Mental Health Without the Bullsht – Entry #5

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am NOT a mental health professional. If you need help, I STRONGLY encourage you to seek it, and you can start here. This series of blog posts is me candidly sharing my deeply personal experiences with you (with some tears along the way).

Let’s Get One Thing Straight: Burnout Isn’t Just About Being Tired

If it was, a nap and a weekend off would fix it.
But burnout? Real burnout? That’s soul-deep.

It’s waking up exhausted even after 8 hours of sleep.
It’s staring at your screen and forgetting what you were doing.
It’s being completely disconnected from things you used to love.
It’s questioning your worth, your purpose, and your ability to do anything right.

Burnout isn’t about rest.
It’s about emptiness.

Burnout Doesn’t Always Look Like Collapse

Most people think burnout looks like someone melting down, breaking into tears, or rage-quitting their job.

But more often?
Burnout looks like showing up anyway.
Like checking the boxes with dead eyes.
Like getting through the day and feeling nothing.

It’s going through the motions with a fake smile and a calendar full of commitments you secretly resent.
It’s snapping at people you love.
It’s resenting the work you once felt proud of.

You might still be producing. Still functioning. Still “performing.”
But inside, you’re checked out. Fried. Done.

The Quiet Burnout Nobody Talks About

There’s a kind of burnout that doesn’t come from doing too much.
It comes from doing too much of the wrong things.

• Serving everyone else but never yourself
• Saying yes out of guilt instead of conviction
• Chasing goals that don’t align with who you are anymore
• Living out of alignment with your values, but calling it “success”

That kind of burnout is insidious. It sneaks in.
You don’t even notice it until you’ve lost yourself in the process.

Burnout Happens When You Betray Yourself Repeatedly

Let that sink in.

Burnout is what happens when your soul keeps saying “No”
and you keep saying “Yes.”

It’s not just about the hours you work—it’s about the weight you carry.
And when that weight includes people-pleasing, perfectionism, trauma, or lack of boundaries? It hits harder. Lasts longer.

Here’s What Helped Me Crawl Out of It

Not all at once. Not perfectly. But here’s where I started:

• I stopped pretending I was fine. That mask was heavy as hell.
• I let myself feel again. Anger, grief, sadness, all of it.
• I said “no” more. Even when it made people uncomfortable.
• I disconnected from fake urgency. Most things can wait.
• I reconnected with what lights me up—not what looks good on paper.
• I gave myself permission to rest without needing to earn it.

Burnout recovery isn’t a spa day. It’s rebuilding your relationship with yourself—and deciding you’re worth protecting.

Burnout Doesn’t Mean You’re Weak

It means you’ve been strong for too long without support.

It means you’ve been living in survival mode.
It means you’ve prioritized everything but your own humanity.

So if you’re reading this and nodding?
Stop gaslighting yourself.

You’re not lazy.
You’re not unmotivated.
You’re not “just tired.”

You’re burned out.

And you don’t need to hit rock bottom before you start healing.

Final Thought

If burnout has crept into your life, you’re not alone—and you’re not screwed.
You can reset. You can recover.
But not if you keep pretending it’s just fatigue.

This isn’t a time to push harder.
It’s a time to come home to yourself.