Burnt out at work and cannot cope, what actually helped you recover?

I hit real burnout two years ago, the dread-every-morning kind. What genuinely helped, in order: 1) I saw a GP first, they can assess if it's burnout vs depression/anxiety and it's cheaper than you think, don't self-diagnose, 2) took actual leave, even a few days of true rest (phone off) to break the cycle, 3) set one hard boundary, no laptop after 8pm, 4) talked to my manager about workload before quitting, sometimes they'd rather redistribute than lose you. Quitting felt like the only option but it wasn't. If you're constantly dreading mornings and snappy at home, please talk to a professional, the National Care Hotline (1771) and your polyclinic can point you to support. This is my experience, not medical advice, please verify options with a GP or the official mental health resources.

Same boat last year, and the single thing that broke the spiral for me was taking actual leave and completely unplugging, no Slack, no email, notifications off, the works. The first two days I felt guilty and twitchy, kept reaching for my phone convinced everything was on fire without me, but by day four my brain quietened enough that I could actually think again and feel like a person. Rest is not laziness and it's not a reward you earn, it's genuine repair your nervous system needs after months of running hot. Even if you can't take long, a few fully disconnected days help. Please also get it checked by a GP though, so you know whether it's burnout or something that needs more support.

Please see a professional to check whether it's actually 'just' burnout, because mine turned out to be anxiety that genuinely needed proper treatment, and I wasted months pushing through and telling myself I just needed to toughen up, which only made it worse. The symptoms overlap a lot, so you really can't reliably tell on your own whether it's overwork you can rest off or something clinical that needs help. Go through a GP referral, a polyclinic, or one of the helplines to get it assessed rather than white-knuckling it. Getting it looked at early is the thing I most wish I'd done sooner. This is just my experience, so lean on the official resources and a real professional for the actual assessment.

Talk to your manager before you quit, I know it feels pointless or even risky but hear me out. I was completely certain mine would brush me off or think less of me, and instead, once I laid out plainly how underwater I was, they actually cut two projects off my plate and reshuffled a deadline. Bosses genuinely often don't know how much you're drowning, because high performers hide it well until they snap, so the workload just keeps landing. Frame the conversation around workload and capacity, not around feelings or weakness, keep it practical, 'here's what's on my plate, here's what I can realistically sustain'. Worst case they say no and you're where you already are, but it's often worth trying first.