Burnout

The modern ways of life have drastically affected our work-life balance and stressors in life, causing many to experience burnout. We conducted polling of 4,418 adults in the UK, of which 2,436 were workers. We captured the public’s perceptions of burnout and the contributing factors in our Burnout Report 2025.

On this page:

What is burnout?

‘Burnout’ is recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an ‘occupational phenomenon’. While it is not a medical or mental health condition, it has been classified as a syndrome, meaning a collection of symptoms or signs associated with a specific health-related cause. Burnout is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress and feel under constant pressure.

 Whilst burnout can be caused by stress it isn’t the same as stress. Stress tends to be short term and whilst it may be having an impact on your sleep, energy and emotions you are still able to engage in the activity that is causing you stress. With burnout, you feel so detached and demotivated that it impacts on your ability to function and you feel hopeless that your situation can change.

Very often burnout is considered in a workplace setting, but burnout can be experienced alongside other life pressures and excessive demands such as responsibilities as a caregiver, parent or living with a chronic illness or condition.

Burnout can occur when you have repeated and prolonged high demands that exceed resources. It’s likely that burnout, whatever the cause, will impact upon the individual’s wellbeing at work and personal life, such as their relationships. Due to the consequences of burnout it’s important to recognise it before it saps energy and motivation and becomes overwhelming.

Since burnout can be a cause for mental ill health and could be a risk factor for developing mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety, it should be taken seriously.

Burnout symptoms

Burnout is a gradual process over time. Signs you have burnout could be attributed to stress, depression or anxiety and as such could go unnoticed and unaddressed.

Burnout symptoms can be recognised physically, emotionally and behaviourally. Most people will experience a combination of the symptoms below that includes severe exhaustion, feeling cut off from others, and feeling they have no hope, energy or reason for things to change.

If looking for signs that someone is burnt out, it can often be recognized by someone’s behaviour both at work and home.

They might be less productive, absent from work, excessively tired or appear irritable. Sometimes people can rely on excessive alcohol or drugs and/or their eating habits could change.

Physical symptoms

  • Feeling tired or exhausted most of the time
  • Reoccurring insomnia and sleep disturbances
  • Frequent headaches
  • Muscle or joint pain
  • Gastrointestinal problems, such as feeling sick or loss of appetite
  • Frequent illness due to lowered immunity
  • High blood pressure
  • Issues breathing

Emotional symptoms

  • Feeling helpless, trapped, and/or defeated
  • Self-doubt, feeling a failure or worthless
  • Feeling detached and alone in the world
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Feeling demotivated, having a cynical/negative outlook
  • Lacking sense of satisfaction and achievement
  • Loss of interest and enjoyment
  • Persistent feelings of dread, worry and anxiety

Behavioural symptoms

  • Procrastinating and taking longer to complete things
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Decreased output and productivity
  • Becoming isolated and withdrawing from people, responsibilities etc
  • Reliant on food, drugs or alcohol to cope
  • Irritable and short-tempered, likely to have outbursts and take frustrations out on others
  • Increased tardiness, being late for work and/or higher absenteeism

Why is burnout a concern?

Burnout isn’t something which goes away on its own. If ignored or left untreated it could worsen and lead to chronic physical and mental health conditions such as heart disease or depression.

Addressing the underlying causes of burnout is important otherwise prolonged burnout might lead people to drastic actions that they might otherwise not have considered, such as leaving a job despite the financial repercussions. Burnout can have a negative impact on other areas of your life such as relationships.

As prevalent as it is, burnout is often misunderstood, stigmatised, and costly both to employees’ health and wellbeing, and employers’ productivity.

Levels of pressure and stress remain high, with 91% of UK adults reporting that they experienced high or extreme levels of pressure or stress in the past year.

Gender plays a role in this prevalence. Women (94%) were 5% more likely than men (89%) to experience high or extreme levels of pressure or stress in the past year.

Adults aged 35-44 (96%) continue to be the age group most likely to have experienced high or extreme levels of stress in the last year.

94% of full-time students experienced high or extreme levels of pressure or stress in the past year.

The Burnout Report 2025

All you need to know about burnout in the UK

Our Burnout Report reveals that despite some improvements since 2024, in managing stress and preventing burnout, the UK workforce continues to struggle with the effects, with one in five workers still needing time off work due to mental health struggles caused by stress. The generational divide in experiences of stress has widened, with younger workers disproportionately affected which could signal a troubling breakdown in workplace support for those who need it most. The need for proactive discourse in what a “good workplace” looks like in the modern world is imperative.

