‘Worry Burnout’ Is Real

Even in a pandemic, our capacity for catastrophe has a limit. Here’s how to spot the signs

Nearly two years into a drudging, dragging pandemic, each crumb of news about the Omicron variant can feel like too much to process.

Burnout, the psychological term for an all-consuming exhaustion and detachment, floated around the popular lexicon in reference to work for years, but became even more of a buzzword as it seeped into all the corners of people’s lives during the pandemic.

“When you’re dealing with long and unending uncertainty and trauma, there’s only so much you can handle,” said Thea Gallagher, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at N.Y.U. Langone Health.