Chronic Stress and Its Role in Burnout
Burnout isn’t just about feeling overworked - it’s a physiological response to chronic stress that affects both the mind and body. When stress becomes a daily occurrence, your nervous system stays on high alert, leading to persistent exhaustion, physical pain, and long-term health issues.
This guest post by Dr. Tawny Kross explores how burnout is a full-body experience driven by chronic stress, examines the workplace factors that contribute to it, and provides a roadmap for recovery through nervous system regulation, rest, and systemic change.
Woman in yellow sweater typing on laptop.
Burnout isn’t just about feeling tired after a long week. It’s the kind of exhaustion that seeps into your muscles, digestion, and energy levels—turning everyday tasks into a slog. And while we often think of burnout as a mind problem, the reality is that stress isn’t just something we think or feel; it’s something we carry physically, often without realizing it.
How Chronic Stress Contributes to Burnout
The body's fight-or-flight response was designed for short-term threats, but in today's world, deadlines, emails, and workplace pressure keep it activated indefinitely. This constant state of stress makes it harder to relax, recover, and think clearly.
Nervous System Overload
At its core, the nervous system is always asking one question: Am I safe, or am I in danger? And here’s the kicker - your nervous system doesn’t differentiate between the types of stressors we face. If we treat every email, every missed deadline, and every minor inconvenience as a five-alarm fire, our nervous system never gets a break.
To your body, an approaching deadline, a passive-aggressive email, and an actual threat (like a charging T-rex or an army of Orcs) all trigger the same survival response.
The body shifts into vigilance mode, preparing to fight, flee, or freeze, regardless of whether the 'threat' is a wild animal or just another work crisis. And if everything is an emergency, we never get to feel safe.
When your nervous system detects danger, it activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS)—better known as the fight-or-flight response. This response is designed to be short-term, helping us escape immediate threats (like the aforementioned T-rex). But in today’s workplace, stressors aren’t life-threatening, they’re never-ending.
Instead of short bursts of stress followed by recovery, chronic demands like tight deadlines, back-to-back meetings, overflowing inboxes keep the SNS engaged indefinitely. The result? A nervous system that’s stuck in overdrive, unable to switch into parasympathetic mode (rest-and-digest).
Model brain with medial view.
How Chronic Stress Contributes to Chronic Pain & Illness
Stress isn’t just an emotional experience; it has a profound impact on the nervous system, immune system, and inflammatory responses. Here’s how it plays out:
The Nervous System Stays Stuck in High Alert: Chronic stress keeps the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight mode) activated, making it harder for the body to shift into parasympathetic mode (rest and repair). This dysregulation can heighten pain sensitivity and make it difficult to heal from injuries.
Inflammation Increases: When stress is constant, the body produces higher levels of inflammatory chemicals. This can contribute to joint pain, migraines, and conditions like fibromyalgia.
Pain Becomes a Learned Response: Over time, the nervous system can become wired to associate certain movements or situations with pain, even after the initial injury has healed. This is why chronic pain persists even when scans and tests show no structural damage.
Burnout Lives in the Body
Our bodies are constantly communicating with us, sending subtle distress signals long before burnout fully takes hold. The problem? We often don’t recognize the signs of burnout - or worse, we ignore them. When stress becomes chronic, our nervous system stays in a heightened state of alert, and the body adapts in ways that aren’t always helpful. Some of the most common physical signs of burnout include:
Muscle Tension & Pain: When stress activates the body's fight-or-flight response, muscles tense up in preparation for action. But if stress is ongoing, that tension doesn’t fully release, leading to persistent aches, jaw clenching, tension headaches, and back pain.
Digestive Issues: Under stress, the body prioritizes survival over digestion, reducing blood flow to the gut and slowing down digestion. Research shows that chronic stress can contribute to bloating, indigestion, nausea, and even conditions like IBS.
Fatigue That Rest Doesn’t Fix: Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline keep us wired in the short term, but over time, they deplete our energy reserves. This can lead to a constant state of exhaustion, where even a full night’s sleep doesn’t seem to help.
These physical signs are not just byproducts of stress; they are your body waving a red flag, letting you know it’s struggling to keep up. And if burnout continues unchecked, it can lead to long-term consequences, including chronic pain, inflammation, and even autoimmune disorders.
