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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is this burn out?

36 replies

karrabee · 15/09/2026 21:56

I have always been someone who gets a lot done. I am a single parent, trustee of a very small charity (we fix people's bikes for free), I work full time (home based), my son does a competitive sport, I'm also a trustee of his club, and on the board of a local initiative, I've applied for a research fellowship which I am excited about, and it has all felt ok until... it doesn't anymore. Over the last few weeks I am suddenly just out of it. Like I've hit a wall. I'm not depressed. I feel ok in myself. I have just lost the ability to actually do anything. I feel like a zombie. I stare at my phone once he is in bed. I comfort eat. I stand in the shower in the morning for 30 mins. It's like my energy is zapped. Thing is, I love the sport and when I am with him watching him do his thing, I feel energised and can forget about everything for a while, but anything that requires any sort of mental effort just leaves me wanting to scream at the moment. I can't think. I am irritable. Like there is just this weird energy I can't get rid of and I feel like I need to go and smash things but don't have the energy to. I can't get my work done in the day because I can't focus, so do it at night. I just feel really odd, and exhausted, and not myself. Does this sound like burnout?

OP posts:
BestPlannerInTown · 15/09/2026 21:59

Perimenopause perhaps? What age are you?

Dexternight · 15/09/2026 21:59

Be kind to your body.
Learn to say no.
You don't need to be superwoman.
Your body and mind will thank you.

SuffolkBargeWoman · 15/09/2026 21:59

Burnout or peri menopause, how old are you?
Could also be vitamin or iron deficiency, how are your Vit D levels?
Possibly the beginning of depression?

Sorry to hear you feel like this, it's important to try to work out what's going on before it can get any worse.

karrabee · 15/09/2026 22:00

I am 35

OP posts:
Winter2020 · 15/09/2026 22:00

Blood tests looking for low iron or other deficiencies might be a good place to start - or as another poster has suggested menopause/HRT?

SuffolkBargeWoman · 15/09/2026 22:02

Any anxiety? Mood swings? Night sweats? Random joint pains?

karrabee · 15/09/2026 22:02

I am also quite sleep deprived so it could literally just be that

OP posts:
karrabee · 15/09/2026 22:03

SuffolkBargeWoman · 15/09/2026 22:02

Any anxiety? Mood swings? Night sweats? Random joint pains?

No none of those things

OP posts:
SuffolkBargeWoman · 15/09/2026 22:05

Sleep deprivation can get you like that.
Can you spend a week consciously getting enough time in bed and from an early time, every night?

What is the reason you are sleep deprived?

I often find lack of sleep makes me slightly deranged before it makes me feel tired.

BestPlannerInTown · 15/09/2026 22:07

karrabee · 15/09/2026 22:02

I am also quite sleep deprived so it could literally just be that

Sleep deprivation can cause depression. Try to get more sleep.

karrabee · 15/09/2026 22:08

I think it is burnout. I think the staring at my phone is a way of gettinf away from it all. It is a waste of time but it is so low effort. And I think the feeling of wanting to smash something is because I am running on adrenaline and not actually using it as intended, and haven't the physical energy to. When I watch my son doing his sport I am shouting for him, running about, helping to organise but am around people i love, and it is like a release. I think I might be a bit broken!

OP posts:
karrabee · 15/09/2026 22:09

SuffolkBargeWoman · 15/09/2026 22:05

Sleep deprivation can get you like that.
Can you spend a week consciously getting enough time in bed and from an early time, every night?

What is the reason you are sleep deprived?

I often find lack of sleep makes me slightly deranged before it makes me feel tired.

Honestly I just can't sleep. I get in bed and think constantly about the fact that my house is a mess, I need to do laundry, I forgot to so something. And I am suddenly still awake at 3 and need to get up at 6. I feel totally fucked and don't even know where to start fixing it. Work doesn't help. It is so high pressure at the moment and I am working way over my hours.

OP posts:
bonnemaman1990 · 15/09/2026 22:10

Sounds just like burn out. I felt exactly the same. Normally very productive, proactive and got shit done. Hit a wall and felt like I was in a hole I couldn’t drag myself out of. Procrastinating, doom scrolling, putting things off, not caring, craving solitude, wanting to be left alone. Before anyone diagnoses depression- it wasn’t there were pockets of joy and happiness. It took me a while to feel like myself again. I didn’t relinquish any commitments, but changed a few things: stuck to a routine, automated everyday decision making like meals, forced exercise and time in nature every day. Prioritised sleep and nourishing food, listened to my body - if I didn’t want to go out I didn’t, started saying no to the non-essentials.

Be kind to yourself, it takes time to shed the bone deep exhaustion but you can do it xx

Thepeopleversuswork · 15/09/2026 22:11

It could be burn out.

I have been burned out for about five years but can’t afford to stop so hey ho, here we are.

