Burnout Resources: Tools to Go Deeper

Over the past week, we’ve explored burnout — what it is, how it affects the brain and body, the principles of recovery, and ways to prevent it. This post gathers a collection of resources to deepen your understanding and offer practical tools for managing burnout. These articles, videos, and guides provide both scientific insight and real-world strategies, forming part of the broader journey we’re taking through this series.

🔹 Understanding What Burnout Really Is

• World Health Organisation (ICD-11) — Defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon with three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy.

• Psychology Today: Burnout Basics — A more general perspective that extends beyond work, covering burnout in parenting, caregiving, and relationships.

👉 Why it’s useful: These definitions help you recognise burnout as more than “just stress” — a real, diagnosable state that requires attention.

🔹 How Burnout Affects the Brain and Body

• What happens to your brain when you burnout? (The Economist, YouTube)

• How stress affects your brain (Madhumita Murgia, TED-Ed)

• Burnout phenomenon: neurophysiological factors, clinical features, and aspects of management (NCBI, academic article)

• Burnout and the Brain (Association for Psychological Science)

👉 Why it’s useful: These explain the neuroscience of burnout — from enlarged amygdalae to cortisol dysregulation — making it clear why burnout feels so overwhelming and why recovery takes time.

🔹 Recovery Frameworks and Practices

• Headspace: What Happens to Cause Burnout? (YouTube)

• How Burnout Changes Your Brain — and What to Do About It (Forbes)

• What Burnout Does to the Brain (Neuline Health)

👉 Why it’s useful: These resources offer frameworks like the 3M break model (macro, meso, micro) and practical tips for completing the stress cycle through movement, rest, and mindfulness.

🔹 Practical Next Steps for Recovery

• Start small: prioritise sleep, daily movement, and micro-breaks.

• Use reflection practices like journaling to process emotions.

• Seek professional support (therapy, coaching, or occupational therapy) if you feel stuck.

• Share your experiences with trusted friends or communities — connection is protective.

Remember: burnout is not a personal failure. It’s a signal that something needs to shift — in your habits, boundaries, or environment.

Final Thought

Burnout has become one of the defining challenges of modern life. By naming it, understanding it, and accessing resources that support recovery, we can move beyond survival and toward a life that feels sustainable and meaningful.

This post brings together the key resources to support everything we’ve explored so far in the burnout series. In the next and final post, we’ll be focusing on the role of occupational therapy in burnout recovery — and how OTs can help restore balance, rebuild healthy routines, and reconnect you with a sense of purpose.

💬 Over to you:
Which of these resources or frameworks would you like me to unpack further in future posts?