Read the report

Burnout at work

We live in a rapidly changing world and are navigating an era of evolving ways of working. Hybrid models, technological advances, and shifting workplace expectations are transforming how we work and interact. While these changes offer new opportunities, they also bring challenges for employers striving to maintain mentally healthy workplaces for their staff.

Our research indicated that one in five workers still needed time off work due to mental health struggles caused by stress, the same as last year. There was a small increase in the number of UK workers reporting that their organisation have plans in place to spot signs of chronic stress and prevent burnout. But 45% of UK workers do not think such plans are in place, meaning they may not be feeling adequately supported by their employer.

What contributes to burnout?

Our report explores some of the key factors that could significantly contribute towards burnout in the UK, factors which remain prevalent and pertinent today. We’ve highlighted what these are and what you can do to help combat them. Expand each factor from the list below to learn more.

Interestingly, despite the WHO’s definition of burnout being an “occupational phenomenon”, not all of these factors were explicitly work-related, perhaps indicating that the pressures of work, combined with the additional pressures brought about by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis are having a big impact on our wellbeing.

What can be done about burnout?

Depending on the factors causing a person to become burnt out, the solutions and treatment will differ.

Below are some of the common areas of life that could contribute to burnout and self-care measures to reduce and manage them.

Money worries

We know that money and mental health go hand in hand; 49% of people agreed that money worries had caused stress and may contribute towards burnout.

Here are some ideas of how you can manage your money and budget:

At work

Working arrangements continued to affect workers’ levels of stress. 34% of field-based workers cited their working arrangements as driving stress, compared with 29% of those working from a fixed location, 19% of home-based workers, and 16% of hybrid workers. This year, 26% of workers said that being mandated to return to working from a fixed base had caused stress which may have contributed to burnout (compared to 30% in our 2024 report). .

Here are some recommendations for how to avoid burnout at work:

  • Structure your day: If you work from home, you can think of your workday in the same way as if you were going to the office. Try to have a dedicated workspace, ideally a quiet place away from others and distractions. Try to get up in plenty of time to get ready for work. Make sure you have everything you need there for your working day. Plan your start, break, lunch, and end times. Sticking to an end time can be as important as a start time. We all need to recharge our batteries.
  • Make sure to have a break: No matter your working arrangements, breaks are important to refresh yourself and they can help you be more productive. Taking a five-minute break away from your screen each hour can improve your wellbeing and improve your concentration. Don’t feel that you have to be at your screen all the time to prove you’re working. You can use some of these breaks to incorporate mindfulness techniques into your daily routine, such as meditation or deep breathing exercises.
  • Set boundaries: Clearly define work hours and avoid regularly working beyond them. Turn off work phones and put devices out of sight when not at work. When faced with excessive workload or unrealistic deadlines, ascertain if there is flexibility around delivery times and what further support would be helpful to alleviate pressure and stress. When working from home, if you live with others, it might be difficult to separate home and work life. It’s important to set boundaries about when and where you do and don’t work. You can have a discussion and agree on things together. You could write down your work schedule for the week and put it up in a place where all household members can see it. It is important to have clear home and work time.
  • Stay in contact: Working from home doesn’t mean you should silently concentrate on your work all day. You can still talk to colleagues by audio or video call. It’s good for everyone’s wellbeing and it is good to check in with others. Book in regular contact with your manager and other colleagues.
  • Manage your time: Time management in your job can influence your wellbeing and mental health. If you manage your time well, you can feel relaxed and in control and achieve the goals you want. But if you manage it poorly you can get stressed and be less productive. When you have a lot of things to do at work, it can be hard to decide what to do and when to do it. Use the four Ds when managing your workload: Ditch (does this task need to be done?), Defer (could it be done at a later date?), Delegate (could someone else complete it?), and Do.
  • Understand and manage stress: Use tools like the Stress Bucket to identify challenges and positive strategies for managing stress.
  • Create a Wellness Action Plan: Reflect on what good mental health looks like for you and identify steps to take if you or others notice signs you’re struggling in our Wellness Action Plan
  • Utilise workplace support: Take advantage of Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) if available. Speak to your GP if additional or longer-term support is needed.
  • Communicate with your manager: Regularly discuss workload and expectations with your manager. Be honest about challenges and request support when needed. Delegate tasks or share workloads where possible.

Worries about job security

Approximately 1.51 million people aged 16 and above were unemployed at the end of October 2024. Worries about job security and fear of redundancy has become the second most common driver of stress in the workplace.

Here are some ideas on how to ease those worries.

