3 Surprising Reasons Burnout Isn't What You Think It Is
The WHO calls it an occupational hazard. Your brain calls it a fuel shortage. Both are right, and neither one is your fault.
I really, really hate the word “burnout.”
It’s the catch phrase everyone reaches for to talk about bone-weary exhaustion in the most commonplace way.
I’ve actually experienced it twice, and even then I REFUSED to call it burnout, out of sheer pride. Medicated, and threatened by my physician with a forced medical leave of absence, I still resisted the title, because to me “burnout” admitted defeat. Failure.
But today everyone tosses the word around. Either they’re living it, or they’re selling a solution for how to avoid it, recover from it, outsmart it.
Here’s my problem. Burnout is so much more than being “tired” or “fatigued” or even “exhausted.”
Think about the word itself. It’s two words - burn and out. Extinguished. Complete. Nothing left.
Meaning your brain literally does not have the fuel left to do what it needs to do.
This is a neurochemical situation.
And I come at this from a slightly different angle, for a few reasons.
First, I teach undergraduate psychology, and I’ve spent over 20 years translating brain, behavior, and social psychology for organizational leaders going through disruption and transformation.
Second, I was just recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I’m learning how differently neurodivergent brains are actually wired.
Third, I went through menopause three times in my 30s. And now, as all my friends hit perimenopause and menopause, I’m revisiting my own experience through a new lens, because their questions keep surfacing ones I never thought to ask.
I’m making connections I’ve never made before about the female brain, in large part thanks to Dr. Lisa Mosconi (lisamosconi.com), neuroscientist, women’s brain health specialist, author of The Menopause Brain, and director of the Weill Cornell Women’s Brain Initiative.
Thanks to Dr. Mosconi, we now know the female brain is brilliantly different. Not “different” in the way it got weaponized for years through a neurosexism lens to keep women parked in intellectual inferiority. Different in a way that shows the real distinctions, and the plasticity. And that opens the door to real solutions.
Because brilliant, senior, high-achieving women are hitting their late thirties, forties, and fifties and walking away from the peak of their careers. Or getting organizationally gaslit, stalled, and quietly exited from them.
The narrative is that we’ve “lost our drive,” or we “need to slow down.” And the undercurrent culprit everyone names is “burnout.”
So let’s actually take the word apart. Because the fight over what burnout is has two camps, and both are half wrong.
Camp one says burnout is a personal problem. You’re not resilient enough. Do some self-care, build your grit, try yoga, take a bath, become a slightly better-optimized version of yourself who can absorb the exact same load without cracking.
Camp two says burnout is purely structural. It’s the job, full stop, and your brain is an innocent bystander.
Here’s what the data actually shows: it’s both, and they’re wired together. So here are three surprising reasons burnout isn’t what you think it is. You can’t fix what you refuse to see whole.
Reason 1: It’s an occupational hazard, not a personal weakness
In 2019, the World Health Organization put it in plain language. Burn-out is “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” (World Health Organization, 2019).
An occupational phenomenon. Tied to the conditions of work. Not a defect living in your personality.
And the psychologist Christina Maslach, whose research built the standard measure of burnout, found it isn’t one thing. It’s three (Maslach & Leiter, 2016):
exhaustion - you have an empty tank
cynicism - you are going mentally distant from work
reduced efficacy - you have a creeping sense nothing you do lands
Rest only touches the first one. That’s your first clue a bubble bath wasn’t going to fix this.
She and Michael Leiter also found burnout isn’t random and shows up where there’s a chronic mismatch between a person and their job, in six nameable areas (Maslach & Leiter, 1997): workload, control, reward, community, fairness, values.
For the record - in case you missed it - that’s a diagnostic you can use disguised as a list.
If you are facing down burnout, the source is usually screaming at you from one or two of these areas, not all six.
Reason 2: It’s a fuel shortage in your brain, not a feeling
I’m sure the term “occupational hazard” sounds like a policy memo...right up until you see what the ongoing, day-to-day lived experience does inside your noggin.
Chronic workplace stress isn’t just a bad mood. This stress floods your system with cortisol, the stress hormone that the body releases to help us survive in a fight or flight situation - you know like when we’re being chased by a sabre tooth tiger.
This sustained high cortisol physically degrades the prefrontal cortex, the executive center that runs focus, judgment, working memory, and impulse control. Under that load, control shifts away from the thoughtful PFC and toward older, more reactive parts of the brain (Arnsten, 2009).
