A breaking point, can be any combination of physical/mental/emotional where you can no longer execute the day-to-day that is expected of you.

A complete lack of motivation paired with a high level of anxiety.

Emotional exhaustion alongside a feeling of doom, and overwhelm

Physical, mental, emotional impairment caused by stress usually due to overwork.

A sustained period of heightened stress that leads to a complete detachment from work. It affects my mental & physical well-being… For me the implications show up mostly in insomnia, stomach problems, anxiety, depression, and irritability. I know I’m in this midst of burnout when I get really snappy with people

Dreading waking up for work every day. Procrastinating. Not feeling like this is what I am supposed to do with my life, career-wise.

As a creative person, burnout is when you are completely out of new ideas and inspiration. Nothing seems to trigger that *spark* anymore.

A loss in purpose, focus, and energy. Energy loss, inability to regain, and daily exhaustion being a huge centering point for me. I lost full interest or lack priority in the things that help recover or sustain energy due to the "extra" mental need and time to do work that traditionally would come with ease, increased energy, or excitement and drive.

A complete collapse of your day-to-day. During that time I almost entered a depression where all I wanted to do was stay in bed, avoid my work laptop at all costs, and hope that I would get fired so that I could get away from the stress.

A state in which it's very hard to connect with the work you are doing, it's really hard to keep up with responsibilities, feeling exhausted at all times, and having mostly negative feelings and thoughts regarding work… [sometimes] this also means hair and skin conditions, existing mental conditions being exacerbated – anxiety/depression – sleeping issues, etc.

Stress to the point that it impacts daily and executive functioning – memory, sleep, hygiene, physical health, emotional regulation, cognitive processing.

Burnout is when your body give up on doing your daily tasks as it feel exhausted and powerless

A previous job with high stress and low employee happiness, exacerbating existing physical / medical issue (undiagnosed Crohn’s disease). Bad lifestyle habits of drinking and low exercise worsened the situation.

An unhealthy coupling of my self-worth with my work performance (or how my work performance was perceived).

Directly related to work and how I aligned my own value to work performance. Worked in x2 fast paced corporate tech companies, where I over achieved but was extremely overworked. The levels of stress was what led me to both burnout experiences

Demanding clients, unattainable goals and deadlines, long hours, perfectionism, survival mode, the pandemic, physical health consequences of stress

Poor management from leadership. That often looks like an unreasonable workload, “always on” environments, and a lack of growth opportunities since I’m not interested in management. I’ve also been one of the few, if not the only, black employees at all of my positions. This often results in a feeling of “otherness” that contributes to burnout because I have to be on guard against the reckless treatment I’ve dealt with during my career.

I cannot pinpoint exactly what. Maybe expecting too much of myself, maybe not being acknowledged when I needed it, feeling like I'm in the middle of this life journey of mine with no satisfaction that what I do actually impacts anyone, I can't find myself in a lot of the things I do now, I feel at a loss at times and at the same time guilty cause I don't want to let others down or not rise to expectations.

Where does one even begin to start! Outside, external influences such as the systemic racism issues in America, the COVID-19 response/return to "normal" and not addressing people still affected directly or indirectly, the continual backdrop of war in societies and across the globe, and the 'never enough' syndrome in the American bottom line. Losing my father definitely made this worst. Not right away, and mostly in fumbling moments and months later as I take on and work through grief on top of the "stack". Direct career challenges also play an influence navigating "top performer" status and ensuring I'm working on what the business feels is most important/impactful, too. All of this can be bundled into a theme of losing touch and focus within myself / falling out of flowstate.

Compounding for family issues and professional reasons. My dad got sick and passed away in 2016; during the time he was sick I was also helping to care for my mom… In my professional life, I work in local county government and over the last 4 years, I have hit a plateau; I have no growth or room to move around. My only opportunity for growth is management and that is not what I want at this time. My job duties have been stagnant for at least 5 years and I have no ability to move laterally within the county. When I have broached the subject with my supervisor/director first in 2019 and most recently 4 months ago, I got nothing this last time and we'll see in 6 months what we can do the time before that. When you get no support from your employer it is quite discouraging especially when they say "we're here to help, we're family, we're all in this together…"

I don't think I can pinpoint one cause. In my case there are a lot of longstanding factors that contributed to it. In the end, having a stressful work where I didn't get the right support was the final drop. Made worst by a life of masking neurodivergence, very high personal standards, very high auto perceived responsibility regarding the wellbeing of my team, lack of access to mental health resources, probably other things I can't think of.

