5 Stages of Burnout

There are 5 stages to the progression of burnout. Knowing them will help you intervene early rather than moving into the later stages which take longer to heal from.

Stage 1: Honeymoon
You don’t feel burned out yet. You are excited, energized, engaged, and creative. This typically happens at the start of a new job, role, or project. If you start neglecting your personal needs and habits and routines that are good for you when you are in this high energy place, you make yourself vulnerable to progressing to stage 2.

Stage 2: Onset of Stress
You start feeling irritable, motivation and energy decreases, you experience disruptions to eating and sleeping, you might start getting headaches.

Stage 3: Chronic Stress
You’ve been dealing with the stress for a prolonged period of time and the consequences are noticeable. You might struggle with insomnia. Headaches occur more frequently. Your immune system is impacted so you get sick more frequently. Your digestive system is impacted which can cause stomach issues or ulcers. Your fuse is short. You struggle to focus. It’s clear to yourself and others that something is wrong.

Stage 4: Burnout Crisis
This stage is where you experience the full impact of burnout including but not limited to mental/emotional/physical exhaustion, cynicism, negative attitude, resentment, preoccupation with stressors, unhealthy coping, negative impact on personal and professional relationships, anger/aggression, confusion, absenteeism, and reduced professional efficacy.

Stage 5: Chronic Burnout
This happens when you don’t address the stress and burnout and remain in the burnout state for a long period of time. It creates extreme mental, emotional, and physical consequences. You may develop chronic pain, chronic illness, or a clinically diagnosable mental health condition. You feel everything from stage four plus helplessness, hopelessness, and potentially anxiety and depression.

There is some variance from person to person in how these stages manifest and impact someone at an individual level. You can intervene and begin the road to recovery at any stage.

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