Is it stress or are you on the verge of burnout? Find out how to recognize the signs and take care of your health
Do you know the difference between tiredness, stress and burnout? These terms are increasingly present in daily conversations, but do we know how to identify the signs of each and when to ask for help?
The impact of stress and burnout
In Brazil, around 30% of people suffer from the consequences of stress and burnout syndromesecond data from the National Association of Occupational Medicine (Anamt).
In 2025, the Brazil has started to adopt the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) of the World Health Organization (WHO), which includes burnout in the list of occupational diseasesunderlining its importance as a public health issue.
Furthermore, the data collected in the Mental Health Landscape, from Cactus Instituteemphasizes that “73% of respondents are bothered by worries about various issues and 68% by nervous, anxious or very tense feelings. At the same time, the majority (55.8%) have never turned to a healthcare professional to address issues related to anxiety disorders.”
Based on this recognition, preventive and healthcare actions become even more essential.
My focus on stress and anxiety has increased during the pandemic, due to the significant increase in affected people seeking treatment. Therefore, I worked on the front lines, in a therapeutic care project focused on treating stress, anxiety and preventing burnout.
However, once the pandemic is over, stress symptoms, including anxiety and burnout, increase day by day.
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Read also:
- The power of rest: the importance of rest for your well-being
- What is homeostasis? Discover the body’s natural intelligence
How to identify if you are tired, exhausted or exhausted?
Start by understanding, what is stress.
THE stress it is a natural and healthy response of the body, when alternating I notify AND rest. This process activates the neuroendocrine system, releasing hormones that prepare us to fight, flee, freeze, or even faint, when faced with a stressor.
For example: Daily stressors:
- Physical activity
- Wait for important news
- Hand in a job
So, this activation is part of the homeostasis and participates in the regulation of the body’s rhythmic cycle, and all these simple daily activities require this hormonal “boost”.
In this way, when the situation resolves, the use of hormones is completed, the body relaxes, returns to homeostatic balance and moves on to the next cycle, alert-rest.
Therefore, the stress system he is not an enemy. It is an adaptive requirement that mobilizes energy to meet the common demands of life.
When does stress stop being healthy?
Experiencing situations of insecurity – financial, emotional, family, social, urban, food – keeps the body and mind in a constant state of alert for a long time.
This activates the stress response system – the so-called hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis – responsible for the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which prepare the body to react.
There is therefore no space to relax and the body is unable to return to a state of balance, generating a series of effects:
- Hyperactivation of the nervous systemwhen the body stays “on”, making it difficult to sleep, digest and concentrate.
- Recurring worried thoughtswhich reinforce the feeling of threat even when nothing concrete happens.
- Physical and emotional exhaustion, with greater vulnerability to diseases and mood changes.
- Reduction of adaptive capacity, since the physiological system loses flexibility in the face of changes.
Over time, this continuous activation generates chronic stress, which affects the immune system, hormonal balance and even interpersonal relationships, as the person begins to react more out of defense than presence.
In short:
Constant insecurity prevents the body from feeling safe enough to rest and regenerate.
At the basis of prolonged stress, therefore, there is precisely the lack of a feeling of internal and relational security.
As a result, the endless state of alertness can trigger anxiety.
Anxiety and stress are similar bodily reactions.
Generally, stress is related to an external stressor, while anxiety is more diffuse, unrelated to a specific factor, often based on feelings of fear and worries about the future.
In both cases, the regulatory systems of the organism are affected:
- Sleep
- Appetite
- Immunity
- Sexuality
When all this begins to fail, the person has the feeling of “holding everything together”, but is no longer able to find true rest.
👉 Prolonged stress: effects beyond burnout
Where does burnout begin?
THE exhaustion it is an extreme consequence continuous stress process. This is an “adaptive short circuit”, which it goes beyond physical exhaustion.
It involves negative feelings in relation to work e perception of professional ineffectiveness.
This is when the body and mind say “enough” and the work environment proves too toxic to sustain and cycle daily stress.
Second Dr. Christina Maslachone of the world’s leading experts on burnout, burnout is a phenomenon professional and not individual. This means that the syndrome results from continuous exposure to stressors in the work environment.