Feeling in a particularly cynical mood so I might get shot but in my darker moments I feel burnout is a bit of a luxury. Most of us don’t have the time or money for it.

Happyjoe · 15/09/2026 22:31

Blood test, try and get help from the GP with sleep issues, then go from there perhaps? Great to be supportive of the sports etc but you can do that without added work of being a trustee etc. Sounds like yes, you have too much on and you may be heading towards being utterly shattered with it all.

When do you get time to yourself and time to just relax with friends? A balance is always best. Good luck with your fellowship and it's ok to stop giving so much of yourself to others, keep back some of you for a little TLC.

blueplates · 15/09/2026 23:15

Get blood tests. They will likely test your thyroid if you go to the Gp and say you are fatigued.

I've been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid and been overmedicated and recently experienced an underactive thyroid and the symptoms were like you have described.

Could also be burnout though.

Ionlymakejokestodistractmyself · 15/09/2026 23:24

You sound like you're holding too much. Yes could be burnout.

Do you get outside time and exercise?

I find if I don't get enough daylight and movement my sleep goes to shit

Turn screens off before bed and read

Write down everything that's on your mind before bed so you can put your worries down. I have a pen and pad in my bedside table for this

DNLove · 15/09/2026 23:28

You have stretched yourself so thin you don't know whether your coming or going. Your brain is switching off to protect itself. You can't be all things to all people unless you fill your own tank. Sounds like you are filling everyone's tank but your own. Step away from responsibilities and find some time for you. Be it gym, doing a. Jigsaw, going for a walk.

Ralstan · 15/09/2026 23:29

Id suggest seeing your gp and getting your fsh levels checked. I felt just like this at 36. Was given anti depressants but I didn't feel depressed. Kept going back. At 38 I saw a young female gp who checked my fsh levels. I was in full menopause. Started on Hrt and felt so much better.

Of course premature menopause is rare but it does happen. So many women are incorrectly diagnosed with depression when it is menopause. At least if its ruled out you know its not that.

AlgaeDreams · 15/09/2026 23:35

karrabee · 15/09/2026 22:09

Honestly I just can't sleep. I get in bed and think constantly about the fact that my house is a mess, I need to do laundry, I forgot to so something. And I am suddenly still awake at 3 and need to get up at 6. I feel totally fucked and don't even know where to start fixing it. Work doesn't help. It is so high pressure at the moment and I am working way over my hours.

There's your answer. You're not sleeping, you're knackered!

I used to get like this and my gp would give me a 2 week course of zopiclone just to get back in the habit of sleeping and be able to recharge. He also suggested a sleep CBT course, but tbh thinking about everything that went in to that just kept my mind awake!

The tablets don't knock you out they just allow you to actually fall asleep. A reset if you will.

Mumtobabyhavoc · 16/09/2026 00:39

Please google "clinical burnout" as it's too long to post here. I was in that state and couldn't dial a phone number or calculate simple math. I'd get into a state of panic over simple decisions, would procrastinate to detrimental consequence professionally and otherwise, and then ruminate once I finally made a decision. It took me months to decide on which dish drying rack to buy. People joke about burnout all the time, but it is truly horrible.

Wonkybaby · 16/09/2026 11:58

I would back away from as many voluntary roles as you can. I found myself absolutely swamped with stuff, being on 2 charity boards, volunteering at Cubs, helping at church and walking the neighbours dog when she (the owner) broke her hip. I’m a single parent and work full time as well, and I have my own dog!
My therapist gave me a reality check, I was like but if I don’t do it, who will? She said, well someone else, or no one, but it doesnt have to be you!
Give yourself permission to step back.

Purpl · 16/09/2026 18:27

It does sound like it sorry have been there amd it will get worse if you don’t relinquish some of your duties. Onvs rule out all underlying conditions first with GP,
then after bloods invest in a good vitamin b2 magnesium. Then put the phone in a different room. Silence all notifications. Start esting best you can even extra veg ready cooked chicken,
now a single mum pressured job and running round after compettive sport is quite enough,
choose your hard as in hard to give up these boards hard to feel burnt out, you have done amazing to have given your time but it’s someones else’s turn now, you need to resign now. Im sorry i expect you don’t want to but you simply say im dorry few health issues and dont be blackmailed. Look if you get really bad you could be on sick leave and how you gonna pay bills snd look after son? I mean this kindly you have to prioritise health and your son right now. I really wish you better x

bridgetreilly · 16/09/2026 18:30

That all sounds like burn out. Change to a brick phone. Cut out everything you can from your life. Build in simple self-care. Then start thinking about long term changes you need to make.

sonjadog · 16/09/2026 18:34

I have similar symptoms and am currently working 50% for a few weeks due to burn out. I have been seriously burnt out many years ago, and it isn't as bad as that was (then it took years to recover), but the current feeling is a sign that things aren't okay and it is time to take measures before it gets worse. Could you get signed off for a while? I would also make a GP appointment for blood tests as soon as you can.

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