  • Talk to your employer: If you are worried about your job security, you can speak to your manager. You can ask them if your job is at risk. And you can ask them to be honest with you. You can ask your manager what the next steps are and when you will know more information.
  • Get advice: It can help you to get expert advice on the situation to know more about what your rights and options are. You can contact ACAS for free confidential advice. You don’t have to give any personal details if you don’t want to.
  • Look for another job: If your job is at risk you could prepare to look for another job by updating your CV. Find out more information on writing a CV
  • Careers advice: You can contact the National Careers Service for careers advice. They provide information, advice and guidance to help you make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities.
  • Make a plan: If your job is at risk, it might help you to make a plan of the things you can do if you lose your job. Making a plan can help you to:
    • Take control of the situation,
    • Know what your options are, and
    • Reduce stress, by knowing there are practical things you can do if you lose your job.

Isolation

Nearly a fifth of UK workers (17%) say they feel lonely at work, whilst 39% said feeling isolated had caused stress that may contribute towards burnout.

If you’re worried about isolation, you may find the following support services helpful:

  • Support lines: Talking about how you are feeling can have big benefits. People who care about you like friends and family are usually happy to listen and support you. But you can also call the following lines to talk about how you are feeling: Samaritans, Support Line, C.A.L.M, Silverline (for people over 55) and The Mix (for people under 25). For regional support visit the Hub of Hope.
  • Support groups: Mental health support groups help you connect with others who have mental health issues and their carers. The following organisations provide support groups, so you can see if there’s one in your local area: Rethink Mental Illness, local Minds and Carers Trust (for support groups and services for carers).
  • Investing in relationships: The Mental Health Foundation’s top tips on relationships explains what you can do to create better relationships with yourself and with the people around you. This can help to reduce isolation.

Physical health

Doing things that help us to relax and make us feel happy or calm, such as exercise, eating well and getting enough sleep can impact our mental health. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and they influence each other. 42% of people agreed that poor physical health had caused stress and may contribute towards burnout.

  • Eat healthy foods and have a balanced diet. Find more information on the NHS website
  • Keep physically active. Exercise can help to reduce stress and anxiety. It can increase the levels of serotonin and endorphins which are your body’s natural ‘happy’ chemicals. Visit the Mental Health UK website for more information.
  • Drink enough water. Visit the NHS website
  • Avoid or reduce drinking alcohol. Visit the Mental Health UK website for more information.
  • Avoid or reduce smoking. Visit the Mental Health UK website for more information.

Sleep

Problems with sleep can affect how you feel physically and mentally, and how you feel can also affect how you sleep. 61% of UK adults agreed that poor sleep had driven stress this year.

Here are some ideas on how to improve your sleep:

  • Diary: Using a diary can help to see if there is a pattern to your sleep. It may also help to see what may be affecting your sleep. You may find using our 7-day sleep tracker helps you to do this.
  • Routine: Having a set routine before bed can help with having a better night’s sleep. You may have to try different things before you find the right routine that helps. It can help to do things that help you relax before going to bed. Find out more information about sleep
  • Relaxing techniques: Finding the right activity that can help you relax can help you with your sleeping. You may need to try different activities before you find the right one that helps you. You can try things such as yoga, meditation, art, listening to soothing music.
  • Speak to your GP: If you are having problems sleeping, going to see your GP could help as they may be able to suggest some options to help you.

Relationships

It’s important for our wellbeing to have good relationships so that we can share our hopes, fears, confidence and happiness and, keep us going when we need extra support. Almost one third of UK adults (32%) cited problems in relationships as contributing to burnout.

Here are some ideas on how to improve your relationships.

  • Your relationship with yourself: Having a healthy relationship with yourself is as important as your relationship with others. To have a healthy relationship with yourself self-care is important. Self-care can be different for everyone. Self-care can include resting, exercising, spending time outside, speaking to others and reflecting on the good parts of your day.
  • Your relationships with others: The Mental Health Foundation’s top tips on relationships explains what you can do to create better relationships with others.
  • Your relationship with your partner: If you have a partner, it’s important to maintain a healthy relationship with them. Ways to do this can be:
    • Give time
    • Be present for each other
    • Listen to each other
    • Share thought and feelings

Caring for others

27% of UK adults experienced caring responsibilities, such as for elderly or unwell relatives, which contributed to burnout.

If you’re worried about looking after someone with a mental health problem, our founding charity partner in England, Rethink Mental Illness has provided advice.

I'm an employer, what can I do about burnout?

As an employer you have a duty of care to protect both the physical and mental health of employees. There are numerous proactive and preventative recommendations you could put in place to ensure working practices encourage positive mental health at work, below are some suggestions.

