Burnout on the rise in 2025 with experts claiming Aussie workers are ‘absolutely cooked’
Fantasising about a “job at Bunnings” after a stressful year at the office? You’re not alone with a leading burnout specialist saying Aussie workers are “absolutely cooked” from trying to keep up with the relentless demands of work and family life.
Mental health professional Marcel Koper said burnout was on the rise with Australians pushing themselves to work through exhaustion and struggling to disconnect after hours and during holidays.
The Melbourne-based therapist, who has been helping professionals for 25 years, said burnout was the result of excessive and prolonged emotional, physical, and mental stress.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“It’s the body and mind’s way of stopping ourselves from working to death,” he said.
“It’s pushing ourselves through exhaustion and then we get so tired that we get to this point where we’re absolutely cooked. We’re done. We can’t keep going.”
Mr Koper said most of his clients were high-performing professionals aged in their 40s or 50s and part of the “sandwich generation” juggling careers, kids and ageing parents.
“They’ve had senior roles and they’re brilliant at them, but all of a sudden something happens in their body and they just can’t keep going,” he said.
“The body almost closes in on itself and stops you from continuing.
“I’ve had clients who reached a point where, one day, their alarm goes off for work but they can’t get up. You can have close to a full emotional and mental breakdown.”
Mr Koper, who specialises in the area of burnout, half-jokingly said it was common for sufferers to start “fantasising about a job at Bunnings”.
“Senior execs imagine (what it would be like) only having to help customers with their paint colours,” he said.
“Which makes me ask them, once they’re rested, ‘are you in the right career for you? Are you in the right workplace for you?’
“You can’t evaluate that when you’re totally cooked.”
Mr Koper’s Melbourne practice, Awareness Centre, provides advanced burnout recovery solutions for individuals, teams and health professionals.
The researcher said the condition is often caused by a combination of factors and can impact sufferers’ cognitive abilities at work, compounding their stress.
“There’s often an untenable workload, high demands placed upon them and there might be bullying going on in their workplace,” he said.
“In addition, the amygdala hijacks that part of the brain so you’re working two or three times as hard, just to achieve what you would normally would.
“You’re trying to do the same task with less access to the brain, so there are all these compounding factors.”
Mr Koper said it took one client two years to recover but many bounce back faster with the right treatment and strategies.
“If you’ve reached burnout, you really need extensive rest,” Mr Koper said.
“But the work you really need to do is to ask yourself, ‘what kept you pushing yourself? What was it from your past that drove you to become so exhausted?’
“I’ve found that for most people it’s a core coping mechanism and related to something from their past or how they’ve adapted as kids.”
Working to the point of burnout can be a response to childhood trauma, neglect or early anxiety and a way to “avoid feelings”.
“People don’t realise that it’s not normal to come home every night feeling exhausted,” he said.
“Imagine getting to the Christmas holidays and not just slumping in a chair?
“Imagine if you made it to Christmas next year with a bit of petrol still in the tank?”
Mr Koper, who is working on a podcast series all about burnout, said January was the ideal time to address burnout and assess how you want the year ahead to look.
“It’s not an automatic solution to quit your job but recovery does require work modifications,” he said.
“One of the key areas of recovery is the common concept of boundaries.
“Emails and work interactions invade space on the weekends and after hours so it’s tools down, no work and no communication with work after hours.
“It’s also a time to actually stop and ask, ‘am I in the right job?’”
Mr Koper, who experienced severe burnout 20 years ago, said there was a “way through” even the most debilitating cases.
“If you feel burnt out, it would be good to talk to someone about it,” Mr Koper said.
“We can make some great new year’s resolutions and a lot of these positive changes will make a big difference but burnout still happens to healthy people because it’s about creating space for yourself.
“There are a whole lot of little things you can do, but people who are really tired and burnt out need proper treatment”.
If you’re suffering from burnout, help is available:
