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Workplace Stress and Burnout: Signs, Causes and When to Seek Help
Written by Melissa Maranzano, MA | Updated October 2026
A demanding week at work is one thing.
Feeling exhausted before the workday begins, thinking about work long after you have logged off, losing sleep over deadlines, becoming increasingly irritable or detached, or realizing that work stress is affecting your relationships and mental health can be something different.
Workplace stress can become so familiar that people stop recognizing how much it is affecting them.
But not every difficult workday is burnout. And burnout, anxiety and depression are not interchangeable.
Understanding what you are experiencing can help you determine whether you need changes in your work environment, stronger boundaries, professional mental health support - or some combination of these.
What Is Workplace Stress?
Some degree of stress at work is normal. Deadlines, difficult conversations, changing responsibilities and busy periods can temporarily increase pressure.
Workplace stress becomes more concerning when demands consistently exceed the resources, time, support or ability someone has to manage them.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) describes job stress as harmful physical and emotional responses that can occur when job requirements do not match a worker's capabilities, resources or needs (NIOSH, 2026). Common workplace challenges that may result in job stress include:
Excessive or unrealistic workloads
Chronic understaffing
Long or unpredictable hours
Unclear job responsibilities
Frequent organizational changes
Lack of control over one's work
Difficult relationships with supervisors or coworkers
Workplace conflict, bullying or harassment
Inadequate support from leadership
Pressure to remain constantly available
Poor work-life boundaries
Job insecurity
Emotionally demanding work
Feeling disconnected from the purpose or value of one's work
Workplace stress can be exacerbated by a combination of work and personal demands. Parenting, caregiving, financial concerns, health issues, relationship stress and other responsibilities do not disappear when the workday begins.
Workplace Stress vs. Burnout: What's the Difference?
The terms stress and burnout are often used interchangeably, but they are not quite the same.
Workplace stress may be temporary and recurring over time, but is not sustained in the way burnout is. Someone might feel overwhelmed during a particularly demanding project and recover once the pressure decreases.
Burnout refers specifically to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.
The World Health Organization describes burnout as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition or mental health diagnosis.
It is characterized by three primary dimensions:
Feelings of exhaustion or depleted energy
Increased mental distance from one's job, including negativity or cynicism
Reduced sense of professional effectiveness
Burnout is also specifically related to the occupational context. Feeling emotionally exhausted in multiple areas of life may indicate something different - or something occurring alongside burnout (WHO, 2019).
Burnout, Anxiety and Depression Are Not the Same Thing
This distinction matters.
Someone experiencing burnout might say: "I cannot keep doing this job."
Someone experiencing depression might say: "I do not enjoy anything anymore."
Someone experiencing anxiety might say: "I cannot stop worrying that something is going to go wrong."
Real life is rarely that simple, however. Symptoms can overlap, and someone can experience burnout alongside an anxiety disorder, depressive disorder or another mental health condition.
For example, exhaustion can occur with both burnout and depression. Difficulty concentrating can accompany chronic stress, anxiety and depression. Sleep disturbance can appear across all three.
A key difference is that burnout is specifically connected to chronic workplace stress, while mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety can affect many areas of someone's life.
This is one reason self-diagnosing based on a checklist or social media post can be misleading. A mental health professional can look at the broader picture, including how long symptoms have been occurring, how severe they are, where they occur and how much they are interfering with everyday functioning.
Signs Workplace Stress May Be Affecting Your Mental Health
Workplace stress does not always stay at work. You may begin noticing emotional, behavioral, cognitive or physical changes.
Persistent dread about going to work
Feeling anxious even when you are not working
Difficulty falling or staying asleep because of work-related thoughts
Irritability or a shorter temper
Feeling emotionally depleted
Increased crying or emotional reactivity
Difficulty concentrating
Forgetfulness or trouble making decisions
Feeling detached, cynical or increasingly negative about work
Loss of motivation
Panic attacks
Headaches, muscle tension or gastrointestinal symptoms
Withdrawing from friends, family or activities you normally enjoy
Increased use of alcohol or substances
Checking email or work messages compulsively outside work hours
Feeling unable to mentally disengage from work
Declining performance at work or difficulty functioning at home
Feelings of hopelessness or thoughts of self-harm or suicide
Experiencing one or several of these signs does not automatically mean you have a mental health disorder. Frequency, severity, duration and impact on functioning matter.
