The biology of burnout
A healthy stress response: the HPA axis activates, cortisol rises, you handle the stressor, cortisol falls back, parasympathetic recovery rebuilds capacity. The burnout pattern: cortisol stays elevated for months, never fully comes down, the receptors for it become desensitized, energy collapses. The system is still trying to deliver — it just no longer can. The intervention is not "more rest." The intervention is structured parasympathetic activation that the body recognizes as recovery.
