For the People Who Love Someone Who Is Burnt Out
06 of 07The best support often looks like taking something off their plate.
What can help
- Take something practical off their plate: cook dinner, do the school pickup, handle a phone call or errand.
- Notice without judging: “You seem really exhausted lately. How are you going?”
- Listen, without jumping straight to solutions.
- Encourage rest, and make it easier for them to take it.
- Be patient with irritability or withdrawal. It’s often exhaustion talking.
What to avoid
- Adding a long list of wellbeing tasks to their already full plate.
- “You just need a holiday.”
- “You’re doing this to yourself.”
- Making them feel guilty for not having more to give right now.