But when symptoms persist, worsen or begin affecting multiple areas of life, it may be time to talk with a mental health professional.
Workplace Stress Isn't Always a Self-Care Problem
When people struggle with workplace stress, they are often told to practice better self-care. Take a walk. Meditate. Use your vacation days. Exercise. Set boundaries.
These strategies can absolutely be helpful. But they cannot fix every workplace problem.
An employee cannot independently solve chronic understaffing, an unmanageable workload, unclear expectations, a psychologically unsafe workplace or an organizational culture that rewards constant availability.
Managing workplace mental health therefore requires looking at both the individual and the work environment.
What Employees May Be Able to Influence
Establishing clearer boundaries around work hours
Taking available breaks and time off
Prioritizing tasks rather than treating everything as equally urgent
Communicating workload concerns
Asking for clarification when responsibilities are unclear
Developing stress-management and emotion-regulation skills
Protecting sleep, movement and recovery time
Staying connected to supportive relationships
Using available Employee Assistance Program (EAP) resources
Seeking professional mental health support when symptoms persist
But individual coping strategies should not be expected to compensate indefinitely for unhealthy working conditions.
What Employers Can Influence
Whether workloads are realistic
Whether staffing levels are appropriate
How much control employees have over their work
Whether job expectations and responsibilities are clear
Whether employees can realistically disconnect outside working hours
How supervisors communicate with employees
Whether employees feel safe raising concerns
Whether bullying, harassment or incivility are addressed
Whether employees have adequate resources to perform their jobs
Whether time off and mental health resources are genuinely supported
Whether leaders model healthy boundaries themselves
Creating a healthier workplace requires more than offering wellness activities while leaving the causes of chronic occupational stress unchanged.
What Can I Do If Work Is Affecting My Mental Health?
Start by identifying what is actually creating the most distress. Instead of simply thinking, "My job stresses me out," try becoming more specific.
Is it the volume of work? Your supervisor? A lack of control? Constant interruptions? Unclear expectations? A particular responsibility? Fear of making mistakes? Difficulty saying no? Conflict with coworkers? The inability to mentally disconnect after work?
Understanding the source of stress can make it easier to determine what might actually help.
Set Realistic Boundaries
When possible, establish clearer boundaries between working and nonworking time. That may mean turning off work notifications, establishing expectations about response times or creating a transition ritual at the end of the workday. Boundaries are not always entirely within an employee's control, which is why organizational expectations matter too.
Focus on What You Can Control
When everything feels urgent, identify what actually requires your attention now. Breaking large tasks into smaller steps and clarifying priorities with a supervisor can reduce the cognitive load created by trying to manage everything simultaneously.
Use Regulation Skills
Stress activates the body's threat-response systems. Mindfulness, paced breathing, grounding strategies and other regulation skills can help reduce physiological arousal and create enough space to respond more intentionally. The goal is not to eliminate all stress. It is to improve your ability to respond to it effectively.
Protect Recovery Time
Recovery is not a reward you earn after completing everything. Sleep, movement, relationships, hobbies, rest and time away from work all contribute to mental health. If work consistently prevents recovery, that itself is important information.
Talk About What Is Happening
Depending on your workplace and circumstances, consider speaking with a supervisor, human resources professional, EAP provider or another appropriate resource. If symptoms are affecting your emotional health or functioning, speaking with a mental health professional can also help clarify what you are experiencing and what type of support may be appropriate.
Should I Quit My Job? Or Do I Need Mental Health Treatment?
When work is significantly affecting mental health, it is understandable to wonder whether leaving the job would solve the problem.
