Burnout in Women: Signs, Causes, and What Actually Helps

Sep 16
9 min read

Burnout is increasingly recognised as a serious occupational challenge that affects both wellbeing and professional performance. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines it as a syndrome caused by chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, characterised by exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional effectiveness. In the UK, recent data shows that 63% of employees now display symptoms of exhaustion and disengagement — up from 51% just two years ago — with women among those most affected (MHFA England, 2024). Although burnout can affect anyone, research consistently shows that women are at heightened risk. Gendered expectations, unequal recognition, and the pressures of managing multiple responsibilities combine to make burnout both more likely and more impactful for women. Understanding the causes, early signs, and evidence-based strategies for prevention is essential to reducing risk and supporting long-term wellbeing.

What is Burnout?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises burnout as an occupational syndrome in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). This means it is not classified as a medical disorder such as depression or anxiety, but as a work-related condition that develops when stress at work becomes overwhelming and prolonged.

Burnout is defined by three main features:

Emotional exhaustion – a sense of being drained and depleted of energy.
Cynicism or detachment from work – distancing oneself from tasks or colleagues, often accompanied by frustration or negativity.
Reduced professional effectiveness – difficulties concentrating, meeting goals, or feeling that work is meaningful.

Research shows that burnout arises directly from the work environment, shaped by how roles are structured, supported, and experienced. Maslach and Leiter (2016) highlight six common mismatches between an individual and their workplace that create conditions for burnout:

Workload
Control
Reward
Community
Fairness
Values

When these areas consistently conflict with personal needs or expectations, the risk of burnout increases significantly.

More recent work, such as the job demands–resources model (Demerouti et al., 2024), emphasises that burnout develops when the demands of a role consistently exceed the resources available to manage them. High workloads, time pressure, or conflicting responsibilities, combined with limited support or autonomy, create a pattern that gradually erodes wellbeing and performance.

Although burnout can share some symptoms with depression, evidence consistently shows that it is a distinct occupational phenomenon: its roots lie in the structure and conditions of work, not simply within the individual.

Experiences When Burnout Sets In

When burnout takes hold, it shows up through both physical and emotional changes. These shifts often build gradually, becoming more noticeable over time.

Physical experiences are widely reported in research, including:

Persistent fatigue that rest does not relieve.
Frequent headaches, muscle tension, or stomach upsets.
Increased vulnerability to illness due to lowered immunity.

Sleep disturbances are one of the most consistent findings across studies. Meta-analyses confirm a strong link between poor sleep quality — especially insomnia — and higher levels of burnout (Membrive-Jiménez et al., 2022; Saintila et al., 2024). Poor sleep not only worsens exhaustion but also reduces the capacity to cope with daily stressors, creating a cycle that intensifies burnout risk.

Emotional experiences are equally significant. People often describe irritability, loss of motivation, and difficulty engaging in tasks that once felt manageable. Feelings of cynicism, apathy, or disconnection from work can emerge, sometimes spilling over into personal relationships and reducing overall life satisfaction.

Over time, these physical and emotional changes combine to create a sense of being overwhelmed and less effective at work. Research consistently shows that this erosion of accomplishment is one of burnout’s defining features, making it distinct from simply being tired or stressed.

Early Signs of Burnout Risk

Burnout rarely happens overnight. Research highlights consistent early indicators that often appear before the full syndrome develops. Recognising these can help women take action early and protect their wellbeing.

Energy depletion: feelings of tiredness or exhaustion that go beyond the usual ups and downs of a busy week, leaving little capacity to recover.
Emotional changes: growing irritability, frustration, or withdrawal from colleagues and tasks, often accompanied by reduced job satisfaction.
Cognitive difficulties: increasing mistakes, forgetfulness, or difficulty concentrating, which can make work feel harder and less rewarding.
Physical signs: frequent illness, tension headaches, or disrupted sleep patterns that signal the body is under sustained stress.

Evidence also shows that women are especially vulnerable to these early risks, often reporting higher levels of stress and fatigue due to the dual demands of professional roles and personal responsibilities (Lyubarova et al., 2023; Wen et al., 2024). Over time, these pressures compound, making early recognition particularly important.

Evidence for Burnout Causes

Research identifies several well-established factors that contribute to burnout. These are structural and relational challenges within the workplace, rather than shortcomings of the individual.

Excessive workload and lack of autonomy:

Consistently shown as the strongest predictors of burnout. When demands outweigh control over how work is carried out, stress escalates rapidly (van Leeuwen, Taris, & Schaufeli, 2022).

Poor workplace relationships and recognition:

Conflict, discrimination, or lack of support from colleagues and managers heighten emotional strain. A workplace culture that undervalues contributions or withholds recognition leaves individuals more vulnerable (Maslach & Leiter, 2016).

Mismatch between values and tasks:

When daily work conflicts with personal or professional values — for example, ethical concerns, unfair treatment, or pressure to act against one’s judgement — the risk of burnout increases significantly (Bianchi, Schonfeld, & Laurent, 2023).

