Running on Empty: Recognising and Recovering from Burnout

Burnout often happens when you’ve been giving so much of yourself - to your work, your family, your responsibilities - that there’s little energy left for you. Burnout isn’t just feeling tired but it happens when stress doesn’t ease, leaving you mentally and physically drained. It’s like a car that’s been driving on an almost-empty tank, running purely on fumes for far too long. You keep moving forward because you have to, but the longer you go without refueling, the higher your risk of breaking down completely. After showing up and giving so much of yourself and pushing through for so long, that quiet stress eventually starts to leave its mark. It can feel like exhaustion, numbness, or losing sight of what once mattered most.

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Signs of burnout can include:

• Mental and physical exhaustion - sleep is so hard to find even when you are tired, and even when you do rest, it doesn’t restore you

• Struggling to focus and feeling numb - showing up but just going through the motions

• Losing motivation for things that you used to enjoy

• Feeling disconnected from the people around you and withdrawing - you start pulling away from work, people, your purpose, or even your sense of self

• Anger and irritability - things that once didn’t bother you now set you off and you feel more reactive that usual

• Difficulty focusing

• Increased use of substances

If this sounds familiar to you, it’s time to prioritise YOU. Counselling offers a space to rest, reflect, and rebuild. We’ll work together to find ways to nourish your wellbeing and protect your energy, so you can move forward feeling more grounded and supported. This may include looking at how to tackle unrealistic expectations, how to set and communicate limits, to rediscover what lights you up and your values, and nourishing your self-care.