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Everyone can experience stress in their life – whether a result of work, certain relationships, society, finances or even our health. The Mental Health Foundation even revealed that 74% of people have been so stressed that they were unable to cope in one given year.
While feelings of stress might be common, there’s only so much your physical, emotional and mental well-being can take before it begins to take a toll on your body and your day-to-day choices. Here, we reveal whether stress burnout can lead to substance misuse and explain what you can do if you’re currently struggling to cope.
What is stress burnout?
Burnout can be described as complete exhaustion and feeling swamped. It’s usually a result of prolonged and excessively emotional, mental and physical stress. In 2019, the World Health Organisation officially recognised burnout as an occupational phenomenon after the global pandemic blurred the lines between work-life balance. But it’s important to remember that job stress isn’t the only cause of stress burnout.
In fact, it can happen to anyone who is overwhelmed, drained and struggling to keep up with the demands of life.
The symptoms of stress burnout
There are different types of stress and burnout – acute stress, episodic stress and chronic stress. Acute stress usually develops after a traumatic event, episodic stress is when someone experiences stress regularly, and chronic stress is when the body struggles to cope with feelings of never-ending pressure.
These can all result in burnout, and you might not even realise that what you’re feeling is classed as burnout. In a recent study, 68% of UK adults mistook burnout symptoms for anxiety symptoms. The most common signs of burnout include:
- Feeling tired and drained a lot of the time
- Feeling trapped, unproductive and defeated
- Feeling lost and alone
- Struggling to find the positives in life
- A constant state of anxiety
- Self-doubt
One of the worst things about stress burnout is that many people choose to push past the symptoms in an attempt to ignore them. That is, until it all becomes too much and, at this point, their health, career and even relationships may be damaged.
Stress burnout and addiction
Stress and addiction often go hand in hand, and stress is even known as a key risk factor for the development of an addiction and can cause a relapse. This is because some people turn to substances like alcohol and drugs to cope with their physical, emotional and mental feelings. But this isn’t sustainable or healthy. If someone is going through recovery, it’s crucially important that stress levels are managed to prevent relapse and treatment failure.
One of the most common reasons why individuals use alcohol to deal with stress is usually because they are finding it difficult to sleep or switch off. Racing thoughts, constantly waking up in the middle of the night, even struggling to nod off – alcohol is often used as a way to drift off and forget about worries. However, the relief is only temporary.
Drugs and prescription drugs may also be used to provide relief to stress and anxiety, as well as an energy boost needed for the day. But these, combined with alcohol, are all temporary mood lifters. What’s more, while individuals might think that these stimulants are helping with their feelings of stress, they can actually contribute to burnout. This is because drugs and alcohol can cause additional side effects like anxiety, paranoia and increased stress – making burnout even worse.
Drinking alcohol or turning to drugs won’t solve your stress and can result in a dangerous cycle that spirals into full addiction. This dependence can then cause feelings of low energy, amongst other things, and lead to even more burnout.
Who is most at risk of stress burnout and substance abuse?
The truth is, everyone can suffer from stress burnout and substance abuse. However, it can commonly affect managers, executives, those in competitive jobs, teachers, nurses, doctors, caregivers, parents and even students. For this reason, it’s often referred to as work burnout or executive burnout.
Some may be able to tolerate high levels of stress for longer, while others may experience burnout more quickly. If you’re normally highly motivated and performance-driven, you may find it difficult to admit or even realise that you have a problem. It’s important to seek help as soon as you realise something isn’t right though.
Getting help for stress burnout and substance misuse
Whether you’re concerned about yourself or a loved one, you’ve taken the first step by being on this page. The next step is to get in touch with our friendly team of medical professionals and counsellors who can help you to understand what’s causing the stress and then take steps to mitigate it with a variety of treatment options.
At Nova Recovery, our team will listen to your concerns before advising on an appropriate therapy and treatment program. This, combined with a healthy lifestyle, exercise and the ability to identify boundaries in your life, is crucial for recovery. We’ll work with you to understand how you’re feeling and also provide insights into how you became burnt out and how you can avoid it from happening again.
Whether staying with us as an inpatient in residential treatment or attending on an outpatient basis, you’ll have access to round the clock specialist care, for misuse of stimulants and stress burnout or misuse of alcohol and stress burnout. This includes supporting you through a medically-assisted detox programme and giving you the tools you need in aftercare to enjoy long-term recovery.
So if you dream of a life free from addiction, get in touch today for more information about our addiction treatment and take the first step towards your recovery with us.
Sources
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/mental-health-statistics/stress-statistics
https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
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John Gillen
- Author
- Last updated: September 8, 2023
John has travelled extensively around the world, culminating in 19 years’ experience looking at different models. He is the European pioneer of NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) treatment to Europe in 2010; and recently back from the USA bringing state of the art Virtual Reality Relapse Prevention and stress reduction therapy. His passion extends to other metabolic disturbances and neurodegenerative diseases. The journey continues. In recent times, John has travelled to Russia to study and research into a new therapy photobiomudulation or systemic laser therapy working with NAD+ scientists and the very best of the medical professionals in the UK and the USA, together with Nadcell, Bionad Hospitals own select Doctors, nurses, dieticians and therapists. Johns’ passion continues to endeavour to bring to the UK and Europe new developments with NAD+ Therapy in preventive and restorative medicine and Wellness. In 2017 John Gillen was made a visiting Professor at the John Naisbitt university in Belgrade Serbia.