Anxious, Tired, and Burned Out? Here’s Why Your Nervous System Might Be in Survival Mode
- Meghan Farina
- Aug 7
- 4 min read
If you’re always tired but wired, running on fumes but can’t slow down, or living with a constant undercurrent of dread or overwhelm, it might not just be anxiety.
It might be your nervous system stuck in survival mode.
In my work as a trauma-informed therapist, I see this all the time: high-functioning adults who are anxious, exhausted, and burned out. Many of us, especially those who have experienced trauma, chronic stress, and anxiety, end up stuck in a dysregulated nervous system. Let’s talk about what’s really going on beneath the surface.
Your Nervous System 101: The Basics
Your nervous system is your body’s internal alarm and regulation system. It controls how you respond to stress, danger, safety, and rest. There are two main gears:
• Sympathetic (fight/flight) – This is your “on” switch. Heart rate goes up. Muscles tense. You’re alert and ready to act.
• Parasympathetic (rest/digest) – This is your “off” switch. It helps you recover, sleep, digest, and restore energy.
In a healthy system, we move between both gears fluidly depending on what’s needed.
But when you’ve lived with chronic stress, anxiety, trauma, or burnout? That natural rhythm gets disrupted.
What is Survival Mode?
Survival mode refers to a physical and mental state that your body enters when it perceives a threat, real or imagined. In survival mode, the body shifts into high alert. It’s not just a stress response. It’s your body staying stuck in a stress response long after the moment has passed.
Maybe your childhood was chaotic, unpredictable, or emotionally unsafe.
Maybe you’ve spent years in high-pressure environments, navigating toxic relationships, perfectionism, or people-pleasing just to stay afloat.
Maybe you don’t even remember the last time your body felt safe to rest.
When your nervous system stays in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode for too long, you stop functioning from a place of connection and start surviving out of habit.
Signs of Survival Mode
When your system learns to anticipate danger (real or perceived), it gets stuck in overdrive.
Here’s what survival mode can look like:
• Constant fatigue but can’t relax
• Racing thoughts and overthinking
• Sensitivity to noise, light, or touch
• Feeling numb, disconnected, or “shut down”
• Trouble sleepin (even when you’re exhausted)
• Hyperindependence or control-seeking
• Emotional overwhelm or reactivity
• Digestive issues or chronic tension
Sound familiar? This isn’t just “stress.” It’s your body trying to protect you, even when the threat is long gone.
The Anxiety Burnout Loop
Burnout isn’t just being tired. It’s a state of complete nervous system depletion.
Especially for caregivers, therapists, helpers, perfectionists, and trauma survivors—it’s often the result of being in survival mode for too long without enough rest, safety, or support.
If your nervous system never feels safe enough to downshift, burnout is inevitable.
What Healing Looks Like
Healing from survival mode is a gradual journey that includes both physical and emotional recovery. It may involve:
Rest and Recovery: Giving priority to sleep and downtime is essential for restoring energy levels.
Mindfulness Practices: Engaging in meditation, yoga, or deep breathing can help calm the nervous system.
Build Body Awareness: Notice physical symptoms and tension in the body.
Therapeutic Support: Seeking professional help from a therapist or counselor can offer valuable tools for managing stress and anxiety.
Healthy Lifestyle Choices: Regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and hydration can significantly enhance overall well-being. Stretching, walking, dancing, shaking out your arms—anything that gets your body moving helps discharge survival stress.
Connect with Nature: Spending time outdoors can ground you and significantly lower anxiety levels. A study found that even a 15-minute walk in nature can lead to a noticeable decrease in stress.
By incorporating these strategies, individuals can shift from survival mode to a more balanced state of being.
Getting out of survival mode isn’t about “relaxing more” or doing more breathwork.
It’s about retraining your nervous system to feel safe again.
In therapy, we work together to:
• Understand your survival responses without shame
• Build nervous system regulation and emotional safety
• Unlearn overfunctioning, perfectionism, and chronic guilt
• Reconnect to your needs, identity, and boundaries
• Learn tools to calm anxiety and support nervous system healing
This work is slow, layered, and powerful. It’s not about fixing you. It’s about helping you come back home to yourself.
Ready to Get Out of Survival Mode?
You don’t have to keep white-knuckling through life.
You’re allowed to feel peace in your body.
You’re allowed to rest.
You’re allowed to heal.
At Inner Light Counseling & Wellness, I offer therapy for sensitive, high-achieving, neurodivergent, and trauma-impacted adults who are ready to move out of survival mode and into a life that actually feels like theirs.
In-person sessions every Wednesday in Upper St. Clair
Telehealth available across Pennsylvania
Book a session: Grow Therapy
Visit: innerlightcounselingpa.com
Let’s do the deep work in a space that feels safe, grounded, and real.
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