In the modern workplace, efficiency and a strong work ethic are highly valued across various industries and often the goal for many workers. In a world where we constantly compete with growing technologies, being a part of the rat race is normalised and frequently celebrated.
It is increasingly common for workplaces to demand deadlines, higher workloads, and increased responsibilities constantly. As a result, many individuals then experience higher levels of stress. These higher levels of stress can harm an individual’s physical and mental well-being.
When stress becomes chronic, it can lead to burnout, a high level of stress, and exhaustion. Recognising the signs of chronic stress and burnout is essential not only for our well-being but also for supporting those around us who may be experiencing these symptoms. Being aware of these warning signs in ourselves and others can mean early intervention. By addressing these issues early, there is an opportunity to seek help before the effects become chronic and can cause rippling effects that may become irreversible or have irreversible effects on one’s life.
The first step that we can take in addressing chronic stress and burnout is raising awareness and holding conversations about the detriments of chronic stress and burnout. As a result, we can begin to foster a healthier, more supportive work environment that is kinder to personal and professional well-being.
What is Burnout? Is It Different to Stress?
While typically categorised in the same bubble, stress and burnout are different phenomena that an individual can experience. Burnout is recognised as a more chronic and extreme form of ongoing stress. The term “burnout” was first used in a clinical context in the 1970s by an American psychologist, Herbert Freudenberger.
Freudenberger was known for his research on stress, exhaustion, and chronic fatigue. He used the term “burnout” to describe the consequences of severe stress.
Workplace burnout is recognised in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon rather than a medical condition.
The WHO defines burnout as a syndrome characterised by “feelings of energy depletion and exhaustion, cynicism towards one’s job and workplace, and reduced professional efficacy” (World Health Organisation, 2019). A study by McManus et al. (2002) defines burnout as having three components; emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and low personal accomplishment.
What are Chronic Burnout and Stress?
Impacts and Implications
Chronic and unmanaged burnout can greatly increase the risk of serious mental health issues that an individual may experience. It can result in chronic exhaustion, heightened anxiety, depression, and a variety of significant health concerns. Some individuals may experience negative mental effects such as chronic fatigue, reduced cognitive function, and increased susceptibility to anxiety and depression. Chronic stress has been linked to conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and weakened immune function.
Whilst chronic stress and burnout can have profoundly negative impacts on one’s health and well-being, they can also transcend into the workplace, affecting performance, productivity, and disengagement with one’s work and collaboration with colleagues.
Ongoing workplace stress and burnout may negatively affect an individual’s morale, work performance, productivity, and motivation, which can result in high dissatisfaction with their job and environment. If left unaddressed, persistent stress can diminish overall quality of life, strain personal relationships, and contribute to long-term psychological distress. By recognising and addressing these issues at their onset, these negative impacts may be avoided.
Recognising the Signs of Burnout
Burnout can have differing effects on many individuals, including both emotional and physiological symptoms, including:
A feeling of helplessness
Loss of motivation
Cynicism
Increased self-doubt
Feeling detached or isolated
Decreased satisfaction in both personal and professional environments
There can also be significant physiological symptoms involved in burnout:
Feeling constantly tired or having low energy (chronic fatigue)
Back pain
Joint or limb pain
Trouble sleeping
Headaches
Stomach pain
Nausea, gas, or indigestion
Constipation, loose bowels, or diarrhea
There have been studies finding as many as 132 types of symptoms concerning burnout (Hammarström, P. et al., 2023), many of which are somatic symptoms. Somatic symptoms are those related to the physical issues that may be caused by various conditions, including stress and anxiety.
Burnout and Stress in Australia’s Workforce
Although stress and burnout are common throughout the Australian workforce, research has shown that the ongoing effects of this mental stress can have a plethora of long-term detrimental effects on individuals’ health and well-being. Workplace stress and burnout experienced on an ongoing basis can lead to many negative effects on an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Burnout and stress are common among employees in high-pressure workplaces with demanding deadlines.
A recent large-scale UiPath Global Knowledge Worker Survey gathered responses from over 9,000 knowledge workers across Australia, the Asia-Pacific region, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. From over 9000 respondents, over 1000 of these were based in Australia. Among the 1,100 Australian respondents, 82% reported feeling burnt out in their respective workplaces, with over a third (36%) of these individuals experiencing high or extreme levels of burnout—this was the highest rate found among all surveyed countries.
