Burnout and the Breakdown of Attention

Impaired attention is a major player in mental fatigue and a defining feature of burnout. A recent study found that people with clinical burnout struggle to stay focused during prolonged mental tasks. Unlike healthy individuals, they don’t improve with practice and report growing concentration difficulties over time. This decline in attention is more than frustrating—it’s a sign that the brain’s ability to cope with effort is compromised. Even their heart rate patterns reveal signs of strain. These findings show that burnout isn’t just emotional—it deeply affects how we think, focus, and function under everyday mental demands.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051123001795