Burnout-Induced Anxiety: What It Is and How Therapy Can Help

Understanding the Overlap Between Chronic Stress, Emotional Exhaustion, and Anxiety Disorders

Burnout and anxiety are often seen as separate issues, but for many high-achieving professionals, the two go hand-in-hand. You might start with long hours, too many responsibilities, and mounting pressure. But over time, what once felt like “just stress” becomes something deeper: an ongoing sense of dread, tension, and emotional volatility that won’t go away.

This is burnout-induced anxiety.

If you’ve found yourself caught in a loop of exhaustion, racing thoughts, and physical tension—despite being highly capable and driven—this blog is for you. We’ll explore what burnout-induced anxiety really means, how it manifests, and how therapy for burnout can help you break the cycle.

What Is Burnout-Induced Anxiety?

Burnout-induced anxiety refers to a pattern of chronic stress and emotional exhaustion that leads to heightened symptoms of anxiety—often mimicking or overlapping with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or panic disorder.

According to the World Health Organization (2019), burnout is characterized by:

• Emotional exhaustion

• Depersonalization or detachment

• Reduced personal accomplishment

While burnout itself is defined as an occupational phenomenon, research shows that it has significant psychological and physiological effects that can resemble clinical anxiety (Melamed et al., 2006).

Over time, the chronic stress of burnout dysregulates your body’s stress response systems—especially the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—leading to persistent arousal, disrupted sleep, cognitive fog, and mood instability (McEwen, 2007). These are also hallmark features of anxiety disorders.

Burnout vs. Anxiety: What’s the Difference?

While the symptoms can overlap, there are some important distinctions:

Burnout

• Context-specific (usually work-related)

• Driven by overwork, mismatch, values clash

• Emotional exhaustion and cynicism

• Typically develops gradually

Generalized Anxiety

• Context-general (worry across multiple domains)

• Driven by fear of uncertainty or perceived threat

• Excessive worry and rumination

• Can be chronic or acute

Burnout-induced anxiety exists in the gray space between these two. It’s anxiety driven by chronic stress. Not necessarily by irrational fear, but by sustained overload.

Real-World Example: Meet Lauren

Lauren is a 39-year-old healthcare administrator in Denver, CO. For years, she’s been managing a demanding role, long hours, and team crises. She prides herself on being calm under pressure.

But recently, Lauren has started experiencing:

• A racing heart during meetings

• Difficulty falling asleep due to looping thoughts

• Muscle tension and jaw clenching

• A growing fear that “something’s going to go wrong”

She brushes it off as “just stress,” but her body tells a different story.

This is a classic presentation of burnout-induced anxiety—a scenario I often see in my online Colorado therapy practice. Her body and mind are in overdrive, even though she’s not in immediate danger.

Clinical Presentation: What Burnout-Induced Anxiety Feels Like

Burnout-induced anxiety often presents with a combination of:

Emotional symptoms:

• Irritability or frustration

• Difficulty concentrating

• Emotional numbness followed by sudden overwhelm

• Feelings of dread or “imposter syndrome”

Cognitive symptoms:

• Racing thoughts or rumination

• Fear of making mistakes or being “found out”

• Trouble switching off or relaxing

• Catastrophic predictions (“What if everything falls apart?”)

  
  

Physical symptoms:

• Insomnia or non-restorative sleep

• Tension headaches

• Chest tightness or rapid heartbeat

• Gastrointestinal issues

Many clients describe it as feeling “wired and tired”—exhausted but unable to rest, always bracing for the next demand.

Why Does This Happen?

Chronic exposure to unmanageable stress shifts your nervous system into a near-constant state of hyperarousal (fight-or-flight).

Over time, this can lead to:

• Adrenal fatigue or HPA axis dysregulation

• Decreased ability to recover from stress

• Lowered cognitive flexibility and emotional regulation

• Heightened vigilance—even when you're "off the clock"

The overlap between burnout and anxiety is no accident. Studies have shown a strong correlation between burnout and anxiety disorders, particularly among professionals in caregiving, education, and high-stakes industries (Schonfeld & Bianchi, 2016).

How Therapy Can Help with Burnout-Induced Anxiety

Whether you’re experiencing burnout, anxiety, or both, therapy offers a structured and compassionate path toward recovery.

