Stress and Burnout Psychologist Melbourne

Stress and Burnout

Common symptoms of stress and burnout

Stress is a common and normal physical response to challenging or new situations that can vary in its psychological and physical aspects between individuals based upon differing life experiences.  It can initiate the body’s “fight or flight” response which is a complex reaction of the neurologic and endocrine systems.  Chronic stress can lead to a person experiencing physical symptoms including headaches, increased blood pressure, chest pain, loss of appetite and sleep difficulties as well as psychological symptoms including cognitive impairments such as brain fog and concentration difficulties, emotional fragility, cynicism, irritability, sleep disturbances, depression and anxiety.

Who is commonly affected by burnout?

Beyond Blue research in 2025 indicates that up to half of people in the Australian workforce face workplace burnout.  Young adults aged between 18 and 29 years of age reported the highest rates of burnout largely due to workloads, inflexible conditions and lack of management support. Small business owners were the employment group most likely to be experiencing burnout in the previous 12 months with contributing factors including financial pressures, isolation and long working hours.

Approximately 93% of mothers in Australia report experiencing burnout citing the unequal division of domestic labour and lifestyle stressors as major contributing factors.

Research conducted by Deakin University in 2025 found that burnout and stress are reported at higher levels amongst government primary and secondary school teachers compared to the general working population due to the unique challenges of the profession.