What is the REAL cause of burnout?
Everyone seems to be talking about burnout these days…but are they addressing the root cause or just trying to manage the branches?
Burnout among “helpers & healers” (people who are really good at helping others, either personally or professionally) might be at an all-time high right now, with all of the additional changes and challenges we seem to be navigating in 2025.
And let’s face it–caring for others all the time was not easy before that.
Just in case you haven’t taken a fancy online quiz lately to see if you are burned out, how many of these describe you?
Emotional Symptoms
Compassion fatigue – Feeling sooooo emotionally drained or even detached from those you care for (professionally or even personally)
Irritability or cynicism – Becoming more negative or disengaged about your work…and its showing up in your personal life now too
Sense of dread – Feeling anxious or overwhelmed before work
Guilt or self-doubt – That voice in your head that is wondering if you’re really helping, or if you should be doing more
Feeling emotionally numb – Struggling to access empathy or care for clients like you used to (ugh, this feels terrible!)
Physical Symptoms
Exhaustion – Feeling constantly drained, and maybe just wanting to stay in your cozy bed more than usual
Headaches or muscle tension – Carrying stress in your body, especially in your neck and shoulders (aka, “feels like the world is on your shoulders”)
Sleep disturbances – Trouble falling or staying asleep, or being restless all night long
Weakened immune system – Getting sick more often or taking longer to recover (germs are real, but we can get hit with more illness if we are also battling an emotional pile-up)
Behavioral Symptoms
Avoidance – Procrastinating of getting things done, at work or at home
Overworking or underworking – You either can’t get your foot off the pedal for work…or just can’t muster the ambition to get sh** done
Escapism – Turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms (overeating, alcohol, binge-watching TV a little too often, or scrollllllllllllling endlessly on social media)
Cognitive Symptoms
Brain fog – Struggling to concentrate, recall details, or make decisions (too many tabs open in your brain!)
Difficulty feeling accomplished – No longer feeling satisfaction from your work. It just doesn’t feel like it used to.
Overthinking brain– Constantly thinking about work, even when you’re off the clock
Are you surprised at all at how many of these sound like you?
As a“helpers & healers”, you can be so good at helping others, but not always fully aware of how you are actually feeling, and what you need.
If any of these resonate, don’t throw in the towel just yet…and don’t just quit one job and start another because IF YOU HAVEN’T ADDRESSED THE ROOT CAUSE, YOU’LL END UP IN THE SAME SITUATION.
Here’s the thing: burnout DOES involve things like how many hours you are working, how much you are being paid, and how much time you are taking for yourself to decompress…
BUT
It is more than that.
To really address the issue, you need to get clarity on the true root cause of burnout: your deep-down beliefs about yourself.
Ask yourself these questions:
1) What deep-down beliefs am I carrying that are influencing how I are making decisions about my work schedule, how much I get paid, and my “me time”?
Am I making my decisions about where I work, who I work with, and how much I get paid based on confidence and trust in myself…or fear that I have to settle for what I can get? Do I believe I can have abundance…or is that just for other people? Do I prioritize caring for myself…or is my role in this world to always put others first?
If you are making choices from a place of fear that you can’t have what you need and desire, it often stems from some beliefs you picked up based on early life experiences. These experiences might be obvious to you, but also can show up subtly. But if scarcity-mindset or fearful beliefs are guiding your decisions, you are more likely to become burned out. When you settle for what you think you must tolerate, you’ll be stuck in circumstances that don’t align with you and become burned out.
2) What beliefs about myself am I bringing into the office with me?
(Tough self-love time, because if you dig down to your gut to answer these and not accept the “right answer” that your brain might give you, you might be surprised at your answers.)
Deep down, do I believe it is my job to fix everyone? Save them? Make them like me/think good things about me? Convince them of something? If they continue to struggle, what does that mean about me?
It is of course a wonderful and beautiful thing to want to help others—the world needs us! But there is a difference between feeling good about helping others and feeling shame, frustration, or like “a bad person” if the person doesn’t “get better”. If you are helping others while being influenced by your need to feel “good enough”, you’ll become burned out when people don’t respond the way you need them to.
So if asking yourself these questions revealed some “roots causes”, how do you help heal them? The answer isn’t just changing jobs and taking more bubble baths—these are just “managing the branches” and you’ll repeat the same issues in the future. To really heal burnout and prevent it from coming back, you need to heal those uphelpful beliefs.
You need to discover where you picked up those beliefs, how they have served you in the past, and how to rewrite new beliefs. This is where finding a therapist that specializes in other “helpers and healers” can help. They can help you find clarity, link feelings and behaviors together, and perhaps most importantly, allow your deep needs and desires to come to the surface.
This compassionate connection is often vital to rewiring your brain—it’s often not enough to just read self-help books. Real change comes from new experiences, not just learning new ideas.
You deserve to feel physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing, and the people you are helping deserve the best version of you too. Finding a therapist to help with burnout can be a great gift to yourself, and those you care so deeply about.
Are you healing the root cause or burnout…or just managing the branches?
