Burnout is devastating as it robs you of your motivation and zest for life. The main symptoms are emotional exhaustion but physical fatigue is also common. The Autonomic Nervous System and the HPA axis are felt to be involved in different ways at different stages in the development of burnout. 

The thinking is that in the early stages the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” System is overactivated and over time this also results in lowered activity of the Vagus Nerve. The reality is that burnout is accompanied by an imbalance in that part of the nervous system responsible for coordinating and maintaining health and well-being. 

Burnout like all health challenges is linked in some way to stress. Here is a post I did How to De-Stress.

What is Burnout?

Burnout, like many stress-related conditions, can be difficult to accurately describe. There is no simple way to diagnose it. In the American Psychological Association dictionary it is described as “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.”

You might not even recognize it is happening to you until you cross the line from “really tired” to “too exhausted to function”. 

Symptoms of Burnout

Everyone experiences burnout differently. In my experience that’s largely because we’re using a term that describes a very general state of chronic stress overload and the myriad of symptoms that show up. Here are the more common symptoms that people experience in burnout. 

• Fatigue
• Apathy and dissatisfaction with work
• Headaches
• Changes to sleep patterns

Burnout and Stress

Stress is in many ways the common denominator in burnout and almost every chronic health challenge. It’s estimated that 75-90% of all doctor’s visits are for stress-related illness. 

I like to say we live in a soup of stress. There is no escaping it. Our individual capacity to handle stress differs dramatically depending on a range of factors. Let’s take a look at how stress impacts us and that will help guide us in how to escape it. 

Our Nervous Systems are programmed for survival. This priority falls on the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” Nervous System. The biggest challenge is that modern life is filled with “stresses” that our nervous system perceives as a threat. 

The sympathetic system reacts to stress by:

• Diverting blood and energy from our organs to our muscles
• Increasing heart rate and blood pressure
• Decreasing digestion
• Increasing inflammation
• Increasing blood sugar
• Disturbing sleep 
• Impairing healing and immune function

All of those prioritize short term survival over long term health. After all, if you don’t survive another day, what benefit is prioritizing health? This didn’t cause a problem generations ago when we encountered a threat and after responding returned to our baseline. 

The problem in current life is that most of the threats are “perceived” and trigger the very same nervous system response. 

The HPA Axis

The Hypothalamus in the brain responds to stress by sending messages to the Pituitary gland and from the Pituitary down to the Adrenal Glands. The Adrenal Glands secrete stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. The Sympathetic System is also highly activated. 

When all this happens it causes a lowering in the activity of the Vagus Nerve and over time it is the loss of Vagus Nerve function that corresponds with most of the long term burnout symptoms. 

Burnout is an Autonomic Nervous System Imbalance

Burnout is the result of longstanding stress that has resulted in a significant imbalance in the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems. In order to recover from burnout you absolutely must restore balance to your nervous system. 

If the chronic exposure to stress leading to burnout is associated with imbalances to the Autonomic Nervous System then recovery must involve a restoration of balance. One thing to keep in mind is that while burnout might have seemed to appear rather suddenly the process of chronic unrelenting stress took place over many months and likely years. 

Your brain and nervous system is forever seeking to bring you back to balance and keep you there. We call that physiological state homeostasis. Burnout is an indication that your brain and nervous system needs some assistance in restoring balance. 

Breathe Your Way Out of Burnout

There are many strategies you should adopt in your burnout recovery journey. Burnout is the result of long term stress and using multiple therapeutics in its recovery will greatly accelerate your healing.

Breathing is a powerful strategy to restore balance to the Autonomic Nervous System. Here are the 4 Steps to using breathwork in burnout recovery. 

Step #1: Nasal Breathing. Your mouth was not intended to be used for most breathing. Your nose filters air, warms it to body temperature, and helps the production of nitric oxide. The first step is to breathe using your nose whenever you are not eating, drinking, or talking. 

Step #2: Slow and Light. Resonance breathing has been shown to improve Vagus Nerve tone. Breathe slowly and light in and out through your nose. You want to aim for an inhale and exhale of about 5 seconds each through the nose. Do this for 5 minutes twice a day. 

Step #3: Diaphragm Breathing. Stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself take 5 breaths in and out. Watch where your body moves when you breathe. Movement in your upper chest, shoulders, and neck is activating your Sympathetic Nervous System and further suppressing your Vagus Nerve.

Start by lying on your back. Put your hands on your abdomen just below your ribs. As you breathe in and out this area should move and your chest should not. Once you can do it lying down, try sitting. Work up to being able to breathe using your diaphragm when standing.

Step #4: 4-7-8 Breathing. This is a simple and powerful practice to activate your Vagus Nerve. You are going to breathe in through your nose. To breathe out, put your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your upper teeth and breathe out through pursed lips. 

Using the same pace or cadence, breathe in for a count of 4, hold your breath in for a count of 7, and breathe out through pursed lips for a count of 8. Repeat for 5 to 7 cycles. 

Take this step-by-step. Both Diaphragmatic Breathing and Nasal Breathing are essential. It took you a long time to reach the stage of burnout and it is going to take some time to unwind and heal this. The key is time and repetition. 

Train yourself to breathe using your nose and diaphragm all the time. Use slow and light along with 4-7-8 every few hours through the day. 

Make sure to subscribe to my social media pages where I regularly post valuable information.

Facebook: Life Chiropractic Facebook
YouTube: Life Chiropractic YouTube
Instagram: Life Chiropractic Instagram

Schedule your first visit here:Life Chiropractic