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Choosing Restoration Over Sedation: 3 Ways To Support Yourself In Burnout That Do Not Include Alcohol

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The Common Relationship Between Burnout And Alcohol


I loved building my career. I was climbing the ladder fast, and I gave it everything. I was the first one in the office, the first one on a plane when a client needed something, and I was always prepared. Reliable, respected, and the one people counted on. At first, I had it dialed. I drank socially, I had solid coping tools, and I never let stress slow me down. But as I rose higher in my career first as head of marketing, and then as global director, managing teams around the world, my workload multiplied, and so did the pressure. The happy hours became more frequent. The early workouts? Fewer and farther between. 


Eventually, I was traveling constantly, entertaining clients, always "on." When I finally got home, the only thing I wanted was my couch, a remote, and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. That bottle turned into my ritual. My reward. My coping mechanism. Weekends alone became what I told myself was "recharging" but let’s be honest. It was just me and the wine. Wine helped me forget. Until it didn’t. I still looked like I had it together. I hit yoga on the weekends, green juice in hand. But I was unraveling. I saw it in my reflection: dry skin, puffy eyes, the yellowing whites of my eyes. I canceled plans, blamed work, told myself I just needed a quiet night in. But the truth is, I was stuck in a cycle.


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What Is Burnout?


Burnout isn’t just “being tired.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is an occupational phenomenon, (as listed in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11)), that is a result of "chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." The term Burnout is meant to be used specifically in relation to the workplace, and for further clarification, the description within the ICD-11 includes the following three dimensions:

  • feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;

  • increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and

  • reduced professional efficacy.


You might feel more irritable than usual. Less patient. Or like you’ve lost that spark that used to make you feel good about your work. Maybe you used to be the one saying, “Let’s figure this out,” and now you're silently thinking, What’s the point? Or you’re dragging yourself through your days wondering how you became so numb to things you used to care about. You might still be doing everything - checking the boxes, hitting deadlines - but it never feels like enough. You don’t feel proud. You just feel depleted.


Unfortunately, burnout has become exceedingly commonplace in the American workplace. In October, 2025, Newsweek reported burnout is at a six-year high, and that according to "Aflac's latest WorkForces Report, nearly three in four (72 percent) U.S. employees battle moderate to high burnout at work, up from around three in five last year."


Certainly this is a staggering statistic, but also I'm not surprised.


The High-Achiever Burnout Paradox


That being said, for high achievers, in many ways burnout can be trickier to spot, because the behaviors that cause burnout are often the same ones that help you succeed in the first place. Perfectionism. Overdelivering. Always being “on.” Saying yes when you want to say no. Working when you’re sick, tired, or running on fumes. You push yourself because that’s what you’ve always done, and you get rewarded for it.


When you layer alcohol on top of that? It feels like a shortcut to relief. A way to quiet the mind, take the edge off, or just feel something other than pressure for five minutes. The problem is, it doesn’t solve the burnout, it just numbs it. And then the cycle deepens. Because after a night of drinking, you’re not waking up fresh and focused. Instead, you’re groggy, foggy, maybe even anxious. So you procrastinate. You avoid the hard conversations, delay the project that needs your best thinking, skip the workout that would’ve helped your mood. But the deadlines and expectations don’t go away—they stack up. And now you’re behind. Which creates more pressure. Which leads to more stress. And that makes you crave even more relief at the end of the day. So you drink again. And round and round you go. Does this sound familiar?


At first, it feels innocent, even earned. That glass of wine becomes a reward at the end of a long day. It’s the signal that you’ve made it through the meetings, the emails, the expectations. It marks the transition from “doing” to “relaxing.” And for a while, it works. You feel a little looser, a little lighter. You can finally exhale. But over time, that reward starts to shift into a response. Instead of choosing a drink, you need one, to cope, to calm down, to check out. It’s not just Thursday night happy hours anymore. It’s weekends and weeknights. Then it’s hard to remember the last day you didn’t drink.

The brain starts linking alcohol with stress relief, which trains your nervous system to reach for it automatically anytime pressure shows up.