How Chronic Stress Contributes to Chronic Pain & Illness
Stress isn’t just an emotional experience; it has a profound impact on the nervous system, immune system, and inflammatory responses. Burnout prevention matters not only because burnout itself sucks, but because there are real, long-lasting health complications, too. Here’s how it plays out:
The Nervous System Stays Stuck in High Alert: Chronic stress keeps the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight mode) activated, making it harder for the body to shift into parasympathetic mode (rest and repair). This dysregulation can heighten pain sensitivity and make it difficult to heal from injuries.
Inflammation Increases: When stress is constant, the body produces higher levels of inflammatory chemicals. This can contribute to joint pain, migraines, and conditions like fibromyalgia.
Pain Becomes a Learned Response: Over time, the nervous system can become wired to associate certain movements or situations with pain, even after the initial injury has healed. This is why chronic pain persists even when scans and tests show no structural damage.
Smiling woman in red shirt against yellow backdrop
The Burnout Recovery Process: How to Heal from Chronic Stress
If burnout was just about being tired, a long vacation would fix it. But burnout recovery isn’t as simple as rest alone—it requires addressing both the nervous system and the factors that led to chronic stress in the first place. Here’s how to heal from burnout effectively.
What Can We Do About Chronic Stress & Burnout?
Understanding that burnout is a full-body experience means we need solutions that address both mind and body. Here are a few ways to start:
Regulate Your Nervous System – Breathwork, mindful movement, and even small moments of relaxation throughout the day help shift the body out of survival mode and back into a state of balance.
Reframe Rest as Essential – Rest isn’t something to earn; it’s something we need to function. Taking breaks, prioritizing sleep, and listening to the body’s cues are crucial for long-term resilience.
Move in Ways That Feel Good – Gentle movement, stretching, or short walks can help discharge built-up tension without adding more strain.
Recognize Early Warning Signs – Learning to tune into subtle signals—like jaw tension, shallow breathing, or stomach discomfort—can help us intervene before burnout escalates.
Advocate for Workplace Support – Organizations that prioritize employee well-being don’t just create happier workers; they create healthier ones. Normalizing breaks, offering flexibility, and fostering a culture of support can make a difference.
Employees meeting around a table
The Workplace’s Role in Chronic Stress and Burnout
Burnout doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It thrives in environments where workplace demands consistently exceed employee resources.
While personal resilience and self-care strategies matter, the reality is that chronic stress at work is often systemic. Understanding the key workplace factors that contribute to burnout can help organizations and individuals address the common causes of workplace burnout rather than just the symptoms.
Common Workplace Stressors That Drive Burnout
Unmanageable Workloads – When employees are consistently expected to do more with less, they experience high job demands without adequate recovery time. This leads to chronic stress, exhaustion, and eventual burnout.
Lack of Autonomy – Micromanagement, rigid policies, and lack of control over one’s work contribute to stress. Research shows that when employees have more autonomy and decision-making power, they experience less emotional exhaustion.
Unclear Expectations – Constant uncertainty about job responsibilities, shifting priorities, or ambiguous performance standards forces employees into a constant state of hypervigilance, which can overwhelm the nervous system.
Toxic Work Culture – High-pressure environments, poor leadership, and unsupportive teams create psychological stress. Workplace incivility, passive-aggressive communication, and lack of recognition can exacerbate burnout.
Always-On Mentality – With the rise of remote work and digital communication, employees feel pressure to be available 24/7, leading to work-life boundary erosion and inability to fully recover from daily stressors.
How Organizations Can Reduce Workplace Burnout
Encourage Psychological Safety – Employees should feel safe speaking up about workload concerns without fear of retaliation.
Normalize Recovery & Breaks – Studies show that regular, brief breaks increase productivity. Encouraging employees to step away from work can actually improve performance and well-being.
Provide Flexibility – Allowing employees some control over work schedules, deadlines, and remote work options can significantly reduce stress.
Train Leaders in Stress Management – Managers play a key role in either preventing or contributing to burnout. Teaching leaders how to support employees without adding pressure can improve team well-being. If you need some ideas, check out these burnout workshop activities.
By addressing workplace burnout at a systemic level, companies don’t just create healthier employees—they create higher engagement, better retention, and a more productive workforce.
The Bottom Line on Chronic Stress and It’s Role in Burnoout
Burnout isn’t just mental—it’s physical. And recognizing that stress is stored in the body gives us new ways to approach recovery. By listening to our bodies, supporting our nervous systems, and prioritizing real rest, we can work with ourselves rather than against ourselves.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll start to notice that your nervous system doesn’t prompt you to react to your inbox with stress poops.
Dr. Tawny Kross
Tawny is physical therapist (PT) and a pain and wellness coach that believes passionately in people’s innate ability to heal and recover from chronic pain.
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