?

Chronic stress and burnout are both found on the same spectrum. You can see it as light flu (chronic stress) and heavy flu (burnout). Chronic stress is the precursor to burnout and can – if left untreated – just as easily become a burnout. Both chronic stress and burnout require the same recovery process, like the one here at Camp Burnout. The only difference is that the length of time to recover from chronic stress is shorter than that of a burnout. Make sure that you start immediately with recovery from chronic stress to avoid it developing into a burnout.

Do you want to know more about chronic stress? Click HERE.

How do I recover from a burnout?

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as taking a few weeks off, sitting on the sofa, and waiting until you feel better. By doing that, most people won’t meet the Requirements for Recovery, which means your body won’t be able to activate the healing processes that lead to your recovery. Camp Burnout has compiled the best and most efficient recovery program with the aim of giving a burnout patient a pleasant, stress-free and relaxed life back as quickly as possible. You can find everything about the recovery program HERE.

How long does the recovery from burnout take?

The length of time to recover will take you somewhere between three months and two years. The eventual length of time is mainly based on these two factors:

• The seriousness of your condition. If you have mild chronic stress, after a relatively short period of stress (less than six months), you’ll be able to work at the same capacity as before your chronic stress within two to three months. But if you’ve pushed yourself too far for years on end and have a serious burnout, then recovery will be more likely to take multiple months or even a year. But: your condition won’t stay as ‘bad’ as it is now. When you make a start with your recovery in a serious way, you’ll see real improvement every two weeks. In short, if you start today with your recovery, today will be your lowest point. After this, it gets better.
• The effectiveness of your recovery. Or put in another way: the more effective you make your recovery, the faster you’ll be done. If you put in little effort, don’t create the right conditions, don’t meet the Requirements of Recovery, and so on, then you’ll need longer than is really needed.

If you want to know more about the length of time to recover, click HERE

What exactly does Camp Burnout do?

Camp Burnout is the complete step-by-step burnout recovery journey. Here we show you the way to a beautiful, relaxed life, shorten your recovery time and ensure that you can do everything you want again as soon as possible. All you need is a smartphone and the will to get better. More about Camp Burnout and the recovery program can be found HERE.

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