But alcohol doesn’t actually reduce stress, it numbs your stress response temporarily, and then makes it worse. Physiologically, it disrupts your sleep. Even if you crash hard at first, your body rebounds in the early hours of the morning, spiking cortisol and leaving you wide awake at 3am. It messes with your blood sugar and dehydrates you, which throws off your energy and focus the next day. It can make anxiety worse, not better. Emotionally, it chips away at your resilience. The very thing you’re drinking to escape: stress, sadness, overwhelm, comes roaring back stronger the next day. And because you haven’t had a chance to actually process it, it starts to feel like it’s piling up on top of you. Alcohol gives the illusion of rest, but it robs you of real recovery. And when you’re already burned out, that difference matters. A lot.


You can read more about this in the article "Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Alcohol During Times of Stress", published by the Cleveland Clinic,


How To Stop Using Alcohol As A Temporary Relief For Symptoms of Burnout


Burnout doesn’t need more pushing. It doesn’t need you to grit your teeth harder, muster up more willpower, or squeeze another hour out of an already impossible schedule. What it really needs is restoration, and definitely not sedation. You can’t fix burnout by numbing it with a drink, a scroll, or any quick escape that just puts a band-aid over a broken bone. Burnout is your body and brain screaming for real, consistent care, the kind that replenishes your energy, calms your nervous system, and rebuilds your capacity to handle life’s demands.


It’s about listening to those quiet signals before they become emergencies. It’s about honoring yourself enough to slow down, set boundaries, and rebuild from a place of deep rest and true support. Because healing burnout isn’t a weakness. It’s the bravest, most radical act of leadership you can show yourself and everyone who depends on you.


So how do you start? How do you rebuild your resilience instead of just numbing the pain? I have identified three core areas to focus on if you are looking to stop using alcohol as a temporary relief for burnout.


Step One: Build Resilience Through Rest And Nervous System Work


Grit got you here. But it won’t get you out. Resilience isn’t about pushing through. It’s about knowing when to pause, when to breathe, and when to take your foot off the gas without spiraling into panic.

This starts with rest, and not just the kind where you lie on the couch with Netflix and wine. I’m talking about intentional, quality rest that restores your nervous system.  Sleep. Stillness. Disconnecting from screens. Letting yourself be bored for a minute.


It also means setting boundaries you’ve been avoiding, like closing your laptop at 6 p.m., saying no to back-to-back meetings, or not checking your email the second you open your eyes. And it means learning emotional regulation, so you’re not just reacting or spiraling when stress shows up. This is where nervous system work comes in. Breath work. Somatic practices. Journaling. Coaching. Getting out of your head and into your body, so you can actually process stress instead of store it.



Step Two: Open Yourself Up To Support


You don’t have to prove you can do it all alone. In fact, that belief is part of what’s burning you out. Support isn’t weakness, it’s strategy. Build your team! When women join my programs, they’re often shocked at how much they exhale once they stop trying to fix everything themselves. The pressure lifts. They start to feel like themselves again. Not because life got easier, but because they finally had the right tools and the right kind of support.




Step Three: Choosing Yourself


You don’t have to destroy yourself to be excellent. So often, high achievers believe that success means sacrifice, the sacrifice of sleep, peace, relaxation, relationships, and sometimes even health. But that’s a lie. Excellence doesn’t require exhaustion. It doesn’t demand numbing out or pushing yourself to the edge until something breaks.


You can lead with intention and presence, not just endurance. You can create powerful work that moves the needle, without feeling like you’re running on empty. You can thrive, not just survive. And you can do all of that with clear eyes, seeing yourself and your life honestly, without the fog of stress or alcohol clouding your view. You can experience deep rest that truly replenishes you, not just a surface-level pause. You can hold your own boundaries and treat yourself with the self-respect you deserve. The kind of self-respect that doesn’t come from proving how much you can handle, but from knowing your worth independent of performance.


Burnout and alcohol don’t have to be your story forever. There is another way to live, and lead, that’s sustainable, joyful, and deeply satisfying. It starts with choosing yourself, even when it feels scary. And when you’re ready, you don’t have to figure it out alone. When I started doing this work myself—really embodying these steps—it wasn’t graceful. I had built a life around being the woman who could handle it. And shifting out of that pattern felt like losing control at first.


But once I stopped trying to outwork the discomfort and started learning how to be with it—everything changed. I began creating from a place of clarity, not chaos. My energy got cleaner. My relationships deepened. My work became more impactful because I wasn’t dragging myself through it anymore. I was building something from alignment, not survival. That’s the shift I want for you. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. And the first step? Is deciding you’re worth that kind of life.



Additional Resources



Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, the author may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol, consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox.


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