Burnout
Constant exhaustion, inability to rest, pressure to be perfect and the feeling that it’s never enough – sound familiar? Burnout is much more than just stress at work. In this article, we reveal why standard advice often doesn’t help, and how Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT) can address the deeper causes of burnout.
Burnout – when we burn in our own flame
Burnout is not just “stress at work”. It is a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion that occurs when we are permanently and continuously exposed to stress.
In my work as an RTT practitioner, I encounter clients who have tried to “think positively,” “organize better,” “talk openly with superiors,” but still feel like their work is grinding them down. The reason? The real causes of burnout are often not outside of us, but deep within us .
With the RTT (Rapid Transformational Therapy) method, we look for the root of the problem – unconscious beliefs and behavioral patterns that force us to exhaust ourselves and burn out in our own flames:
I am only worth it if I work and achieve results.
If I don’t give 150%, others will reject me.
I can’t say NO because I’ll disappoint.
I have to be perfect for others to accept me.
These beliefs often arise in childhood – for example, if we were praised or our parents only noticed us when we got A’s or achieved something, or we learned that love comes through success, and that’s where the change begins.
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome caused by chronic stress at the workplace that has not been successfully resolved. Key features include:
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- emotional and physical exhaustion,
- mental detachment from work, with feelings of cynicism and negativism,
- decline in professional efficiency.
Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger first described burnout in 1974 as a state of exhaustion and feelings of failure caused by long-term professional stress. Christine Maslach, one of the most famous researchers in the field, further defined it through three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (indifference towards clients and colleagues), and reduced personal and professional achievement.
Burnout often occurs in people who work with people – in healthcare, education, and service industries – but is now spreading to other sectors. Early signs include fatigue, insomnia, headaches, loss of concentration, but also emotional indifference and cynicism towards work and colleagues. Over time, there is a decline in motivation, a sense of ineffectiveness, and a loss of personal identity.
In a study conducted by Deloitte (EURES, 2024), as many as 77% of respondents said they had experienced burnout at their current workplace.
It is important to recognize the symptoms in time – because burnout is not just temporary fatigue, but a serious condition that requires attention, understanding and – change.
Physiology and pathophysiology of stress
FIGHT OR FLIGHT
Stress is not just a feeling, it is a physiological response of the body. Stress involves the “fight or flight” system, which involves the adrenal glands (cortisol) and the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic).
Stress enters our bodies through certain parts of the brain that modulate our emotions and behavior. We respond to stress with a hormone control system (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis), let’s call it the Os. In the normal course of events, the Os stimulates the adrenal glands to increase cortisol production, and then, in a feedback loop, the increased cortisol concentration inhibits the Os and our body tells our mind: ‘Everything is okay. We’ll figure it out.’
Involuntary functions in our body are controlled by the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic and parasympathetic .
The sympathetic nervous system speeds up the pulse, dilates the pupils (it’s not for nothing that people say that eyes are big in fear!), increases blood pressure (so that more blood reaches the brain), and increases blood glucose (so that our muscles are stronger). All of these are mechanisms that prepare our body for fight or flight. It allows the body to develop external energy. So everything that is stimulated when a person runs away from danger or gets ready to fight is a function of the sympathetic nervous system. This is a normal and natural way in which our body protects itself. The problem arises when this condition lasts for a long time and creates a state of so-called. sympathetic dominance.
On the other hand, when we are able to relax, have fun, play, laugh, spend time in deep breathing, gratitude, and prayer, we stimulate parasympathetic tone. This is the part of our nervous system that enhances healing and recovery mechanisms.
These two parts of the autonomic nervous system are in balance, with minimal dominance of sympathetic or parasympathetic tone occurring periodically throughout the day and night. During the day, the tone of the sympathetic nervous system increases, and towards night it begins to weaken and gives way to the parasympathetic nervous system, whose tone is strongest before dawn.
Imagine that the parasympathetic is the brake and the sympathetic is the gas.
The problem arises when this condition becomes permanent, when you are constantly on the gas – when the body never recovers. Then comes the so-called sympathetic dominance and adrenal exhaustion.
In a state of long-term and continuous stress, our adrenal glands are exhausted and they can no longer be turned off, it’s as if they get used to the stress and don’t care anymore. And in the event of real danger, they no longer trust our mind and the Axis no longer functions. An event that once caused shock may eventually become accepted as normal; what once caused alarm may eventually elicit only a simple shrug.
Adrenal fatigue is a very serious condition that causes accelerated aging, chronic inflammation, excessive fatigue, and an inability to heal and repair. The person wants to sleep and feels the need to sleep, but most often has problems falling asleep and maintaining sleep. Frequent infections, depression, anxiety, morning fatigue, irritability, cravings for salty foods, violent emotional reactions, fatigue after exercise, unclear thoughts, weight gain… may be present.
EASE OF EXISTENCE – The Golden Mean
The concept of a “window of tolerance” was first developed by neurobiologist and clinical professor of psychiatry Dr. Dan Siegel to describe the “optimal arousal zone” within which we can best process and respond to the demands of daily life. When we are within our tolerance window, we are neither overstimulated (i.e. overstimulated, overwhelmed, or anxious) nor understimulated (i.e. withdrawn, alienated, or completely disconnected). In this “golden mean” between too much excitement and lack of challenge, we function at our best, plan and organize our work, time and priorities, and respond emotionally appropriately. This is our natural, basic physiological way of functioning, when we are focused and centered, neither overreacting to other people or life events, and yet we are engaged and interested.
What I am describing here is a state of regulation and balance: we are calm but engaged, relaxed but fully alert. This is the balance we want to achieve — the “golden mean” where we experience enough stress to feel motivated and focused, but not so much that we feel overwhelmed and ineffective. Low to moderate levels of perceived stress (the extent to which a person evaluates events in their life as stressful) have been shown to be beneficial for working memory and cognitive function, but when a person crosses the threshold of high stress, their ability to remember, concentrate, and learn new things begins to decline. This is the point when stress becomes toxic, making us susceptible to a variety of physical, mental, and professional problems, including burnout. However, every time we operate from the “golden mean” of stress, where we have an optimal level of stimulation, we re-establish a healthy foundation and optimize our health, thinking, learning, and work performance.
It is important to remember that every person is different and that the “golden mean” is different for each of us, because each of us has different thresholds for what we consider stressful and exhausting, and what we need in order to feel motivated and effective.
Burnout is not a sign that you don’t know how to “manage stress” – it’s an alarm that tells you that something needs to change.
RTT therapy helps return the body and mind to that golden mean – by recognizing and releasing the internal pressures that force us to constantly be “on the gas”, to never stop, to not know where our limits are.