How Can We Start to Address Chronic Stress and Burnout?
After addressing and identifying the signs and symptoms of chronic stress and burnout, it can be useful to implement small changes to counteract its detrimental effects. It may be helpful to begin by introducing easy, practical strategies into everyday life.
Changing Your Environment
Self Care
Improving Skillset
Changing Your Environment
A healthy work environment should be supportive and well-structured to minimise the stress of its staff and encourage well-being whilst maintaining productivity. While this is primarily the responsibility of one’s workplace, employees should be aware of these factors to be better advocates for their own needs.
Often, individuals can feel responsible for their workplace challenges and struggles, blaming these occurrences on themselves. This critical mindset can lead to further stress, burnout, and even depression.
By recognising the environmental factors that can affect one’s job role, it can be easier to seek proper support and resources.
Clear Role Definitions and Expectations
Employees should have a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations.
Clarity of one’s job role can reduce confusion and prevent role ambiguity, which can lead to stress and decreased productivity.
Weekly check-ins with supervisors and managers can help to clarify roles and responsibilities, communicate any issues, and realign common goals and expectations.
Realistic Expectations
Setting achievable goals and deadlines is essential to maintaining motivation and morale and preventing excessive stress and burnout.
Work environments that create unrealistic expectations can cause individuals to experience excessive pressure, leading to chronic stress and reduced performance.
Supervisors and managers should be aware of the tasks and workloads of employees to ensure that all responsibilities are being shared amongst teams and to minimise unrealistic workloads and expectations of individuals.
Adequate Resourcing
Workplaces should provide the necessary resources that are crucial for employees to perform their tasks effectively. Insufficient resources can result in frustration, inefficiency, and decreased job satisfaction.
Where there is a lack of resources it should be addressed promptly.
Realistic Structure
A well-structured work environment with efficient processes and workflows supports productivity and reduces unnecessary stress.
Adequate Training and Support for Job Demands
Providing comprehensive training provides employees with a strong skillset that they need to perform their roles confidently and competently.
Where there are gaps in learning, additional training and mentorship should be provided
Supportive Team
Creating a culture that encourages feedback and values employee well-being fosters a more engaged, motivated, and productive workforce.
Self Care
Engaging in self-care rituals and creating healthy habits can be a wonderful way to take a step back from the chaos of work and relax your mind and body.
Self Care
Engage in activities that you enjoy. This could mean taking more time to enjoy relaxing and mentally stimulating hobbies
Implement some light physical activity in your everyday routine
Ensure you have restful sleep, adjusting your sleep environment to be more comfortable if needed. With improved sleep hygiene, a greater quality of restful sleep can be more easily achieved
Learn more about psychology for sleep issues and insomnia here: (https://www.sentientpsych.com/post/psychology-for-insomnia-and-sleep-issues)
Create a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Switch off from work once you reach home. By creating a divide between the two areas of your life, you can build stronger boundaries between your personal and professional life.
Relaxation & Meditation Techniques
Take regular breaks throughout the day to avoid mental exhaustion. Short breathing and mindfulness exercises can be effective, or short nature walks to clear the mind.
Communicate with Coworkers, Supervisors, and Managers
Consider speaking to managers and supervisors about concerns regarding stressful workloads. Weekly meetings and performance reviews can offer a valuable opportunity to discuss concerns and ensure clarity on job workloads and responsibilities.
Seek External Support
Consider professional counseling, psychology, or psychotherapy support to develop healthier coping mechanisms that can be implemented into everyday life.
3. Improving Your Skills
Time Management
Effective time management skills allow individuals to prioritise tasks efficiently, meet work deadlines, and create a healthier work-life balance.
This can be practiced through setting time goals, creating structured to-do lists, and setting clear daily goals that are realistic and broken down into smaller tasks.
Delegating Tasks
Particularly for middle managers, the act of delegating tasks to team members is essential and can reduce workload and added stress.
Effective delegating, with clear instructions and expectations, can help guide team members to accurately and efficiently complete delegated tasks.