Sometimes a workplace truly is unhealthy or incompatible with someone's needs. Sometimes an underlying anxiety disorder, depression, trauma-related condition or other mental health concern needs treatment. And sometimes both are true.
There is not a universal answer. Questions worth considering include:
Do my symptoms improve significantly when I am away from work?
Do I feel distressed primarily about this particular workplace or across many areas of my life?
Is there a specific workplace problem that could realistically change?
Have symptoms started affecting my relationships, sleep or functioning outside work?
Am I experiencing similar symptoms on weekends or vacations?
Have my usual coping strategies stopped working?
Is my functioning noticeably declining?
Do I feel psychologically or physically unsafe at work?
Am I making a major career decision while experiencing significant depression, anxiety or emotional distress?
A therapist can help you examine these questions without making the decision for you.
Treatment does not necessarily mean learning how to tolerate an unhealthy environment. It can also help someone clarify values, identify patterns, develop boundaries, address an underlying mental health condition and make decisions from a more grounded place.
When Professional Mental Health Treatment May Help
Consider seeking professional support when workplace stress is:
Persistent rather than temporary
Increasing rather than improving
Affecting sleep
Causing frequent anxiety or panic
Causing significant and prolonged stress, sadness or hopelessness.
Affecting relationships
Making it difficult to complete normal responsibilities
Leading to increased alcohol or substance use
Causing significant physical symptoms
Continuing even when you are away from work
Affecting your ability to function safely or effectively
You do not have to wait until symptoms become a crisis before seeking support.
When Weekly Therapy May Not Be Enough
Most workplace stress does not require intensive mental health treatment.
However, sometimes what initially gets described as "work stress" is occurring alongside a more significant mental health condition.
Someone may be experiencing severe depression, anxiety, panic, significant emotional dysregulation, suicidal thoughts or another condition that is substantially interfering with daily functioning.
In those situations, meeting with a therapist once a week may not provide enough structure or support.
A clinician may recommend assessment for a higher level of care such as an Intensive Outpatient Program or Partial Hospitalization Program (IOP/PHP).
These programs provide more frequent and structured treatment than traditional outpatient therapy while generally allowing individuals to continue living at home.
The appropriate level of care should be determined through an individualized clinical assessment, not simply by the presence of workplace stress or burnout.
How Innerspace Counseling Can Help
Innerspace Counseling provides specialized mental health treatment for children, teens and adults who need more support than traditional outpatient care may provide.
For adults experiencing significant anxiety, depression, mood symptoms, panic, emotional dysregulation or other mental health concerns affecting their ability to function, our Intensive Outpatient Program and Partial Hospitalization Program (IOP/PHP) provides structured treatment based on individualized clinical needs.
Treatment includes:
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management
Specialized tracks for General Mental Health, OCD & Anxiety, and Perinatal Wellness
Specialized treatment utilizing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Brainspotting
A free screening call with our team can help determine whether Innerspace's level of care is appropriate.
Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace: What Employers Can Do
Workplace mental health is not solely an employee issue. Leaders, supervisors and organizational policies influence the environment in which employees are expected to function every day.
Employers can support workplace mental health by:
Training supervisors to recognize signs that an employee may be struggling
Creating psychologically safer ways for employees to raise concerns
Setting realistic workload expectations
Clarifying responsibilities and priorities
Supporting appropriate work-life boundaries
Encouraging employees to use available time off
Reducing stigma surrounding mental health treatment
Making mental health and EAP resources easy to access
Addressing bullying, harassment and chronic workplace conflict
Creating clear pathways for employees who need additional support
Asking employees about the working conditions affecting their well-being rather than assuming what they need
Supporting mental health does not require supervisors to become therapists. It means creating healthier working conditions, knowing how to respond appropriately when concerns arise and helping employees connect with professional resources when necessary.
Mental Health Education & Training for Organizations
Organizations often want to support employee mental health but are not sure where to begin.
Innerspace Counseling provides Education & Training Services for businesses, schools, healthcare professionals and community organizations throughout New Jersey.