Demands exceeding resources:

The job demands–resources model emphasises that burnout develops when high demands such as time pressure or emotional load are not balanced by sufficient resources such as autonomy, support, or recognition (Demerouti, Bakker, & Leiter, 2024).

Invisible labour and non-promotable tasks:

Research also shows that women are more likely to be assigned “non-promotable” work, such as mentoring, note-taking, providing feedback, or organising team activities. These tasks are essential but are less visible and rarely rewarded in career progression. Women are not only asked to do them more often, but are also more likely to accept them, either because of implicit gendered expectations or because of the need to overperform to prove themselves in unequal environments (Kaplan, 2022; Babcock et al., 2017; Welcometothejungle, 2023). This creates additional demands on time and energy that contribute to burnout risk.

For women, these challenges are often compounded. Balancing professional responsibilities with expectations at home, while simultaneously managing unequal and unrewarded workplace demands, creates a cumulative load. Together, these pressures increase vulnerability to burnout and highlight the importance of addressing both organisational structures and gendered expectations.

Evidence-Based Support for Women

While burnout is serious, research also points to effective strategies that reduce risk and support recovery. The strongest evidence highlights interventions at both the organisational and individual level, with women benefiting most when workplace structures actively address inequalities.

Workplace culture and leadership:

Systematic reviews show that interventions which build trust, recognition, and positive workplace relationships lower burnout rates, especially among women (Cohen et al., 2023; Lee et al., 2023). Supportive leadership, regular wellbeing checks, and fair recognition systems are consistently linked to improved resilience and job satisfaction.

Work–life balance policies:

Flexible hours, remote work options, and adequate leave reduce conflict between work and personal responsibilities, a major contributor to burnout among women (Hu et al., 2024; Wen, Hu, & Zhang, 2024). When organisations normalise these policies, women report lower stress and improved engagement.

Addressing invisible labour:

Research suggests that reducing the unequal distribution of non-promotable tasks can help mitigate burnout risk. Babcock et al. (2017) found that women are asked more often to complete low-visibility work such as mentoring, organising, or note-taking, which contributes little to career advancement but significantly adds to workload. Training managers to allocate these tasks more equitably, and making invisible contributions visible in performance assessments, can reduce gendered strain (Kaplan, 2022).

Peer support and professional resources:

Access to peer support groups, mentoring networks, and mental health services fosters a sense of community and reduces isolation. Training managers to recognise early warning signs and encourage use of support services has also been shown to reduce burnout prevalence (Lyubarova, Cook, & Goldstein, 2023).

Professional and wellness coaching:

Emerging evidence shows that coaching — including career, life, psychology, and wellness coaching — plays a significant role in reducing stress and symptoms of burnout. In a randomised controlled trial, six coaching sessions over five months led to significant reductions in emotional exhaustion and overall burnout, alongside improved quality of life and resilience (Dyrbye et al., 2019). A more recent trial found that small-group professional coaching reduced burnout by nearly 30 % compared to individual coaching or control groups (Palamara et al., 2025). Wellness coaching has also been shown to lower burnout and improve retention among emergency nurses (O’Hara et al., 2024). Coaching provides structured support for clarifying values, strengthening resilience, and developing boundary-setting and negotiation skills — areas particularly important for women navigating high demands and gendered expectations in the workplace.

Organisation-wide approaches:

The most successful initiatives are those embedded into workplace culture, rather than left to individuals alone. Evidence shows that collective strategies — such as open communication, supportive leadership, and shared responsibility for wellbeing — are more effective than individual coping strategies on their own (Maslach & Leiter, 2016; Demerouti, Bakker, & Leiter, 2024).

For women, interventions that combine fair recognition of contributions, supportive policies, equitable workload distribution, and access to professional coaching are particularly effective. Evidence suggests that when organisations address both structural stressors and gendered expectations, women experience lower burnout and higher career satisfaction.

Burnout is not simply a matter of individual resilience but the result of structural, relational, and cultural factors in the workplace. Evidence shows it develops when job demands exceed available resources, when recognition is absent, or when expectations conflict with personal values. For women, these pressures are amplified by additional invisible labour, societal expectations, and the need to overperform in unequal environments.

The good news is that there are proven ways to reduce burnout risk. Supportive leadership, fair recognition, equitable task distribution, and work–life balance policies make a measurable difference. Coaching, both professional and wellness-focused, is also emerging as a powerful tool to strengthen resilience, improve coping, and reduce emotional exhaustion.

Early recognition matters. By noticing the first signs of burnout — persistent fatigue, sleep disruption, irritability, or withdrawal — women can seek support sooner, and organisations can take steps to intervene effectively. The most sustainable solutions come when individuals, teams, and workplaces share responsibility for wellbeing.

Addressing burnout is not just about preventing harm. It is about enabling women to thrive, contribute fully, and sustain careers and lives that feel purposeful and energising. By combining organisational change with evidence-based personal support, we can reduce risk and build healthier, more resilient environments for women’s work and wellbeing.

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References

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