what is the difference between ‘normal’ fatigue and a burnout?

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what is the difference between ‘normal’ fatigue and a burnout?

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9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fatigue is simple tiredness. If you get a good night’s sleep, you’re not tired any more, and you can go back to work as usual the next morning.

Burnout is mental and physical exhaustion, from *constantly* being ‘on the job’ in one way or another. It’s the stress of *having* to work, when you’re already giving all you have to give and you’re expected to *somehow* find more in your totally-depleted reserves.

As an example: when the job you once loved has become a chore that you merely ‘tolerate’, you’re probably burned out.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I’ve been dealing with what my therapist says is PTSD. The major thing that let me know something was wrong is that I’m fit. I usually have tons of energy. If someone needs something and it’s upstairs lol , I would be the first to go get it for them. I had a nice little business going for the last 20 years and then my father fell and broke his hip just as this virus disaster began. I’m an only child and my father had me quite late in life. He was 84 when he broke his hip. He was a gentleman right til the very end. He had rehab at first for 6 weeks. He broke his femur also. Major. By the time he was ready to come home I had put up railings everywhere and secured things to make his life and mine , easier. My business was now in it’s death throes bcuz of lockdowns and so my life’s work was going , and then gone. During which time I was taking care of my father by myself. He was small and I’m strong enough to have moved him around when I needed to. He recovered. Then fell and broke his back. Fractured his vertebra in 3 places. And his other hip. Once he came home it was nonstop , constantly maintaining him. He also started to lose it mentally. We live in a pretty isolated spot and there aren’t many people to help around. He was always calling my name like something was wrong. This whole thing lasted about two years. When he finally passed away , he was soo broken by that point .. I can vaguely recall his funeral bcuz I was completely and utterly fried. People usually go to eat after. I went straight home to an empty house. It felt like someone had pulled my batteries out and I felt it happen. One day I just felt it. It was this realization that came with it that really butchered me , mentally. I was so tired that all I could do was sleep for at least a week. It did nothing for the fatigue. Bills were piling up. Responsibilities. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t even think about them. I had pushed myself way harder than I thought. In disaster mode , you don’t realize that you’re going at light speed all the time and the nerves!! Frayed. I became suicidal at one point and not from sadness. Or loneliness although I felt that strongly. It was that I was able to take a step back and REALLY LOOK , and I saw nothing left of my business I loved. I worked so hard on and I was “ok” and would have been able to retire one day or not bcuz I loved it. My father was my last family member. The world grew colder without directly doing so. It just changed. People became more to themselves. You know how it is , if you’re not crazy enough to get married then you live long enough to see all your friends get hitched. Then you get the third wheel type of invites bcuz your friends still want to hang out or go out but they have kids or a new baby or 3 friggin dogs when one was enough. Lol. It just hit me … why my father used to thank me all the time. Or apologize to me if he couldn’t make it to the bathroom on time. I used to carry him up the stairs so that he could still sleep in his bed. The thought that I’ll have to rely on a stranger when I’m that old and not someone who actually cares. If this all didn’t happen at the same time , the virus, losing the business , my father becoming an invalid , I would have been able to shoulder it. If it didn’t last for two years , watching him die every day with no breaks. I could have pulled up. The lack of energy I have I can’t begin to describe. Burnout doesn’t even fit. Burnt to a cinder maybe? Lol. I’m hoping this therapy thing works. I have faith in humanity and the people that I met along this road w my pop were stellar. My lack of energy starts w knowing how much I put into that business. Energy wise and knowing that I don’t have that now. Not this late in the game. I’ve done things in my life that most people wouldn’t think about. Not bad things. Just insane “go for it” type of things. The amount of energy that this world closing crap sucked up .. it made people look sad in the eyes. If you really ask someone how they were doing. During all that , their eyes will tell you. The whole thing just fkn broke my back. It really did. I have the kind of burnout that FUBAR should include. Lol. It’s not a tired that sleep could ever fix for me. It killed my “inner child” type of burnout. Geez. I’m sorry for the emotional dump. I just have never been tired or burned out. I used to yell at my friends. Teasing them if they used the snooze button. Now it’s my best friend … that I hate still.

Anonymous 0 Comments

You recover from normal fatigue by taking a break. Rest, recover, repeat. Take your vacation days, go camping for a week or something, and come back fired up and ready to get back to whatever you were doing.

Burnout is when you still feel stressed, tired, and demotivated even when you’re theoretically getting adequate rest (mental and physical). You take all your vacation days and get enough sleep at night, but the thought of getting up and going to a job you used to love now fills you with dread. You feel depressed, maybe you *can’t* sleep well at night because you dread getting up so badly…

That’s the difference. You recover from fatigue with rest. Burnout doesn’t get better without going to extremes (change jobs, change fields, take a 2-year sabbatical, etc).

