Stress Versus Burnout

I received this article in an email today from the Frio River Director of Missions. This is a concise and informative look at Stress and Burnout. Maybe it can help us all understand the issue better.

Stress Versus Burnout

Sometimes we have really stressful days. And sometimes those days turn into weeks. Seasons of stress come and go.

Burnout, however, is the result of cumulative stress developed over time. Dr. Archibald Hart, founder of the Hart Institute, describes how the symptoms of stress can turn into symptoms of burnout over the passage of time.

Take a moment and read through these sentence pairs, the first describing symptoms of stress while the second describes symptoms of burnout.

Stress is characterized by over engagement;
Burnout is a defense characterized by disengagement.

The exhaustion of stress affects physical energy.
The exhaustion of burnout affects motivation and drive.

Stress produces disintegration.
Burnout produces demoralization.

Stress can best be understood as a loss of fuel and energy.
Burnout can best be understood as a loss of ideals and hope.

The depression of stress is produced by the body’s need to protect itself and conserve energy.
The depression of burnout is caused by the grief engendered by the loss of ideals and hope.

Stress produces a sense of urgency and hyperactivity.
Burnout produces a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.


Mad Church Disease, Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic. Anne Jackson, Zondervan, 2009. p. 95