Managing Burnout When You’re Stretched Thin (and What Helps)

Burnout does not always look like collapsing or crying on the floor.

Sometimes it looks like getting everything done while feeling empty, irritable, disconnected, and exhausted underneath it all.

Many people experiencing burnout are still functioning. They are showing up to work. They are caring for others. They are doing what needs to be done. But internally, they feel stretched thin, overwhelmed, and quietly running on fumes.

Burnout is not a personal failure. It is a nervous system response to prolonged stress, emotional labour, and pressure, especially when rest, support, and boundaries are limited.

What Is Burnout, Really?

Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by chronic stress. It often develops slowly, making it easy to dismiss or normalize.

Common burnout symptoms include persistent fatigue that does not improve with rest, feeling emotionally numb or disconnected, increased irritability or overwhelm, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, loss of motivation or enjoyment, and physical symptoms such as headaches, tension, or disrupted sleep.

For a helpful breakdown of the different types of burnout and their signs, see WebMD’s guide on burnout.

Many people experiencing burnout tell themselves, “I should not feel this way. Other people have it worse.”

But burnout is not about comparison. It is about capacity. When your system has been giving more than it can sustainably hold, something has to give.

Why High-Functioning People Are Especially Vulnerable to Burnout

Burnout often affects people who are caregivers, professionals in helping roles, parents, high achievers, and people who are used to putting others first.

If you are skilled at pushing through, minimizing your needs, or carrying emotional responsibility for others, burnout can go unnoticed for a long time.

You may still appear to be doing fine on the outside while internally feeling depleted, resentful, or shut down. This is often referred to as high functioning burnout and is one of the most common reasons people seek therapy.

Burnout vs. Stress: What’s the Difference?

Stress tends to feel activating. Burnout feels depleting.

With stress, there is often a sense that relief is coming. With burnout, there may be emotional flatness, dread, or detachment, as though you have been in survival mode for too long.

Burnout does not resolve with a weekend off or a vacation alone. It requires deeper nervous system repair and meaningful changes in how you relate to rest, boundaries, and self worth.

How Therapy Helps With Burnout

Burnout therapy is not about telling you to do less or practice more self care.

It focuses on understanding why your system is depleted and helping you rebuild capacity in a way that feels safe and sustainable.

In therapy for burnout, common areas of focus include nervous system regulation, emotional boundaries, and reconnection with yourself.

Nervous System Regulation

Chronic burnout keeps the nervous system in a prolonged stress response. Therapy can help your body relearn safety, rest, and regulation, not just cognitively, but physically.

This is especially important when burnout is connected to trauma, chronic stress, or long term emotional labour.

Emotional Boundaries and Capacity

Burnout often involves giving more than you receive emotionally, mentally, or physically.

Therapy can help you explore why it feels difficult to say no, how guilt shows up around rest, and where expectations exceed your capacity. Learning boundaries is not about becoming rigid. It is about protecting what allows you to keep going.

Reconnecting With Yourself

Burnout can disconnect you from your needs, emotions, and internal cues.

Therapy creates space to slow down and ask what you actually need right now, what has been costing you more than you realized, and what support rather than survival could look like.

Somatic Therapy and Burnout

Because burnout lives in the body, somatic therapy can be especially supportive.

Somatic approaches focus on how stress is held physically through tension, fatigue, shallow breathing, or shutdown and work directly with the nervous system.

Rather than only talking about burnout, somatic therapy helps you feel your way back into regulation, grounding, and presence.

This can be particularly helpful if you feel constantly on edge or collapsed, if rest feels uncomfortable or unproductive, or if you have been in survival mode for a long time.

Small Shifts That Can Help When You’re Burned Out

While therapy offers deeper support, small changes can help stabilize burnout symptoms.

This may include creating moments of true rest rather than distraction, reducing emotional output where possible, naming burnout instead of minimizing it, allowing support even when it feels uncomfortable, and letting go of the idea that rest must be earned.

Burnout improves when your system feels supported, not pressured to recover faster.

For more practical tips and resources on mental health and wellness in Ontario, see the CMHA Mental Health and Wellness Booklet.

When to Seek Burnout Therapy

You do not need to be at a breaking point to seek help.

Burnout therapy may be helpful if you feel chronically exhausted or numb, if you are functioning but not thriving, if you have lost connection to joy or meaning, if you are carrying more than feels sustainable, or if you are tired of pushing through.

Support does not mean you are failing. It means you are listening!

Therapy for Burnout in Ontario

If you are looking for burnout therapy in Ontario, virtual therapy can offer accessible and flexible support, especially when energy is limited.

Working with a therapist who understands burnout, nervous system regulation, and emotional labour can help you move out of survival mode and into something more sustainable.

If this resonates, you do not have to figure it out alone. We offer virtual therapy across Ontario, including burnout informed and somatic approaches designed to meet you where you are. Book your free 15-minute consultation today.