Burnout and fatigue: what to know

Burnout is a response to prolonged, unrelieved stress, often connected with work or caregiving. Fatigue may feel like low energy, heavy limbs, poor motivation or needing more recovery after ordinary tasks. A person with burnout may also notice emotional distance, irritability, difficulty concentrating or disrupted sleep. These experiences can overlap with insomnia, anxiety, depression, medication effects, anaemia, thyroid problems and other health conditions, so symptoms alone cannot identify the cause.

Start by recording sleep, energy, workload, caffeine, medicines and mood for several days. Reduce avoidable demands, protect regular meals and movement, and create a wind-down period before bed. At work, discuss priorities, breaks, workload or leave with a trusted manager when that is safe. A clinician can review your symptoms, examine you and decide whether blood tests or mental-health support would be useful. See the pages on Fatigue, Difficulty Sleeping and Difficulty Concentrating for related symptom guidance.

Arrange a medical appointment when tiredness is persistent, worsening, affecting safety or making daily activities difficult. Seek urgent help for chest pain, severe breathlessness, fainting, new confusion, sudden weakness or thoughts of harming yourself. Contact a clinician sooner if sleep problems, anxiety or low mood are becoming hard to manage.

Could a medical condition, medicine or sleep problem be contributing to my fatigue? How should I pace work and recovery? Would a mental-health referral or tests be appropriate?