The terms stress and burnout are often used interchangeably. Or you might think that burnout simply refers to more extreme levels of stress. But while the two conditions are linked, they are very different to experience.

Most people experience some level of stress almost every day. It’s that feeling of having things you need to do, pressures to keep on top of, or challenges looming in the future. Work, relationships, money, health and many other parts of life can all contribute to stress.

Burnout, on the other hand, is a more specific and uncommon experience. It’s what happens when you experience too much stress, for too long. Simply put, burnout is the feeling of being totally and utterly done. It leaves you exhausted, unmotivated and downcast.

Read on for a closer look at each condition, what causes it, and how to recover.

Stress motivates us to act

We experience stress when our mind detects some kind of threat. When this happens, the body and mind respond to help us deal with the perceived danger: our senses become sharper, the mind focuses, our heart pumps blood more quickly and our muscles get ready for action.

One of the most important functions of stress is to focus our attention on the thing that is currently posing a threat. If you’ve ever found yourself with “tunnel vision” when feeling overwhelmed by a work deadline, or found the rest of the world reduced to a blur when you spot a spider or another creature you fear, you know what this is like.

Stress therefore has an important motivating function: it is essentially your brain telling you ‘deal with that before anything else, thank you.’ Once you’ve addressed the problem, or at least removed yourself from its proximity, your stress levels return to normal and the blinkers come off.

Stress is therefore a naturally occurring and useful reaction. It isn’t pleasant, but it has its uses.

Burnout makes you pull away from everything

Burnout, on the other hand, does not motivate you. It does the opposite.

We experience burnout when stress has been allowed to remain at high levels for too long. The chemicals which cause our body and mind to respond to threats can become harmful if they remain at high levels for extended periods of time. Often this happens when the sources of stress in life are things we can’t immediately solve, such as money troubles, a highly demanding job, relationship conflict and other long-term worries.

When stress is long-term like this, eventually your body throws in the towel and you burn out. The main symptoms you experience when this happens include:

● Exhaustion: you feel totally drained and find it hard to perform simple daily tasks
● Apathy: you feel listless, hopeless and unmotivated, often to the point where you cannot face even attempting to engage with work
● Feeling overwhelmed: your ability to cope with further stress is dramatically reduced, making it nearly impossible to deal with demands and challenges
● Negative thoughts and feelings: it’s common to feel cynical and down about life, and to feel detached or alone

So while stress motivates us to tackle problems and get things done, burnout is like hitting a brick wall: your capacity and motivation plummet, leaving you exhausted and hopeless. Burnout has no useful function: it’s what happens when the stress system gets overloaded.

Treatment for stress and burnout

The way to approach treating stress is very different to how you would go about dealing with burnout.

Dealing with stress is all about balance. If you can find ways to cut some of the sources of stress out of your life, that’s a great start. Sticking to regular work hours, letting go of certain responsibilities, or asking for help with some of your burdens are all options here.

When this isn’t a possibility, or in addition, it’s vital to learn ways to reduce the level of stress you’re feeling. There are lots of ways you can help your body and mind relax and counteract the effects of accumulated stress.

Effective stress relief is a huge topic with a great variety of options to suit any lifestyle and personality. Popular ways to manage stress include:

● Exercise and sport
● Mindfulness and meditation
● Yoga
● Spending time outside in nature
● Pursuing relaxing and enjoyable hobbies

It’s also important to take proper care of yourself: making sure you get enough rest, watching your diet, and planning your day so that you have a good mix of activity and rest.

Dealing with burnout is rather different. Once you reach the burnout stage, powering through is no longer an option, but no amount of rest and relaxation on its own will help you recover your capacity for challenge either.

Recovering from burnout is a case of taking some time (often weeks or months) away from everything to give yourself time to really reset. After that, you need to gradually build up your tolerance and capacity again. This could mean a phased return to work, or gradually taking on more responsibility as you feel able.

Overcoming burnout is a long process which cannot be rushed, so avoiding getting to this stage by properly managing stress is a far better strategy. To start learning how to find the right stress balance in your life, check out our guides.