41. The One Where Burnout Becomes A Wake-Up Call

If you’ve ever wondered whether you're “just stressed” or actually burning out, this episode is for you. Dr. Sarah Vadeboncoeur sits down with one of her patients — a senior executive, life coach, and long-time civil servant — who opens up about her experience as a classic case of burnout. Together, they explore what burnout really looks like in high-achieving women, why it’s so hard to recognize in ourselves, and what it takes to recover when your identity is tied to productivity, perfectionism, and being the one who always holds everything together.

This honest, vulnerable conversation shines a light on the stigma that keeps women silent, the cultural conditioning that drives us to overwork, and the emotional and physical toll burnout takes long before we’re willing to name it.

What You’ll Learn

• What Burnout Actually Is: A clear breakdown of workplace burnout, its symptoms, and why high performers often miss the signs in themselves.
• The Stigma & Denial Trap: How a leader in workplace wellness overlooked her own burnout and the internal resistance many women feel when admitting they’re not okay.
• Identity, Productivity, & Self-Worth: Why so many women equate value with output, caregiving, and competence and how this mindset fuels burnout.
• Cultural Narratives That Shape Us: How generational beliefs like “work first, play later” or “rest is earned” quietly shape our adult choices.
• The Emotional & Physical Toll: The exhaustion, cynicism, irritability, and breaking points we ignore until our bodies call the shots.
• Deciding to Step Away: The fear of disappointing others, the grief of letting go of professional identity, and the courage required to take leave.
• Burnout Recovery, The Unexpected Work: Why the early weeks of rest can feel uncomfortable, why productivity habits are hard to break, and how recovery asks us to rebuild from the inside out.
• Redefining Rest & Worth: How our guest ultimately shifted her relationship with rest, reclaimed her joy, and made the bold decision to embrace early retirement.

Resources & Next Steps

• Maslach Burnout Inventory: A validated tool to help you assess your burnout level.

Dr. Sarah Vadeboncoeur is a Naturopathic Doctor, mom, and fatigue fixer who’s on a mission to help women fix their fatigue and get the health care they deserve. You can find her talking about all things fatigue on Instagram and learn more about her services at drsarahv.ca.

The Fatigue Fixer is produced by Story Studio Network.