Changed my job & location, eastern + western medical help, quit drinking, started exercising… A self-imposed "maximum stress level", checking myself and reminding myself of how little the things I'm stressing about likely matter in the big picture. Starting my own company and controlling my own schedule to better have "stress release valves" like going on a run mid workday have also been a huge help. I know spend more hours working but feel way more balanced and less stressed / burnt out.

Support from family and friends. Honest conversations with my line manager, who was also very supportive… I try to close my laptop at a reasonable time in the evening and not avoid giving any mental space to work in the evenings. I have moderate success with both of these.

I don’t think I have recovered.

This started in 2020 and hasn’t stopped… Haven’t recovered yet.

Leaving my job to go travel, therapy, meditation, building a journaling practice, recognizing I’m not alone and connecting with others going through the same thing… I set clear boundaries about when I am and am not available. I also make it known that I will not be doing a bunch of extra work outside of my responsibilities unless I’m compensated for it.

More quality sleep, change of job, change of environment.

Joining a new environment and company that better appreciated my skills and valued my potential helped me feel much better, but it unfortunately was not enough to fully cure my burnout… Since my burnout is a lingering thing, I am actively meeting with mental health professionals who are helping me restructure my work-life balance.

Changing jobs, time, getting a neurodiversity diagnosis and starting treatment, rest… Making sure that I have the right support at work is something that I take very seriously now, and I don't think I'll downplay my gut feelings in the future regarding this.

Healthy conversations with my direct manager, feeling seen/supported by direct family, and trying a multitude of alternative solutions to reconnect with myself, defining a purpose/plan, setting boundaries with work, and slowly rebuilding a practice in movement. I'll have moments of success and moments of dropping off… "Slowly rebuilding into a version of who I really liked being (~September 2020) and trying to center back into practices that really helped me become that person: Meditation, daily yoga practice, and nurturing healthy and close relationships that were outward thinking and not just focused on what you do, how much you make, or "how does this help me."

I went to a mental institution the first time as I was in a full panic attack modus, I had therapy for there months in a center, where I had no contact with the exterior world. The 2nd time talking to colleagues and seeing things in perspective helped me… I apply ruthless prioritization and avoid multitasking, I also pick things that are urgent and important and other topics I either delegate or let them die

Starting my coaching journey- purpose and coaching from colleagues. Reorientation of career life goals and implementing them. 1 year leave with second child… Changed career direction, commitments and conscious choices around self care & continuous development, family and work

It's very easy for humans to normalize their current situation, whatever that is. So its often hard to recognize it when you're in the moment that: A) This is not normal, B) This is not okay and C) I have power to change this situation

It appears somewhat without warning, that it's more common that we like to think, and that it doesn't have to be a dramatic implosion - low-level burnout is also very much a thing. The effects are also fairly long lasting.

It’s a natural result of capitalism and white supremacy.

I’m not built for Corporate America and that’s ok. I have the skills, drive, and creativity to go do something else… My organization doesn’t actively work to prevent burnout at all. Every idea I’ve brought to the table from things I’ve seen other tech companies do is met with silence

If you can, try and address the early signs – such as frustration with minor inconveniences, unwillingness to go to work the next day, abnormal levels of stress – especially with little things, etc. – to figure out whats the main cause of your burnout and hopefully nip it in the bud before it gets too serious.

Biggest insight is it happens often when a person invests time and energy at work and/or at home without the desired result, sense of impact or agency. It is often accompanied by a sense of powerlessness.

While you may feel like an only, you're actually not alone. More and more people feel this way and are having internal battles, monologues, and awareness to their own struggles with burnout, too.

You need to control your work, be vulnerable and open about things you can do and cannot do, rather than being a super-hero and keeping it all inside

What I have found in my experience is that burnout in the United States is not talked about, that the idea of it should never be talked about. That when an employee talks and is open about their burnout, they are brushed off as if it is only the employee's problem and the not the employer's problem too. Corporate America is all about the profit at the expensive of the workers and that bleeds into the personal lives of employees. I am apathetic about things that I never was before because of the lack of acknowledgement of my burnout from others around me. It also has re-enforced feelings I have from growing up that sharing my feelings gets me nothing, and that is sad and lonely and....just sucks.

Unfortunately the tech industry pushes people too hard at times and treats it like the norm. Oftentimes where this happens these companies are voted "Best to Work For!" or something like that, so it seems like it’s a problem that is largely ignored and swept under the table.

It happens to many people, can be both mental and physical. It should be treated like any other illness - time off, medical care, therapeutic interventions, etc. I now work at an anti-human-trafficking organization which acknowledges staff can burnout from secondary trauma (hearing so many traumatic stories), and we watch for signs of burnout as well as dialog with staff about burnout. We make self-care plans which are discussed with the manager twice a year. I think corporations need to do this as well, because it will enhance workforce productivity.