Chemical Crossfire
Consider how overlapping emotional responses can take a hit on your productivity..
We live in a strange economy of feeling. On the outside we perform competence and calm. Inside we may be running a cocktail of adrenaline, cortisol and other chemicals that nudge us toward anger or a sinking low. Science shows that the neurocircuitry and hormonal responses involved in anger, stress and depressed mood overlap in important ways. That overlap helps explain why a period of sustained workplace pressure can feel at once hot with anger and cold with exhaustion.
The World Health Organisation defines burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic, unmanaged workplace stress characterised by exhaustion, mental distance from work and reduced professional efficacy. That is workplace specific and not the same as clinical depression, but the two commonly interact and feed one another. Chronic stress changes body chemistry and brain functioning and can make anger more likely and mood more fragile. Recognising this is the first practical step toward interrupting the slide.
Here is a confession. I remember a time when my anger was a steady undercurrent and my sleep was such a mess! I found myself sliding into stress when my work was seeping into my life and my life was seeping into my work. It felt like I was always on. Was my brain working? it felt empty but with so much noise. Exercise helped more than I expected. Firm boundaries helped more than I wanted to admit. Telling my manager about my achievements and explaining why certain workloads risked burnout was awkward and necessary. Those actions did not magically fix everything but they helped change my physiology and my narrative. I was no longer only reacting. I became less prone to the quick flare of anger and the slow drift toward exhaustion.
There are evidence backed ways to make that change more likely. Simple regular physical activity supports mood regulation and resilience. Structured rest and sleep stabilise cortisol rhythms. Psychological approaches that build emotional awareness and coping skills reduce the intensity of anger and the depth of depressive states. Organisations such as Mind UK, the British Psychological Society and Mental Health at Work provide guidance and resources to help employers and individuals create psychologically safer workplaces. If you are an employer, small gesture changes matter: workload audits, flexible working, and clear expectations reduce the chronic stress that becomes burnout.
This is not just an individual problem. In the UK rising workplace stress and burnout symptoms are well documented. Recent workplace surveys and reports show a significant proportion of workers reporting high stress and burnout symptoms and many organisations are beginning to respond with wellbeing programmes and training for managers. Treating this as a systemic issue is how real change happens.
If you are reading this and thinking it feels hard, that is a normal response. Be curious about where your anger sits and where your tiredness begins..
Start with small, concrete acts: a short walk, a success log of three things you did well each week, a 30 minute non negotiable block for rest. If work is the pressure point, document your wins and share them in regular catch ups. That visibility protects your role and your wellbeing. And if it is bigger than you can manage, speak to your GP or a trusted mental health charity such as Samaritans or Mind. You do not have to navigate this alone.
Finally. We perform to survive in a world that rewards outcomes. The antidote is not pretending to be without need. The antidote is naming the need, practising small acts of self care and asking for structural change where it is due. Humility and self care are not enemies. They are companions of resilience.
