How to Know When Work Stress Has Become a Mental Health Problem

By Jemma Dennis | Psychotherapist | Wimpole Street, London | April 2026

Stress at work is almost universal. Deadlines, difficult colleagues, long hours, high expectations, most of us accept a certain level of pressure as simply part of professional life. And to a degree, that's normal. Some stress is manageable. Some of it can even be motivating.

But there is a line. And it's a line that is surprisingly easy to cross without noticing, particularly if you are the kind of person who is good at pushing through.

A significant number of my clients are professionals who came to therapy not because they thought they had a mental health problem, but because something felt off. They were exhausted in a way that sleep wasn't fixing. They were irritable with the people they loved. They were dreading Monday morning in a way that felt qualitatively different from ordinary tiredness. If any of that sounds familiar, this post is for you.

The difference between stress and something more serious

Ordinary work stress tends to be situational and temporary. A high-pressure project, a difficult period, a challenging few weeks, and then it passes. You recover. You feel like yourself again.

When stress becomes a mental health problem, the recovery stops happening. The feelings persist even when the immediate pressure has lifted. The exhaustion becomes chronic. The dread becomes constant. And increasingly, it starts to bleed into every other area of your life.

Signs that something more is going on

The following are signs that your work stress may have moved beyond what is manageable on its own:

•       You feel exhausted regardless of how much sleep you get

•       You find it hard to switch off, even on evenings, weekends, or holidays

•       You've lost pleasure in things you used to enjoy outside of work

•       You are more irritable, short-tempered, or emotionally reactive than usual

•       You feel a sense of dread, anxiety, or low mood that has become your default state

•       Your concentration and decision-making feel impaired

•       You have started to feel detached, numb, or like you are going through the motions

•       You're using alcohol, food, or other things to decompress in ways that are becoming habitual

•       Physical symptoms might show up as headaches, chest tightness, digestive problems, disrupted sleep and have become persistent

•       You have begun to question your own competence or worth in ways that feel disproportionate

None of these signs on their own necessarily indicates a clinical condition. But several of them together, persisting over weeks or months, is your mind and body telling you that something needs to change.

Why high achievers are often the last to seek help

There is a particular irony in the fact that the people most likely to be affected by chronic work stress, ambitious, driven, high-performing professionals, are often the least likely to seek support for it. The same qualities that make someone successful can make it very hard to admit that they are not coping.

I see this pattern regularly in my practice. Clients who have managed everything, held everything together, pushed through everything, and who arrive in therapy having realised, often with some shock, that they have been running on empty for far longer than they knew. Recognising that you need support is not a weakness.

In my experience, it takes considerably more self-awareness and courage than simply continuing to push through.

What therapy can offer

Therapy for work-related stress and burnout is not about making you more resilient so that you can tolerate more. It is about understanding why you got here, what the patterns are, what you have been carrying, and what needs to change, so that you can build a life that is genuinely sustainable rather than one that requires you to run on adrenaline and willpower.

For some clients, that process involves EMDR, which can be particularly effective when the stress has roots in earlier experiences or when the body is holding anxiety in a way that talking alone hasn't resolved. For others, it is a more exploratory, reflective process. For most, it is some combination of both.

A note on when to seek help

I would encourage you not to wait until you hit a wall. The most effective time to seek support is before things become a crisis, when you still have enough energy and clarity to engage meaningfully with the process of change.

If you have read this post and recognised yourself in it, please take that recognition seriously. It is not weakness. It is strength.

I work with professionals experiencing work-related stress, burnout and anxiety from my practice on Wimpole Street in central London, and online via zoom to clients globally. If you'd like to have an initial conversation about whether therapy might help, please get in touch. There is no obligation, and everything is completely confidential. You can get in touch with me through my website www.jemmadennis.com or by emailing me at jemma@jemmadennis.com

All the best,

Jemma