Overcoming the need to micromanage team members and learning to trust others to do the job can significantly reduce stress and free up more time to focus on higher-level responsibilities and tasks.
Conducting a Skills Audit
A skills audit is a systematic evaluation of an individual’s current skills, knowledge, and capabilities.
This can be useful in helping to uncover potential gaps and identify areas of improvement where further training and development may be required.
These opportunities can then be used to gain greater efficiencies at work and reduce workload and related stress.
Addressing An Imbalance Between Job Demands & Skills
In some cases, workplace burnout and stress can be caused by challenges in fulfilling one’s job role. For some, this may mean not having the skills or resources to complete tasks that are assigned to them. Other challenges may also arise from not having the opportunity to learn additional skills that could help employees become more efficient and productive.
Often, organisations may overlook the need to upskill employees, and these issues can then fester and create larger problems for team productivity and stress levels if left unaddressed.
For organisations and managers, when gaps between responsibilities and an employee’s skills or knowledge are identified, the proper resources or support should be provided to maintain team efficiency and productivity with minimised stress.
For individuals, this could mean advocating for themselves once a gap between their tasks and their skills is identified.
How Do I Seek Support in the Workplace?
Addressing chronic stress and burnout in the workplace can also start in small ways. Research on high-pressure work environments found that this could involve implementing a combination of strategies, including stress management, maintaining physical well-being, and building a strong support network (Bruce, S., 2009).
Studies have found evidence that increased support (both internal and external) and increased workplace training can be effective in decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression experienced at work and beneficial in reducing workplace stress burnout and the other consequences of the chronic stress of daily life (Jaworska-Burzyńska et al., 2016).
By creating professional boundaries, seeking support from coworkers, supervisors, and managers, and implementing effective time management strategies, we can begin to tackle stress and prevent the negative effects of burnout.
Addressing Chronic Stress and Burnout: How Therapy Can Help
Admitting and recognising that you may need to seek external support to tackle challenges and issues that you may be facing in the workplace can be quite a daunting task. For many individuals, the act of reaching out for help from professionals may feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar, or there may be a fear of being judged by others.
Our SPW therapist, Xufeng Su (Registered Psychologist and Executive Coach) found that it took great courage and strength to seek therapeutic support; however wished they had reached out for help earlier.
Where to From Here?
Unacknowledged workplace stress and burnout can have serious consequences on an individual’s mental health, self-esteem, and overall well-being. Persistent stress can lead to exhaustion, anxiety, and even long-term psychological distress, making it harder to function both professionally and personally. Recognising and addressing these challenges is key to preventing further harm and fostering a healthier work-life balance.
At Sentient Professional Wellbeing, our experienced and dedicated Sydney-based psychologists, counsellors, and executive coaches specialise in supporting individuals struggling with workplace stress and burnout and its cascading effects. We understand the toll that prolonged stress can take and are committed to providing compassionate, evidence-based support to help individuals regain balance and resilience.
With our warm, empathetic, and practical approach, we aim to help you break free from the cycle of stress and self-blame, empowering you to take proactive steps toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.
Not sure where to start? Let Us Help
Our Client Care Team is here to make your journey into therapy as smooth as possible. Let us take care of the complexities and match you with the therapist best suited to your needs.
If you would like to speak to a member of our Client Care Team, please visit our Calendly below to book a complimentary consultation: https://calendly.com/sentient-support/30min?month=2025-02
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Resources
Bruce, S.P. (2009). Recognizing stress and avoiding burnout, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 1(1), 57-64, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2009.05.008.
Hammarström, P., Rosendahl, S., Gruber, M., Nordin, S., (2023). Somatic symptoms in burnout in a general adult population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 168(111217), 0022-3999, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111217.
InformedHealth.org. (2024). Depression: Learn more – what is burnout? US National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/
Jaworska-Burzyńska et al. (2016). The role of therapy in reducing the risk of job burnout– a systematic review of literature. Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 2016; (4), 43–52. DOI: 10.12740/APP/65815.
McManus, et al. (2002). The causal links between stress and burnout in a longitudinal study of UK doctors, The Lancet,359(9323), 2089-2090.
World Health Organisation. (2019). Burnout: An Occupational Phenomenon. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases