Feeling anxious and burnout: What is the connection?
Burnout goes far beyond feeling exhausted. It affects not just your energy and ability to work, but also your emotions and thoughts. Many people feel anxious during burnout — alongside fatigue, they struggle with insecurity, fear, or even panic attacks. This is an understandable response from your body and brain to prolonged overload.
Why does burnout cause anxiety?
When you are under stress for an extended period, your body continuously produces stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Normally, these hormones help you respond alertly to danger. But in burnout, this system becomes dysregulated. The alarm in your head stays on constantly — leaving you with an oversensitive nervous system.
Oversensitive nervous system in burnout
You feel tense or on edge, even in situations that don not warrant it. Small triggers — like an unexpected noise or a full inbox — can suddenly provoke a panic response. This happens because the threat centre in your brain is overactive, interpreting everyday signals as danger.
Over time, symptoms can expand: excessive worrying, avoiding situations, and sometimes even becoming frightened by your own bodily sensations, such as a racing heart or dizziness.
What can you do about anxiety in burnout?
If anxiety or panic attacks are interfering with your daily life, therapy can make a real difference. One effective approach is Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT). This method works on the underlying causes of anxiety:
- How are you making yourself anxious? Often, we do this without realising it. EFT helps you discover how this pattern works — and how to break it.
- Where does the anxiety come from? We explore the deeper source of your fearful feelings and actively work to address it.
A body-focused approach is essential
Because stress also becomes stored in the body, a somatic approach is indispensable. Your body can remain tense even when you are making mental progress. Relaxation techniques and daily movement — such as walking — help calm your nervous system. Step by step, balance between body and mind is restored.