The Hidden Science Behind Burnout at Work

Burnout at work is on the rise, and most leaders don’t understand the physiological and neurological toll stress takes on employees.

This blog unpacks what burnout really is, how chronic stress impacts the body and mind, and why it’s time for leadership to shift from surface-level wellness tips to deep prevention strategies. Discover the science behind stress and burnout, and how to transform employee wellbeing from the inside out.

What Is Burnout—and Why Is It Growing?

We all know the feeling of stress.  Whether it’s feeling overwhelmed at the sight of your to-do list with a sense that everything must be done now.  Or feeling like you’re losing your cool as you try to get your children to finish breakfast so that you can get them out the door in time for school.  Or being awake half the night thinking about a presentation you must deliver the following day to a group of senior managers and worrying about what they will think of you.  

While people commonly use the term stress, not many understand the real physiological stress response and what’s taking place in the mind and body. 

This article presents a deeper understanding of stress and why organisational leaders need to take radical action to tackle the fact that stress and burnout at work are on the rise. 

The Link Between Stress and Employee Wellbeing

Many managers who go through our mental health training for managers programme comment that they tick the box for numerous signs and symptoms of stress, however, hadn’t realised they were stressed until the training. 

One of the reasons for this is that people get so used to living in the hormones of stress that it becomes the norm instead of the exception.   

The build-up of stress can be so subtle that we may not recognise that we are stressed.  For example, holding tension in the jaw may be experienced as a level of tension that we have become accustomed to. Another example is when we go on annual leave and often get sick with a cold or virus in the first week because the body has finally been given the conditions to release and let go. 

Experiencing feeling more tired or tearful may equate to any number of things, but again, it’s an indicator that the body is depleted, having spent so long living in the stress response. 

Stress also has the means to be addictive, with people seeking the adrenaline hit experienced during the stress response. 

For everything we experience in life, the body takes a score.  99% of physical health conditions start with the stress response.  Past traumas which haven’t been processed leave our central nervous system in the sympathetic response – the stress response.   

This potent combination leads to burnout.  According to Forbes, burnout at work is on the rise. Over half (52%) of survey respondents are experiencing burnout in 2021—up from the 43% who said the same in Indeed’s pre-Covid-19 survey. 53% of Millennials were already burned out pre-pandemic, and they remain the most affected population, with 59% experiencing it today. 

In a report by Cap Gemini on the Future of Work, over half of employees feel burned out as a result of working remotely, and the figure rises to 61% for younger employees aged 31–40. 

Understanding the Stress Response: What’s Really Happening

When understanding the physiological and biochemical chain reactions that constitute the stress response, it’s helpful to begin with a definition of stress.  

In the realm of biology, stress refers to what happens when an organism fails to respond appropriately to threats. While the threats can be what the people of Ukraine and Russia are currently facing, often the threats most people face today are along the lines of being put on hold while on the phone to the bank, having to present to a room of senior leaders, or even struggling to get to sleep. While these situations don’t threaten our existence, they can still have a direct impact on our bodies. 

Some people view stress as beneficial and feel that the pressure it creates gives us a push to achieve a goal or get something done.  However, more often stress reaches a level which puts us in a state of ‘emergency alert’.  We lose access to the executive functions of the brain needed for high performance, such as the ability to think big picture, think creatively and be innovative in our work.  We get disconnected from the prefrontal cortex, acting solely from a place of freeze, fight or flight. The longer we remain in this state, the greater the consequences, including compromised immune function, depression, pain, weight gain and even paralysis.  

The Neurochemistry of Stress and Burnout

During the stress response, there are several complex signalling pathways among neurons and somatic cells. When we react to something which feels like the cause of our stress, such as a looming deadline, or continue to react to a situation such as a vacancy that we are struggling to recruit for, neurons in the hypothalamus secrete two peptide hormones, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP).  

CRH is transported to the anterior pituitary, where it stimulates the secretion of corticotropin.  In turn, corticotropin stimulates increased production of corticosteroids, including cortisol, directly impacting the stress response. Vasopressin, a small hormone molecule, increases the reabsorption of water by the kidneys and induces vasoconstriction, the contraction of blood vessels, thereby raising blood pressure. Together, CRH and vasopressin activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis comprises the system of feedback interactions among the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. 

