8 Subtle Signs of Burnout You Shouldn’t Ignore
By: Kerry McCarthy, LMHC, LPC, CPC, LAC
Burnout doesn’t always look like falling apart. Sometimes, it looks like getting through the day just fine—smiling, showing up, checking boxes while something inside feels a little more distant each week.
You might tell yourself, “I’m just tired,” or “Things will calm down soon,” but the truth is, burnout rarely shows up all at once. It creeps in slowly, hidden in the in-between spaces: between meetings, between text messages you forget to answer, between one more thing added to the list you didn’t agree to write.
We often think burnout only happens when we’re doing too much. But sometimes, it’s the result of doing too much for too long without the space to rest, reflect, or feel like your efforts matter. It can come from giving endlessly without receiving support in return or from carrying invisible loads no one else sees.
If you’re wondering whether you might be burnt out, here are a few signs that deserve your attention, not because they mean something is “wrong,” but because they’re telling you that something needs care.
1. Everything feels harder than it used to.
Tasks that once felt simple now take longer. Motivation feels buried under fog. Even deciding what to eat or replying to a friend’s message feels like too much.
2. You’re always tired—even after sleeping.
It’s not just physical exhaustion; it’s a kind of emotional heaviness. You might sleep for eight hours and still wake up drained. Rest doesn’t seem to help because what you need isn’t just sleep, it’s restoration.
3. You feel disconnected from yourself.
You go through the motions, but something feels off. You can’t quite access joy, creativity, or a sense of purpose. Even things that once brought meaning now feel flat or far away.
4. You’re more irritable than usual.
Small things set you off. You feel impatient, snappy, or emotionally raw. Maybe you’re quicker to cry or shut down altogether. These aren’t flaws—they’re signs your system is overwhelmed and trying to protect itself.
5. You’ve stopped looking forward to things.
Even the fun things—weekends, vacations, hobbies—don’t spark the same excitement. It’s not that you don’t care. It’s that your nervous system might be stuck in survival mode, too tired to anticipate joy.
6. You keep saying “I just need to get through this week.”
If that week keeps resetting, it might be time to ask: How long have I been waiting to feel okay again?
7. You’re over-functioning while under-feeling.
You get things done but feel emotionally checked out. You’re the go-to person, the dependable one. But inside, you’re scraping the bottom of the tank, trying to perform normalcy when what you need is a break.
8. Your body is speaking, and you’re not sure what it’s saying.
Maybe you’ve had more headaches, stomach issues, tension in your chest or jaw. Burnout isn’t just in your head—it’s in your body. And it’s often trying to speak before you’re ready to listen.
So what now?
First, be gentle with yourself. Burnout isn’t a personal failure—it’s often a sign that you’ve been showing up in unsustainable conditions for too long. Whether it’s caregiving, overworking, people-pleasing, or holding everything together behind the scenes, your body and mind are asking for a pause.
Start small. Take inventory of your capacity. Let one thing go without guilt. Let someone help. Say no more often. Give yourself permission to do less, even if the world is still spinning.
And if you don’t know where to begin, that’s okay too. This is the kind of thing therapy can hold space for—not just the stress, but the numbness, the guilt, the grief of realizing how long you’ve been trying to keep going on empty.
You deserve more than survival mode. You deserve to feel like yourself again—not the polished version, not the overextended one, but the real you underneath all of it.
If you’re ready to start that conversation, we’re here when you are.
