Epi 42:

Ever find yourself sitting in the parking lot before a shift, stressed, dreading walking in, and wondering why everyone else looks like they have it together while you’re questioning whether you’re cut out for veterinary medicine?

In Part I of the Breaking the Burnout Cycle mini-series, we explore why burnout so often can feel like a personal failure and how learned coping patterns can quietly keep veterinary professionals stuck in the same exhausting cycle.

We dive into how traits like perfectionism, people-pleasing, and difficulty setting boundaries contribute to chronic stress and burnout in veterinary medicine, and more importantly, what actually breaks the cycle for good.

This episode lays the foundation for real burnout recovery at the root, not by changing who you are, but by changing the pattern that has been running the show.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

[00:00] Why we think everyone else has it together (& how that skews our perspective)
[03:10] The “parking lot moment” many burned-out veterinary professionals experience
[05:30] Why burnout often turns into self-doubt and career questioning
[07:45] Common burnout signs that get normalized in vet med
[10:55] How overthinking and emotional numbness show up at work
[13:30] Why perfectionism and people-pleasing drain your nervous system
[17:45] How learned stress responses develop over time
[21:30] The fire alarm analogy for burnout
[23:30] Why coping harder doesn’t break the cycle
[26:10] What actually begins changing burnout patterns

Key Takeaways:

• Burnout is not a personal failure or a sign that you chose the wrong career

• Many stress responses in veterinary medicine are learned and reinforced over time

• Perfectionism and people-pleasing keep the nervous system in constant survival mode, and just thinking positively isn't the solution

• Overthinking is often a stress response, not a personality flaw

• Healing burnout requires updating patterns, not adding more coping skills

A Truth You Need to Hear:

 “Most burned-out veterinary professionals don’t need more coping skills.
They need their stress response updated.”

Links mentioned:

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S2 Epi 42 Transcript: Breaking the Burnout Cycle (Part I): When Burnout Feels Like a Personal Failure & What Actually Breaks the Cycle

[00:00]
Today I’m breaking down something that comes up for so many veterinary professionals, but rarely gets talked about honestly. This episode is not about strategies, productivity, or fixing yourself. It’s a reflection. And if you’re listening to this feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or questioning yourself, I want you to know you’re not alone…

[03:10]
There’s this moment I hear about all the time. Sitting in the parking lot before a shift. Hands on the steering wheel. Watching coworkers walk inside. Wondering how everyone else looks fine while you feel like you’re barely holding it together. And that moment often turns into the thought, “Maybe I’m just not cut out for this…”

[05:30]
Burnout doesn’t usually show up as “I’m burned out.” It shows up as self-doubt. As questioning your competence. As wondering if you made the right career choice. And when you internalize burnout this way, it starts to feel like a personal failure instead of a systemic and physiological response…

[07:45]
There are so many signs of burnout in veterinary medicine that we normalize. Being exhausted all the time. Feeling numb. Overthinking every interaction. Feeling responsible for everything and everyone. These things get brushed off as “just part of the job,” but they’re not neutral…

[10:55]
Overthinking isn’t you being dramatic or weak. It’s often a nervous system that hasn’t had a chance to come down from chronic stress. When your brain is constantly scanning for problems, mistakes, or danger, it doesn’t know how to shut off when you go home…

[13:30]
Perfectionism and people-pleasing are two of the biggest drivers of burnout I see. Not because they’re character flaws, but because they keep your nervous system in a constant state of high alert. You’re always trying to prevent something from going wrong…

[17:45]
Most of these stress responses didn’t start in veterinary medicine. They were learned earlier in life and reinforced over time. Vet med just happens to be the perfect environment for those patterns to go into overdrive…

[21:30]
I like to describe burnout like a smoke alarm that’s set too sensitively. It goes off when toast burns. The alarm isn’t broken. It’s doing exactly what it was designed to do. But the environment has changed, and the system hasn’t been recalibrated…

[23:30]
This is why coping skills alone don’t solve burnout. They help you tolerate the noise, but they don’t change why the alarm keeps going off. White-knuckling your way through stress just keeps the cycle alive…

[26:10]
What actually starts breaking the burnout cycle is learning how to update your stress response. Teaching your nervous system that you’re safe now. That not everything is an emergency. That you don’t have to stay in survival mode to be good at your job…