In consequence, the hypothalamus releases CRH and vasopressin, which activate the HPA axis. CRH stimulates the anterior pituitary to release corticotropin, which travels through the bloodstream to the adrenal cortex, where corticotropin then upregulates cortisol production.  

The Surprising Impact of Cortisol on Performance

Regulated via the HPA axis, cortisol is the primary hormone responsible for the stress response. Cortisol is at its highest levels in the early morning.  The main function of this hormone is to restore homeostasis following exposure to stress. The effects of cortisol are experienced throughout the entire body and impact several homeostatic mechanisms.  

The impact of cortisol is wide-reaching. Excess cortisol weakens the immune system, counters insulin, and even affects memory by overwhelming the hippocampus – the region of the brain where memories are processed and stored. 

Why Coffee and Wine Might Be Making It Worse

When continuing to live in the hormones of stress, people turn to a combination of caffeine to keep them going, and alcohol to try to relax and help them sleep. Both of which increase cortisol. 

Problems with sleeping have long been noted in people experiencing stress as the body is on ‘high alert’ and at a primal level is keeping watch for danger, which doesn’t provide the right conditions for a restful, restorative night's sleep.  Sleep deprivation brings with it its own set of side effects, including immune compromise, cognitive impairment, and metabolic disruption. 

While having another coffee to get you through the next meeting or get you through the rest of the day may seem like a good idea, caffeine only serves to increase cortisol levels and undermine performance.  The same applies to energy drinks.   

Alcohol also links with cortisol. Many professionals who operate in high-pressure situations, often working long hours, turn to alcohol as a means of release.  Yet alcohol stimulates the HPA axis when drunk in large quantities and encourages the manufacture and release of cortisol.  

Burnout Is Not a Badge of Honour — It’s a Warning Light

Let’s get real.
That high-performance, hustle-harder, “fast-paced environment” so many organisations advertise? It’s not a strength. It’s a stressor.

When employees are living in a constant state of pressure, fuelled by adrenaline, cortisol, and the unspoken expectation to always be “on”, you’re not building performance.
You’re building illness.

Prolonged stress impairs cognition, weakens the immune system, increases inflammation, slows healing, and hijacks decision-making.
And here’s the kicker: it doesn’t take years to do damage. Just a few weeks of sustained pressure are enough to knock someone out of alignment.

And the data? It backs this up. Burnout is linked to:

• Impaired executive function

• Abdominal weight gain

• Decreased thyroid activity

• Long-term cardiovascular risk

This isn’t a “resilience” issue.
It’s a systemic one.

It’s Time to Rethink What “High-Performance” Really Means

Here’s the truth we need to start saying louder in boardrooms and leadership away days:
High performance begins with health.
If your culture doesn’t support nervous system regulation, mental clarity, and space for recovery, it’s not high-performance. It’s survival mode.

The body was never meant to live in the stress response long-term. And yet, this is where most modern professionals operate daily — until something breaks.

So, let’s do something radical. Let’s prevent burnout before it starts.

Prevention, Not Firefighting: The New Frontier of Workplace Wellbeing

The good news?
Burnout isn’t inevitable — not when your people are empowered with the right knowledge and tools.

With the right support, your employees can:

• Understand how stress actually works in the brain and body

• Spot their own red flags early

• Learn how to reset their nervous systems in real time

• Build genuine emotional capacity and resilience — not just push through

These aren't simply 'top tips for burnout'.
They’re performance multipliers rooted in neuroscience.

And yes, your leaders have a role to play too. When leadership models presence, emotional clarity, and nervous system regulation, everything shifts — from trust to retention to ROI.

Your Next Step: Don’t Just Treat Burnout. Prevent It.

If you’re ready to stop reacting and start leading, our Employee Wellbeing Platform gives your people access to practical, science-backed resources that don’t just reduce stress — they help reset the body and mind for lasting change.

🟡 From breathwork to brain science, from burnout recovery to emotional regulation — it’s all here, in one easy-to-access space.

✅ Designed by experts.
✅ Built for busy teams.
✅ Backed by neuroscience.
✅ Loved by employees.

🎯 Give your team the tools they need to prevent burnout, not just recover from it.
👉🏽 Book A Demo to Experience The Employee Wellbeing Platform Today