The Cost of Over-Working: Why Chronic Exhaustion isn’t a Badge of Honour

The ability to push oneself past one’s limits is a great asset, it helps us achieve what would otherwise not be possible, gives a sense of control, structure and praise from those around us for our achievements. However, like any tool it can be overused leading to unintended consequences. The more overused the tool, the greater these risks can become.

A common consequence of overworking is a sense of chronic exhaustion. Our body’s telling us that we need to slow down our that our current pace isn’t sustainable. A helpful way of conceptualising this is the Yerkes-Dodson Curve (1908).

Optimal Stress

First, it highlights the benefits of perseverance and drive. The ability to engage in stressful activities has clear biological and psychological benefits. With our bodies built to respond adaptively to moderate stress as seen in exercise improving our physical capabilities. Our positive response to this is coined as eustress. This is similarly seen in the biological phenomenon of hormesis where exercise, intermittent fasting, heat exposure and sunlight have a positive impact in manageable doses.

Past this point people fall into the negative side of over-exertion. Here people begin receiving the warning signs that they need to slow down. These are some of the signs to pay attention to:

• Sleep that doesn’t feel restorative

• Irritability, a short-fuse, difficulty emotionally regulating

• Physical symptoms with no clear cause (headaches, aches and pains, persistent fatigue)

Over-workers have trained themselves to be able to ignore these warning signs, enabling them struggle through to achieve their goals. Whilst the capacity for grit, perseverance and persistence is well-documented in leading to positive outcomes in academic/career achievement and health outcomes. This willpower system can be trapped in overdrive, leading to increasingly maladaptive behaviour and ways of thinking which hinder a person rather than help them in the long-term.

The Body Pays the Bill

This highlights the benefits of perseverance but also the cost. Being able to ignore your body’s signals that you need to rest for too long comes with severe consequences. When in chronic stress your body lives in a state of constant sympathetic nervous system arousal (the fight/flight system”. Whilst helpful in short- bursts, celebrated lecturer Robert Sapolsky highlights the long-term neurobiological impact across all systems (Illinois, 2017). The honest question to ask yourself is how realistic is it to operate at this point indefinitely? Not for a sprint or a deadline but indefinitely. Most of us, if we’re honest, already know the answer.

A simple way to think about it is pushing a car at 100% all the time doesn't guarantee it will break down. Plenty of cars driven hard for years never have a major failure. But redlining the engine continuously, skipping maintenance, never letting it idle or cool. It doesn't take an engineer to know this raises the odds of something going wrong, and tends to shorten how long the car lasts well before it does. Your nervous system works on a similar logic. Chronic overexertion doesn't guarantee a breakdown. It loads the dice.

Why We Keep Doing it Anyway

If the costs are this real, why do so many of us keep pushing past our limits?

Often, it’s not a lack of awareness, but a story we’ve absorbed about what our worth is tied to. Many of us were taught, implicitly or explicitly that busyness and achievement is a proxy for value: that the tired, overextended version of us is what’s acceptable and that rest is not maintenance but laziness.

None of this is a sign that’s something is permanently wrong, only that your system is asking for something to change.

You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone

If any of this sounds familiar, if you recognise yourself in the exhaustion, cynicism or that sense of willpower gone awry, it’s worth taking seriously rather than pushing through. Psychotherapy isn’t just for crisis points and is often most useful before things break down, when you can still make changes from a place of choice rather than collapse.

If you’d like support figuring out a more sustainable approach please reach out to George.Lee@livingpsych.com to arrange an appointment. I’d be glad to help you through it.