Since it is a phenomenon linked to the work environment, burnout cannot be treated exclusively on an individual basis. It is essential that companies adopt collective health management and strategies to prevent and treat the problem.
Factors that increase the risk of burnout:
Maslach highlights six main factors that increase the risk of burnout:
- Excessive workload without sufficient resources.
- Lack of control over decisions and processes.
- Lack of recognition and meaningful rewards.
- Toxic rather than collaborative work community.
- Injustice and unequal treatment.
- Conflict of values, when work violates personal principles.
👉 Glamorize Stress: Normalizing burnout can make you sick
The risk of trivializing burnout
Christina Maslach highlights an important risk popularization of the term burnoutwhich can start to be used in a vague or exaggerated way, as a synonym for any stress, tiredness or bad mood at work, making more effective actions unachievable, generating:
- Stigmatization: If someone is labeled “burnout,” they may be seen as “weak” or “incapable,” reinforcing prejudices, rather than opening up spaces to discuss changes in the work environment.
- Surface solutions: Companies can only offer palliative actions, without addressing the six structural factors highlighted by Maslach: workload, control, recognition, sense of community, justice and values.
So the message is clear: it is not enough to teach the individual how to deal with burnout, it is essential to create more sustainable working environments, because, if the environment is not taken care of, the responsibility for improvement falls unduly on the individual.
Differences between tiredness, exhaustion and burnout
All burnout includes exhaustion, however not all exhaustion is burnout. According to Dr. Christina Maslach the main difference between these terms is the combination of exhaustion, depersonalization and loss of efficiency at work.
Here is the comparison:
Tiredness:
- Punctual and fleeting.
- It occurs after a long day or a busy week.
- With rest, the person heals.
Exhaustion:
- More intense than tiredness.
- It arises from excessive demands.
- The person may have physical and emotional reactions with difficulty maintaining the rhythm.
Exhaustion:
- Extreme tiredness, with loss of pleasure in work and feeling of ineffectiveness.
- It is the result of unmanaged chronic stress at work.
What to do in case of burnout?
First, if you recognize that burnout is affecting you, know that it is not you who is “sick,” but rather that it is the sick work environment that is affecting your health.
Then it is It is essential to seek appropriate professional help, as palliative measures can prolong suffering.
Companies don’t always offer adequate support, but not taking the blame is a good step.
Try adopting the following strategies:
- Hydrate: Water is your friend. Always leave it at hand.
- Take short breaks: during the working day take short breaks, get up, breathe carefully.
- Do physical activities: Walking 30 minutes a day can work wonders.
- Listen to your body: satisfy your physiological needs (holding your pee doesn’t save anyone).
- Don’t bring work home.
- Practical techniques emotional self-regulation.
What to do in case of tiredness or exhaustion?
If you feel tired or exhausted from stress, don’t ignore rest and wellness practices. Sleep hygiene and free time they are essential to your recovery.
Know that hyperconnection intensifies stress. Therefore, create “offline islands”: walking, contemplating, playing board games and other moments away from the cell phone.
Also, include it in your routine quick adjustment techniques: see micromoments of care practices here
How can integrative therapies help?
Participating in support groups is very effective because it strengthens the feeling of belonging.
Above all, Integrative Therapies help, in a very direct way, to find the resources to rebalance, restoring self-confidence and re-establishing lines of connection and awareness with the forces of one’s personal nature.
There are many ways to benefit from this, including participating in group shows BodyTalk system and welcome meetings.
See more tips:
- 5 Ways to Relieve Stress: Exercise, Food, Colors and More
- How to relieve stress without focusing on breathing
- How to avoid energy waste and reduce fatigue
Conclusion
Understanding and identifying the signs of stress, tiredness and burnout helps you seek the right assistance, both with integrative therapies and medical support.
Consider that the key is to recognize your body’s needs and act before the wear and tear is irreversible.
The post Differences between Stress and Burnout: Understand your body’s signals appeared first Personalize.
Celia Barboza (celiabodytalk@gmail.com)
– Integrative Therapist, Celia Barboza is certified in BodyTalk System, Master in Neurolinguistic Programming, Constellator, integrating other philosophical knowledge for a deep therapeutic approach.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