Here’s how seeing an online therapist for burnout in Denver can help you interrupt the burnout-anxiety cycle:

1. Normalize and Name the Experience

One of the first goals in therapy is to help you understand that what you’re experiencing is real, valid, and reversible.

You are not “failing” at handling life—you’re navigating chronic overwhelm without support.

Naming the experience—“burnout-induced anxiety”—can reduce shame and increase clarity.

2. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT helps you build psychological flexibility—the ability to feel what you're feeling without being controlled by it.

In therapy, you’ll learn to:

• Notice and defuse from anxiety-driven thoughts

• Reconnect with core values like balance, purpose, or compassion

• Take small, value-driven actions even when discomfort is present

• Use mindful presence to disengage from the mental overdrive of anxiety

🧠 Example:

In session, Lauren practices noticing the thought “I’m falling behind” and responding with a value-based action: pausing to eat lunch rather than skipping it.

3. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT helps you examine and reframe unhelpful thoughts that keep anxiety and burnout in motion.

Common burnout-related beliefs include:

• “I have to handle everything myself”

• “If I slow down, I’ll fail”

• “I can’t let people see me struggle”

In CBT, we challenge these thoughts with evidence, perspective-taking, and replacement with more balanced beliefs.

We also focus on behavioral activation, gently reintroducing rest, pleasure, and joy—without guilt.

4. Biopsychosocial Integration: Mind-Body Support

Your brain and body are a system. Addressing burnout-induced anxiety means working on both levels.

In therapy, we may also explore:

• Nervous system regulation: Breathwork, grounding, and somatic tools

• Sleep support: Routines, screen hygiene, and cortisol rhythm awareness

• Nutrition and movement: Identifying what helps your body recover

• Boundary-setting: Learning to say no without over-explaining

🧠 Example:

Lauren starts using a 5-minute body scan before bed, practices diaphragmatic breathing, and sets a firm boundary around weekend emails.

What Recovery Looks Like

Burnout-induced anxiety doesn’t disappear overnight, but with support, burnout recovery is possible.

Through therapy, you can begin to:

• Feel more calm and centered

• Make decisions without spiraling into overthinking

• Rest without guilt

• Reconnect with joy, identity, and meaning

• Create sustainable patterns of work, rest, and self-care

Therapy offers not just coping—but transformation.

Get the Support You Need: Therapy for Burnout-Induced Anxiety in Denver, CO

If you’re a high-achieving adult and you’re feeling stuck in burnout and anxiety, you don’t have to keep pushing through. I offer online therapy for burnout-induced anxiety in Denver and across Colorado for convenient, therapeutic support.

As a burnout therapist in Colorado, I work with professionals, parents, and caregivers using ACT, CBT, and integrative mind-body tools to help you find relief, clarity, and direction.

📍 Therapy practice located in Denver, CO | Online sessions available statewide

📩 You don't have to face it alone. Contact me today to begin your burnout recovery journey.

Telehealth in Colorado: Other Therapy Services I Offer

If burnout has started fueling your anxiety—making it harder to focus, relax, or feel in control—burnout treatment in Denver, CO, can help you break that cycle. In our sessions, we’ll work to calm your nervous system, restore your energy, and equip you with practical tools to manage both the mental and physical toll of chronic stress.

While helping clients overcome burnout-induced anxiety is a key focus of my Denver-based online therapy practice, I also address a wide range of emotional health concerns. My services include targeted therapy for anxiety disorders, trauma recovery support for those processing difficult experiences, and guidance for navigating major life changes such as career transitions or personal milestones.

I also work with clients facing relationship challenges, offering both compassionate one-on-one therapy and in-depth psychological assessments tailored to your needs. You’re welcome to explore my website to learn more about my approach, browse my mental health blog for tips, and reach out when you’re ready to take the first step toward lasting balance and well-being.

About the Author

Dr. Jennifer Olson-Madden is a licensed psychologist and expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), dedicated to helping clients achieve purposeful and successful outcomes through inspired and committed action. With over 15 years of licensure in Denver, CO, and more than two decades of experience in anxiety and chronic stress. She not only practices ACT professionally but also integrates its principles into her own life daily.