So...when we need to be “thinking” what’s running the ship is the “reactive” part of the brain - most of the time on Autopilot.
Burn. Out. The fuel and the machinery that runs on it, both depleted. That is why “just rest” and “just try harder” both fail. You’re asking a chemically downshifted system to power up on command, and it can’t, because the conditions drained the exact resource the command requires.
Reason 3: Not every brain runs on the same size tank
Now hold that next to the female brain, the ADHD brain, and the perimenopausal brain.
ADHD is, at its core, a difference in how the brain regulates dopamine, the neurochemical you run on for focus and follow-through. Estrogen is a major player in regulating that same dopamine system. As estrogen swings and drops through perimenopause and menopause, the fuel supply gets really volatile (Mosconi, 2024).
So take the same occupational load, the same six mismatches, and drop it on a brain that’s already running a smaller or more variable fuel reserve. The burn out doesn’t come because the woman is weaker on Tuesday than she was a year ago. It burns out faster because there is an oversized demand met an already-taxed supply.
So here’s the actual equation
I have math dyslexia, but to me this is actually a relatively simple formula.
Burnout is occupational demand divided by neurochemical supply.
What your work is demanding divided by the actual supply and reserves of the brain fuel you have to do.
The job sets the demand.
The demand is frequently rigged.
The rooms you move through are often sending signals that you use extra energy to pay attention to without even realizing it. The tone of voice, who speaks first in meetings, who gets promoted, what project was assigned, who was released from employment, when and under what conditions.
And your unique chemistry sets the supply, which is unique and variable.
Blame yourself, and you get both variables wrong at once.
The hidden “should” underneath all of it
Running underneath burnout for many of us is a hidden “should”
*I don’t “feel” stressed, so I “should” be able to handle this. If I were (fill in the blank - tougher, more resilient, more organized) I wouldn’t feel like I was burning out.**
And that, should, my friend, is wrong twice over.
The conditions are overloaded, AND your tank may be running lean through no fault of yours.
What’s Your Move?
So the question becomes - what do I do about? My recommendation, start by asking the question - Is this a me-problem, or is this a situation problem? Usually it’s both. And both have a move.
Move 1 - Attack the demand.
Use Maslach’s six areas and just ask yourself questions about each area and see if one is screaming. Workload? Fairness? Values?
Name it candidly, don’t shy away from it.
Determine the one move for the next 30 days that will give you the time, space, or energy you need to align with your priorities.
Move 2 - Respect your supply.
Stop comparing and grading your current brain and who you are today against some version of yourself in the past or someone around you.
Get the real picture about your brain and where you are. There are actual clinical and support options for hormonal and neurodivergent side of this.
FYI: Many OBGYN’s are ill equipped to talk about your brain health, but more and more functional doctors are becoming certified perimenopause and menopause trained to provide the support needed. Shoot me a DM if you want some resources and if you’re neurodivergent and experiencing perimenopause/menopause check out Dr. Sarah
For the record, I believe you are quite possibly the most capable brain in the rooms you are running in ... even if that brain does have little glitches here and there.
~Dr. Shans
P.S. A few ways in, whenever you’re ready
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the real definition of burnout according to neuroscience and psychology?
Burnout is a neurochemical fuel shortage resulting from chronic, unmanaged workplace stress, rather than a personal defect or lack of resilience. Formally recognized by the World Health Organization as an occupational phenomenon, burnout consists of three distinct components: physical exhaustion, cynicism (mental distance from work), and reduced efficacy. High cortisol levels from sustained workplace stress degrade the prefrontal cortex, shifting control to the brain's reactive autopilot systems.
How do perimenopause and ADHD accelerate burnout in women?
Estrogen plays a major role in regulating dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for focus, working memory, and executive function. Because an ADHD brain already regulates dopamine differently, the hormonal fluctuations and estrogen drops of perimenopause create a compounding neurochemical deficit. High workplace demands paired with a volatile dopamine supply cause the brain to deplete its fuel reserves far faster.
What are the six core workplace mismatches that drive burnout?
Psychologist Christina Maslach’s research shows that burnout occurs when there is a chronic mismatch between a person and their work environment across six specific areas: workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. Rest and self-care only temporarily address physical exhaustion; resolving burnout requires identifying which of these six structural areas is creating the underlying strain.