Culture and policy

  • Have a strategy, policy, or plan for employee mental health. It should be proactively implemented and regularly reviewed to prevent chronic stress and burnout.
  • Senior leaders should be visible in championing workplace mental health and how they maintain their own wellbeing.
  • Ensure workloads are reasonable and achievable. It’s a false economy to ask people to do too much if it leads to them leaving or going off sick.
  • Promote a cultural shift in the perception around taking time off when sick or utilising annual leave.
  • Offer a physical health programme that complements mental health and wellbeing initiatives, enabling employees to include physical activities in their daily routine.
  • Create holistic wellbeing strategies that acknowledge and address the interconnected factors outside of work that affect employees’ mental health.
  • Enforce zero-tolerance policies and address bullying and harassment with robust, well-communicated procedures.

Consultation and collaboration

  • Build inclusive employee networks and mission boards to allow representation and insight from all demographics, bridging cultural gaps and reducing stigma around mental health self-care.
  • Young people must be consulted when implementing burnout prevention plans, given the record numbers of young people who are experiencing high levels of stress in the workplace.
  • Collaborate with diverse voices, involving young workers, ethnic minorities, and marginalised groups in creating wellbeing policies together.
  • Collaborate between line managers and HR to ensure a clear understanding of reasonable adjustments, when to offer them, and how to implement them.
  • Regularly check in about workload and challenges, wellbeing check-ins should feature in 1:1s and team meetings.
  • Provide employees with a Wellbeing Action Plan to identify when and how to support them.

Training and development

  • Managers should be trained and well-versed in policies, capable of supporting staff, maintaining boundaries, and fostering an open culture.
  • Offer training sessions — such as those provided by Mental Health UK’s Workplace and Training, to help employees and managers understand the importance of good mental health and how to maintain it.
  • Train managers to identify early signs of burnout and provide clear pathways to mental health support services, including Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s).
  • Train managers on flexible working and reasonable adjustments to ensure managers feel confident implementing adjustments to support employees’ diverse needs.
  • Develop inclusive awareness training that addresses various factors impacting employees’ mental health, such as menopause, neurodivergence and disability.

Behaviours

  • Encourage opportunities for employees to look after their mental health and recognise positive practice.
  • Managers should promote a healthy work-life balance, encouraging employees to take regular breaks and use their full annual leave entitlement. Excessive overtime should be avoided and clear expectations set for when it is required.
  • Implement a fair and transparent rewards system to recognise good performance based on accomplishments.
  • Foster a culture of care and collaboration, encouraging team-building activities and social interactions for all staff while considering individual differences.
  • Conduct regular assessments of workplace stressors and burnout risks.
  • Adjust policies and practices based on employee feedback and changing work conditions.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4,418 adults, of which 2,436 were workers. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8th – 12th November 2024. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

Workplace Mental Health and Training

Our Workplace Mental Health and Training team works with organisations of various sizes to help them create psychologically safe workplaces that prioritise wellbeing. We can deliver a broad range of support tailored to your workplace; from therapeutic coaching, facilitated group peer support, to virtual or face to face training.

Find out more

Workplace tools and resources

We've developed some helpful resources to help spread awareness and address burnout in the workplace.

Download information on recognizing the signs of burnout, steps towards self-care, and conversation guides to support open discussions between managers and employees about the impact of burnout.

Conversation guide: talking to an employee about burnout

Download now

Conversation guide: talking to your manager about burnout

Download now

Spot the signs of burnout
A4 poster

Download now

Burnout self-care steps
A4 poster

Download now

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know whether I am burnt out or stressed, anxious, or depressed?

Some of the signs of burnout are also symptoms of being stressed, anxious or depressed, which can cause confusion due to the overlap. Burnout can increase the risk of developing depression or anxiety disorders. However, there are clear distinctions. Burnout is not a medical condition, whereas depression and anxiety are medically diagnosed.

Prolonged stress can lead to burnout and whilst momentary stress can leave you feeling exhausted, burnout can make you feel empty and hollow. People who are stressed often believe that there are aspects they can change or control, but people who are burnt out are beyond caring whether they can change anything about their situation because they have lost hope, motivation, and are exhausted.

People living with depression often have negative thoughts and feelings about life, whereas burnout trends to be centred on the factors which caused it. Put simply, if someone’s high pressured job has led to burnout, they would typically feel detached and hopeless about work, whereas someone who experienced depression would tend to feel detached and hopeless in general both at work and at home.

What should I do if I think I’m in danger of becoming burnt out?

It’s important that you reach out to people you trust, who can offer support. Talking to your GP would also be worthwhile, as they could provide a fit note, giving you time away from work or refer you to a counsellor. In understanding what has placed you at risk of burning out you could identify factors within your control to change or modify.

