Ways by which burnout impacts relationships

Burnout is a state of physical and emotional phase where we are exhausted – this usually happens when we are exposed to stress for a long period of time. Happening due to several reasons such as the job we are in or a situation we may be going through in our personal lives, burnout can impact relationships drastically. Be it a friendship or our relationship we our family members, or the romantic relationships we are involved in – burnout can impact all of it negatively. Addressing this, Therapist Divya Robin wrote, “So many of us are living in a state of burnout. The burnout doesn’t just end there — it has an impact on our relationships, too. It can impact a relationship of any kind – a romantic, friend, family relationship. The mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion from burnout will find ways to creep into your relationship.”

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Divya Robin further discussed a few ways by which burnout can impact our relationships:

Superficial conversations: Burnout restricts our time and ability to show up and be present for the ones we care about. This further makes our communication more superficial with them, further affecting the relationship.

Projecting anger: The frustration and the anger that we have towards the source that is primarily causing the burnout finds a way to be projected in the relationships we are in. This makes people stay away from us.

Irritability: Burnout makes us irritated and frustrated at the slightest of things. Hence, we become more irritable in our relationships as well.

Isolation: This makes us isolate ourselves and avoid social gatherings or places where we are required.

Disconnect: We lack the time and energy to share our emotions with others, making us disconnected from the ones we care about.

Neglect: We start to neglect the responsibilities that make the relationship healthy, such as spending time together or being there for each other.

Needs: We fail to reciprocate the needs that a relationship demands, physically, mentally and emotionally.

Hyper-fixation: We keep fixating on the aspects of the relationship and the person that bothers us. This stems from a high level of irritation and frustration caused by burnout.