Burnout and trauma fatigue can look almost identical — but they are not the same.
What Burnout Looks Like
Burnout is exhaustion from chronic overwork and lack of rest. Symptoms include cynicism, irritability, and reduced capacity. Burnout often improves with boundaries, rest, and workload changes.
What Trauma Fatigue Looks Like
Trauma fatigue is different. It comes from a nervous system locked in survival mode for too long. Rest alone may not fix it. The body stays hypervigilant, scanning for danger, even in safe spaces.
Why It Matters
If you treat trauma fatigue like burnout, you risk blaming yourself when vacations or time off don’t “work.” Trauma fatigue requires regulation, not just rest.
What Helps
- For Burnout: workload boundaries, delegation, restorative time off.
- For Trauma Fatigue: grounding, somatic therapy, safe relationships, trauma-informed care.
Key Takeaway
Both are real. Both are valid. The difference is not just semantic — it shapes how you recover.