Depending on the contributory factors, you could reach out to your manager or HR to look for ways of reducing your workload or accessing support mechanisms your employer offers. If the challenges you face are at home, you could find some respite from caregiving such as asking a family member to take a shift to allow you time back.

What can I do to prevent burnout?

Burnout can sometimes be the result of factors outside of a person’s control, so it’s important to acknowledge that there are steps you could take, but it may not prevent burnout.

Depending on your circumstances, there will be various ways you could potentially prevent burnout. Below are just some examples:

  • Ensuring you carve out time for yourself in a busy schedule, whether it’s taking regular breaks at work or booking some respite care from your responsibilities.
    Setting clear boundaries at work and at home to ensure your time is protected so that you can restore your energies.
  • Building a good relationship with your manager so that you can share with them when you are struggling and support mechanisms can be put in place.
  • Practice meditation or mindfulness to help restore a calmness and perspective against life’s challenges.
  • Find employment that provides meaning and enjoyment so you can feel sense of achievement and fulfilment in some or all that you do at work.
  • Build a support mechanism at work and socially with people you trust, so that you can open up and be supported at times when you need.
  • Enhance your resilience by taking up something you enjoy, offsetting the challenges you might face.
  • Try to eat nutritious foods and keep regular sleeping patterns to support your energy and physical health
  • Exercise and movement is a great way to boost your mood and is beneficial to your wellbeing both physically and mentally.
  • Find ways of understanding and reducing the stressors in your life where possible to ensure you have a sense of agency and control over contributing factors.
  • Reframe the value you place on aspects of your life, such as work, so that you can start nourishing aspects that are important and restorative.

Can time away from the cause of burnout prevent it?

Having time out of a situation that could cause burnout can certainly help you process and reset your thoughts and feelings. For example, if you’re a carer, taking time for yourself and having respite is important to your wellbeing. If working a high-pressured job, having a break from it can help you to restore your energy and motivation.

However, returning to continued high demands may place you at risk again and therefore it’s important to find outlets, structures or support that can continue to prevent you from burning out.

How can you treat burnout?

Everyone’s recovery from burnout will be different depending on the factors that caused burnout and the resources available to them.

Burnout is not regarded as an illness but resolving it usually involves a combination or immediate relief from the factor causing it as well as more long-term measures such as talking therapies, such as counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

It’s important as part of that process to understand the causes of burnout so that solutions can be put in place to prevent further burnout.

How long does it take to recover from burnout?

How long it takes to recover from burnout will differ from person to person, whilst also dependent on whether they are still in the situation that caused them to burn out and if they are receiving support.

It takes time and could be from anywhere between a couple of months to a couple of years.

Does burnout only happen at work?

Whilst burnout is widely referenced as a workplace phenomenon, it can happen in any sphere of your life. Typically, if you are under prolonged stress that you feel unable to control and have insufficient resources to cope you could experience burnout. For example, you might be faced with continual challenges as a student, caregiver, parent or partner.

Burnout is not exclusive to the workplace and wherever it’s experienced, it often spills into other areas of your life.

If my job has caused me to burnout, should I leave it?

This is entirely an individual’s choice and there will be many factors to consider when making the decision. Leaving employment can have wider repercussions, such as financial, so if possible other options should be considered first. Workplaces have a ‘duty of care’ to their employees and should support their health and wellbeing.

Accessing the support systems they have in place — such as reasonable adjustments, special leave, occupational health or Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) — might prevent someone from feeling they have to leave their employment. Strategies could be put in place by the employer which could support them whilst at work and manage their wellbeing.

For more information about the support employees can access at work visit ACAS’ website

Is burnout related to perfectionism?

Perfectionism is a character trait that involves a person having high and exacting standards they hold themselves and others to. These standards can apply to all areas of their lives such as education, workplace, relationships, etc. It can lead a person to have set goals and expectations that may not be achievable or realistic for themselves and others. This approach can often be accompanied by a critical outlook if goals aren’t met, whilst making mistakes can be perceived in an overly negative way.

Perfectionism in and of itself isn’t a negative character trait and can often lead to high achievement. However, research has indicated that having a perfectionist’s approach could lead to burnout due to the exacting and unrelenting standards people may hold themselves to, which could lead to burnout in the long-term.

Lived experience stories of burnout

Nothing is more important than your health

16th January 2025

Read article

Don’t wait until you become too unwell

16th January 2025

Read article

Don’t wait to get help

16th January 2025

Read article

Take time to notice things that recur before burnout sets in

16th January 2025

Read article

I felt like I had failed

16th January 2025

Read article

Burnout creeps up on you

16th January 2025

Read article