Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

Chapter 1 introduces the book’s central distinction between stressors and stress, arguing that burnout persists because people, particularly women in caregiving and emotionally demanding roles, often remove the stressor without completing the physiological stress response cycle. Through the story of Julie, a teacher overwhelmed by administrative pressure, the authors illustrate how such stressors activate neurobiological systems evolved for threats like predators. They use evidence from neuroscience, mammalian behavior, and therapeutic accounts to explain how adrenaline, cortisol, and muscular activation prepare the body to fight or flee, yet modern norms require restraint, preventing the body from signaling safety and returning to equilibrium. The chapter expands this framework by explaining the “freeze” response and the body’s involuntary shaking during recovery, normalizing reactions often misunderstood or pathologized. 

The authors recommend strategies such as movement, deep breathing, affection, laughter, crying, and creative expression—practices supported by psychophysiological research—to help complete the cycle. However, while the authors do not explicitly acknowledge it, their framework implicitly assumes that readers have enough bodily autonomy, time, and emotional space to engage in these strategies—conditions that may not be available to people with disabilities, precarious work schedules, or limited social support. 

The chapter reflects ongoing and broadening cultural conversations around burnout and emotional labor.