Am I burnt out?
Burnout rarely arrives overnight. It builds over months of pushing harder to keep up, until you're exhausted, detached from work you used to care about, and feel you're achieving nothing however hard you try.
The World Health Organization describes burnout as a result of long-term workplace stress that hasn't been managed. It isn't classed as a medical condition, but it can affect your health, your sleep and the people around you.
The three signs
The World Health Organization names three features of burnout:
- Exhaustion. Tiredness that a weekend or a good night's sleep doesn't lift
- Distance. Feeling cynical or numb about your work, or dreading it
- Feeling ineffective. Working hard and feeling you get nowhere
Other common signs include irritability with the people closest to you, getting ill more often, and losing interest in things outside work.
How it builds
It often starts with pressure you can meet by working harder. Then rest and the things that recharge you get squeezed out, because there isn't time. Tiredness turns into running on empty. By the time people recognise burnout, they've usually been heading towards it for a long time.
It isn't only about paid work. Caring for someone, running a household, or studying alongside a job can lead to the same place.
What helps
- Name what's draining you, specifically, rather than "everything"
- Put back one thing that recharges you, and protect it like an appointment
- Look at what you can say no to, delegate or do less well
- Talk to your manager, HR or an Employee Assistance Programme if work is the main driver
Rest helps, but if nothing else changes, the same pattern usually returns.
How counselling helps
In sessions, we look at what's driving the exhaustion, which is often as much about expectations and habits as workload. We work out what can realistically change and how you start protecting your own limits.
Counselling isn't a medical treatment. If burnout is affecting your health or you need time off work, speak to your GP.
Talk it through
I offer counselling for stress and burnout in Barnsley and online. Employers can also arrange workplace counselling. Individual sessions are £70 for 50 minutes, in private counselling rooms in a discreet town-centre location in Barnsley with free parking, or by video or telephone.
You can start with a free 10-minute phone intro, bookable at 12:00 or 12:30, Monday to Friday, or book a first session.
Free support
NHS Talking Therapies are free, and you can usually refer yourself:
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Learn more →Reviewed by Tracy Simpson, MBACP, October 2026.