4 Burnout Red Flags Your Job Is Dangerously Consuming Your Whole Life
How stress and burnout can make your life exponentially worse.
Michael Heise | Unsplash For many of us, stress and job burnout are just a byproduct of our everyday lives that we've learned to cope with, but it's important to deal with and resolve the causes of stress because when left unchecked, stress can trigger mood disorders that can affect our mental health.
According to Global Employee Health and Wellbeing Manager, Tim Hipgrave, emotional stress and burnout from your work can manifest itself in telltale ways, many of them physical. Read on to learn four burnout red flags that your mental and emotional health may be buckling under the strain of your job.
Here are the burnout red flags your job is consuming your whole life:
1. Lack of energy
Stress doesn't just affect your mind, it also affects you physiologically by releasing the hormone cortisol into your bloodstream, which mimics physical exertion by accelerating your breathing and heart rate and leaves you feeling unduly tired and lethargic.
Stress can also be to blame for lack of sleep as it disrupts your body's ability to regulate its sleep-wake instincts, causing insomnia. Sleep is extremely important for your body, and if you go too long without it there can be serious repercussions.
Emotional exhaustion or a distinct lack of energy is often considered the most prominent indicator of burnout. Feeling persistently drained and lacking vitality is a strong sign that you might be experiencing burnout. A 2022 study concluded that while occasional fatigue is typical, a persistent lack of energy that impacts daily life and is accompanied by other burnout symptoms like cynicism or reduced accomplishment is a cause for concern.
2. Tooth grinding
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Teeth grinding can cause major problems with your oral health including jaw ache, permanent tooth damage, and headaches. Stress-induced tooth grinding is linked to heightened activity in your subconscious when you're asleep; as you're not alert, your body uses your mouth as the physical outlet for the increased stress. If you're even stressed out in your sleep, then you know there's a problem.
Teeth grinding, also known as bruxism, is often considered a sign of burnout because it is directly linked to stress and anxiety, which are common symptoms of burnout. A 2020 study found that people tend to unconsciously clench their jaw muscles under significant stress, leading to teeth grinding, especially during sleep, as a physical manifestation of that tension.
3. Getting sick easily
When stress triggers the release of cortisol into the bloodstream, it inadvertently hinders your immune system's regular function. One important way it does this is by suppressing the release of the hormone DHEA, which supports immune function.
Stressed and sick? I can't imagine a worse combination. Getting sick easily can be a sign of burnout because chronic stress, a key component, weakens your immune system, making you more susceptible to illnesses like colds and flu.
Research by the University of Pennsylvania found that when you're burnt out, your body is less equipped to fight off infections due to prolonged stress. When burnt out, people often neglect self-care practices like healthy eating and sleep, which are crucial for maintaining a strong immune system.
4. Changes in habits
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It's no shocker that when we're stressed, we tend to reach for short-term food fixes for our problems, but stress can affect our eating habits by making us grab the nearest chocolate bar. "Stress eating" is often triggered by the release of cortisol, which increases your appetite and coinciding with your low morale, leads you to reach for typical comfort foods.
These can be great for you now and then, but when you find yourself needing them more and more, it's time to see what's going on in your life. On the other hand, many who suffer from stress also experience a loss of appetite, which is believed to be linked to the presence of a corticotropin-releasing hormone that suppresses appetite.
Changes in eating habits, like overeating, skipping meals, or drastically altering dietary choices, can be a significant sign of burnout because when under chronic stress, the body's natural stress response can disrupt appetite regulation.
A 2012 study found that this often leads people to seek comfort in food, particularly unhealthy options, as a coping mechanism. This can manifest as either increased or decreased food intake, depending on the individual.
Florie Mwanza is a freelance writer and former associate editor at PopSugar. She has been featured in Yahoo Life, Cosmopolitan (UK), Refinery29, and more.