When Rest Isn’t Restful: The Paradox of High-Functioning Fatigue
You cleared your calendar. You took the trip. You finally logged off. And yet, you came back just as tired as you left—maybe even more so.
This isn’t laziness. It isn’t failure. It’s functional burnout.
Sometimes the body leaves the meeting, but the nervous system never gets the memo.
The Myth of the Quick Fix
In high-stakes careers, rest is often framed as a productivity hack. A strategy. A way to recharge and get back to doing more. But what if you don’t want to return to the same grind?
What if the system itself is what’s draining you?
For high-functioning professionals—surgeons, executives, litigators, therapists—burnout doesn’t always look like collapse. It looks like showing up every day, getting the work done, and quietly unraveling behind the scenes.
Signs You’re Experiencing High-Functioning Fatigue:
- You're technically "off," but your brain never powers down
- You feel guilty for not being productive—even while on vacation
- Your body is present, but you feel emotionally disconnected
- You're doing everything right, but nothing feels right
Rest Requires Safety
True rest isn’t just about time—it’s about safety. Psychological safety. Emotional safety. Nervous system safety. If your environment, your workplace, or your inner critic still feels dangerous, you won’t be able to fully exhale.
Rest that restores isn’t about doing less. It’s about feeling safe enough to stop bracing.
What Helps
Start with honesty. Ask yourself:
- Do I trust the space I'm returning to?
- Have I been performing strength instead of living it?
- What part of me hasn’t felt safe enough to rest?
Sometimes, the most courageous thing we can do is name that what we’ve been calling "rest" is really just a pause between rounds.
You deserve more than a pause. You deserve a path.
If this resonates with you—if you're still carrying exhaustion that rest alone hasn’t touched—
Dr. Jenny Shields
is a psychologist and healthcare ethicist who works with people navigating quiet forms of collapse—burnout, moral distress, and professional disillusionment. She helps high-functioning professionals name what they’re carrying, clarify what matters, and build lives they don’t have to perform their way through.
Her practice is private, values-driven, and intentionally built outside the systems that often contribute to harm. The work is grounded, evidence-based, and delivered with radical clarity and care. No gimmicks—just space to think, feel, and stay human in roles that don’t often allow it.