ETA: Normal fatigue is actually good for you. That fatigue – rest – recovery cycle leads to growth and increased resistance to fatigue. True burnout is dangerous – a constant flood of stress hormones impacts your physical and mental health and can lead to heart disease, depression, and worse…

Anonymous 0 Comments

If you give 110% all the time, you overdrain your stamina. That’s burnout. You’ve overspent what your body is capable of

If you give 110% at work for a day, don’t be ashamed to give 70% for the rest of the week. You need to be able to recover.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Biggest differences imo (since burnout isn’t exactly a medical condition):

Normal Fatigue happens to pretty much everyone. It is also pretty easy to recover from. A nice night’s sleep will usually solve normal fatigue. An example of normal fatigue is perhaps you are on vacation and walked around a lot sightseeing. That would produce normal fatigue.

Burnout is more persistent and has an emotional component. If you were just constantly fatigued physically that would be call “Chronic Fatigue” which may be caused by certain medical conditions.

Burnout usually involves an emotional aspect that weighs heavily on the individual. Typically burnout is used to describe work/professional situations. E.g. being on an undermanned team, being in a role with constant/frequent deadlines, being in a role where the nature of the work is highly stressful, dealing with a shitty manager who is aggressive, possibly a combination of the above. It can also be from personal situations e.g. a very stressful home environment where demands on you as a spouse/parent are persistent, or abusive caretaker/parents, a

Burnout will always reoccur given that the environment that produces it remains the same. It doesn’t matter how much time off the person suffering burnout takes off, whether they start meditating, reorienting their mental framework etc. As long as the conditions that create burnout persist, burnout will eventually return for the individual.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Burnout feels like depression. You just do not see way out.
Imagine feeling cornered and under constant attack.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Let’s say you’re a car.

Normal fatigue is wear and tear on the car parts. You can go to a shop and replace your oil, brakes, tires, etc. and recover to an original state.

Burnout is if your driver doesn’t feel like driving. Maybe the traffic is too bad or they don’t like the car or they are bored of the roads. These are barriers to driving that can build up over time but are difficult to correct.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fatigue = I had a really long, hard week at work, but I love my job and after relaxing over the weekend, I’ll be ready to get back to it on Monday.

Burnout = I’ve been doing this job for X years, the hours suck, and there’s no enjoyment in it for me anymore. I need a change.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Normal fatigue is something you can recover from in a relatively predictable and reasonable way. Burnout is a buildup over time that doesn’t give you a chance to recover from in the same way.

0 views

what is the difference between ‘normal’ fatigue and a burnout?

In: 33

9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fatigue is simple tiredness. If you get a good night’s sleep, you’re not tired any more, and you can go back to work as usual the next morning.

Burnout is mental and physical exhaustion, from *constantly* being ‘on the job’ in one way or another. It’s the stress of *having* to work, when you’re already giving all you have to give and you’re expected to *somehow* find more in your totally-depleted reserves.

As an example: when the job you once loved has become a chore that you merely ‘tolerate’, you’re probably burned out.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I’ve been dealing with what my therapist says is PTSD. The major thing that let me know something was wrong is that I’m fit. I usually have tons of energy. If someone needs something and it’s upstairs lol , I would be the first to go get it for them. I had a nice little business going for the last 20 years and then my father fell and broke his hip just as this virus disaster began. I’m an only child and my father had me quite late in life. He was 84 when he broke his hip. He was a gentleman right til the very end. He had rehab at first for 6 weeks. He broke his femur also. Major. By the time he was ready to come home I had put up railings everywhere and secured things to make his life and mine , easier. My business was now in it’s death throes bcuz of lockdowns and so my life’s work was going , and then gone. During which time I was taking care of my father by myself. He was small and I’m strong enough to have moved him around when I needed to. He recovered. Then fell and broke his back. Fractured his vertebra in 3 places. And his other hip. Once he came home it was nonstop , constantly maintaining him. He also started to lose it mentally. We live in a pretty isolated spot and there aren’t many people to help around. He was always calling my name like something was wrong. This whole thing lasted about two years. When he finally passed away , he was soo broken by that point .. I can vaguely recall his funeral bcuz I was completely and utterly fried. People usually go to eat after. I went straight home to an empty house. It felt like someone had pulled my batteries out and I felt it happen. One day I just felt it. It was this realization that came with it that really butchered me , mentally. I was so tired that all I could do was sleep for at least a week. It did nothing for the fatigue. Bills were piling up. Responsibilities. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t even think about them. I had pushed myself way harder than I thought. In disaster mode , you don’t realize that you’re going at light speed all the time and the nerves!! Frayed. I became suicidal at one point and not from sadness. Or loneliness although I felt that strongly. It was that I was able to take a step back and REALLY LOOK , and I saw nothing left of my business I loved. I worked so hard on and I was “ok” and would have been able to retire one day or not bcuz I loved it. My father was my last family member. The world grew colder without directly doing so. It just changed. People became more to themselves. You know how it is , if you’re not crazy enough to get married then you live long enough to see all your friends get hitched. Then you get the third wheel type of invites bcuz your friends still want to hang out or go out but they have kids or a new baby or 3 friggin dogs when one was enough. Lol. It just hit me … why my father used to thank me all the time. Or apologize to me if he couldn’t make it to the bathroom on time. I used to carry him up the stairs so that he could still sleep in his bed. The thought that I’ll have to rely on a stranger when I’m that old and not someone who actually cares. If this all didn’t happen at the same time , the virus, losing the business , my father becoming an invalid , I would have been able to shoulder it. If it didn’t last for two years , watching him die every day with no breaks. I could have pulled up. The lack of energy I have I can’t begin to describe. Burnout doesn’t even fit. Burnt to a cinder maybe? Lol. I’m hoping this therapy thing works. I have faith in humanity and the people that I met along this road w my pop were stellar. My lack of energy starts w knowing how much I put into that business. Energy wise and knowing that I don’t have that now. Not this late in the game. I’ve done things in my life that most people wouldn’t think about. Not bad things. Just insane “go for it” type of things. The amount of energy that this world closing crap sucked up .. it made people look sad in the eyes. If you really ask someone how they were doing. During all that , their eyes will tell you. The whole thing just fkn broke my back. It really did. I have the kind of burnout that FUBAR should include. Lol. It’s not a tired that sleep could ever fix for me. It killed my “inner child” type of burnout. Geez. I’m sorry for the emotional dump. I just have never been tired or burned out. I used to yell at my friends. Teasing them if they used the snooze button. Now it’s my best friend … that I hate still.