Training can be customized to an organization's needs and may include topics such as:
Workplace stress and burnout
Mental health awareness
Recognizing when someone may need professional support
Understanding levels of mental health care
Supporting employees experiencing mental health concerns
Communication and emotional wellness
Stress-management and coping skills
Mental health resources and referral pathways
Education can help managers and employees become more comfortable talking about mental health while establishing appropriate boundaries between workplace support and clinical care.
Frequently Asked Questions About Workplace Stress and Burnout
Is burnout a mental health diagnosis?
No. The World Health Organization classifies burnout as an occupational phenomenon rather than a medical condition. Burnout is associated with chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Someone experiencing burnout may also have a mental health condition such as anxiety or depression, which requires separate assessment.
How do I know if I am burned out or depressed?
Burnout is specifically connected to the occupational environment, while depression can affect mood, motivation, pleasure, sleep, thinking and functioning across many areas of life. There can be significant overlap, and both can occur simultaneously. A mental health professional can help evaluate your symptoms in context.
Can a toxic workplace cause anxiety or depression?
Working conditions can contribute to psychological distress and can worsen mental health symptoms. However, mental health conditions typically result from multiple interacting factors rather than one universal cause. The goal of assessment is not necessarily to determine whether work "caused" a diagnosis, but to understand the factors affecting the individual and determine what may help.
Is taking time off enough to treat burnout?
Time away from work may provide needed recovery, but if the same workplace conditions remain unchanged, symptoms may return. Addressing burnout may require changes to workload, expectations, boundaries, job design, management practices or other workplace factors in addition to individual recovery strategies.
When should I see a therapist for work stress?
Consider talking with a mental health professional when symptoms are persistent, worsening, affecting sleep or relationships, interfering with daily functioning, causing significant anxiety or depression, or no longer responding to your usual coping strategies. You do not need to meet criteria for a mental health diagnosis before asking for help.
Does workplace stress mean I need IOP or PHP?
Usually, no. Workplace stress or burnout alone does not mean someone needs intensive treatment. IOP or PHP may be considered when a mental health condition has become significant enough to substantially impair functioning and an individual needs more structure and clinical support than routine outpatient care can provide. A clinical assessment is necessary to determine the appropriate level of care.
What should I do if I am having thoughts of suicide or harming myself?
Thoughts of suicide or self-harm should be taken seriously. If you are in immediate danger or unable to remain safe, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. You can also call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Finding the Right Support
Work can be meaningful, challenging, exhausting, rewarding and sometimes all of those things at once.
Experiencing workplace stress does not necessarily mean something is wrong with you, and improving your mental health is not always a matter of becoming more resilient.
Sometimes an individual needs new coping strategies or mental health treatment. Sometimes a workplace needs to change. Often, improving the situation means looking honestly at both.
If work-related stress is occurring alongside significant anxiety, depression or other mental health symptoms that are interfering with your daily life, Innerspace Counseling can help determine whether a higher level of care may be appropriate.
Contact Innerspace Counseling to learn more about our mental health IOP and PHP programs or request an assessment.
Resources & References
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stress and Work; Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace; Healthy Work Design and Well-Being.
World Health Organization (WHO). Burn-out as an occupational phenomenon, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 for 24/7 crisis support.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2026, July 16). Stress and work. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/stress/about/index.html
World Health Organization. (2019, May 28). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
Clinical Sources & Review Note
Authored by: Melissa Maranzano, MA Child Advocacy & Policy, Director or Program Planning & Quality Assurance
Clinical Review: This page was clinically reviewed on October 7th, 2026, Stuart Luther, LPC, Stuart Luther who is the Program Manager overseeing Innerspace Counseling’s adolescent and adult Intensive Outpatient Program and Partial Hospitalization Program (IOP/PHP), bringing expertise in DBT, ERP, ACT, and trauma-informed care and a history of working in school-based settings.
This article is provided for educational purposes and is not intended to diagnose a condition, determine an individual's suicide risk, recommend an individualized level of care, or replace assessment or treatment by a qualified healthcare professional.