We have talked about burnout before (“Work and Success“, “Burnout as a Workplace Injury“), something I experienced a few years ago, and which I wouldn’t wish on anyone. This article describes the physiological response to the conditions that typically lead to burnout:
.. the body is handling all kinds of stressors through this allostatic process, the sum of which is also called allostatic load. All things going on in your life right now contribute to this load, including the stress from your work, finances, relationships, sickness, working out, and so on. The most important way that your body responds to these stresses is through the so-called HPA axis (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis) which results in the secretion of adrenaline and cortisol, the major stress hormones.
These hormones give an immediate boost to the system, preparing it for (intense) action and fight-flight behavior. In other words, when the HPA-axis kicks in you’re running on survival energy. This is great when you’re in acute danger, like escaping from threat or fighting of attackers. But it is unnecessary during normal daily living. And it can even become damaging when you’re functioning from your survival energy supply 24/7.
The rest of the article describes the progressive effect on the body of continuing to functions through such conditions.
The most important piece I think is at the end. The writer poses a simple question:
I want to also point to the necessity of defining the opposite of burnout. Sadly, in many medical and scientific literature pathology prevails. We know very well what sickness and disease look like, but what about the opposite? What’s it like to not be burning out?
This opens a whole rabbit-hole, but I think it is essential to think about this for oneself. Both our formal education and our societal norms condition us to think in terms of achievements. At no point does is one encouraged to consider what a desired end state looks like.