Anonymous 0 Comments

You recover from normal fatigue by taking a break. Rest, recover, repeat. Take your vacation days, go camping for a week or something, and come back fired up and ready to get back to whatever you were doing.

Burnout is when you still feel stressed, tired, and demotivated even when you’re theoretically getting adequate rest (mental and physical). You take all your vacation days and get enough sleep at night, but the thought of getting up and going to a job you used to love now fills you with dread. You feel depressed, maybe you *can’t* sleep well at night because you dread getting up so badly…

That’s the difference. You recover from fatigue with rest. Burnout doesn’t get better without going to extremes (change jobs, change fields, take a 2-year sabbatical, etc).

ETA: Normal fatigue is actually good for you. That fatigue – rest – recovery cycle leads to growth and increased resistance to fatigue. True burnout is dangerous – a constant flood of stress hormones impacts your physical and mental health and can lead to heart disease, depression, and worse…

Anonymous 0 Comments

If you give 110% all the time, you overdrain your stamina. That’s burnout. You’ve overspent what your body is capable of

If you give 110% at work for a day, don’t be ashamed to give 70% for the rest of the week. You need to be able to recover.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Biggest differences imo (since burnout isn’t exactly a medical condition):

Normal Fatigue happens to pretty much everyone. It is also pretty easy to recover from. A nice night’s sleep will usually solve normal fatigue. An example of normal fatigue is perhaps you are on vacation and walked around a lot sightseeing. That would produce normal fatigue.

Burnout is more persistent and has an emotional component. If you were just constantly fatigued physically that would be call “Chronic Fatigue” which may be caused by certain medical conditions.

Burnout usually involves an emotional aspect that weighs heavily on the individual. Typically burnout is used to describe work/professional situations. E.g. being on an undermanned team, being in a role with constant/frequent deadlines, being in a role where the nature of the work is highly stressful, dealing with a shitty manager who is aggressive, possibly a combination of the above. It can also be from personal situations e.g. a very stressful home environment where demands on you as a spouse/parent are persistent, or abusive caretaker/parents, a

Burnout will always reoccur given that the environment that produces it remains the same. It doesn’t matter how much time off the person suffering burnout takes off, whether they start meditating, reorienting their mental framework etc. As long as the conditions that create burnout persist, burnout will eventually return for the individual.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Burnout feels like depression. You just do not see way out.
Imagine feeling cornered and under constant attack.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Let’s say you’re a car.

Normal fatigue is wear and tear on the car parts. You can go to a shop and replace your oil, brakes, tires, etc. and recover to an original state.

Burnout is if your driver doesn’t feel like driving. Maybe the traffic is too bad or they don’t like the car or they are bored of the roads. These are barriers to driving that can build up over time but are difficult to correct.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fatigue = I had a really long, hard week at work, but I love my job and after relaxing over the weekend, I’ll be ready to get back to it on Monday.

Burnout = I’ve been doing this job for X years, the hours suck, and there’s no enjoyment in it for me anymore. I need a change.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Normal fatigue is something you can recover from in a relatively predictable and reasonable way. Burnout is a buildup over time that doesn’t give you a chance to recover from in the same way.