Burnout
What it is, how it impacts musicians, and what to do about it: a brief overview
Feel free to start where you need
What is Burnout?
Have you ever felt a consistent disdain for practicing? Have you ever felt distanced or detached from your work and art? What about prolonged exhaustion or fatigue that has bled into your personal life? If yes to any of these, you may have experienced musician burnout.
It’s no secret that being a musician, especially professionally, can be demanding of your time, energy, and resources. Chronic stress and lack of proper resources can lead to fatigue, exhaustion, and eventually burnout.
Burnout is undoubtedly one of the most popular workplace conversation topics, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Unofficially, burnout is sometimes viewed as an "epidemic" and officially was categorized as an “occupational phenomenon” by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019. It is a result of chronically mismanaged stress and allocation of resources that results in feelings of apathy, distance, and exhaustion.
This article will explore what burnout is, how it impacts musicians, and what to do about it.
Definitions and Usage
Burnout: a psychological state existing as a prolonged response to chronic stress
Characterized by:
overwhelming exhaustion
feelings of cynicism, apathy, or detachment [from one’s work, most often], also referred to as depersonalization
a feeling of lacking personal accomplishment or sense of ineffectiveness
Contact Overload: An type of sensory overload that occurs when one is in constant contact with others in order to do their job or live their life.
Mindfulness: Awareness of one’s internal states or surroundings; learning to observe one’s thoughts, emotions, and other present-moment experiences without judgement or reaction
Burnout in Musicians
It is interesting to note that while a lot of research has been done showing the correlation between music and increased well-being (see here or here for some interesting reads), research done on musicians has consistently shown that mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression are common among professional musicians. This may be due to the need for consistent creative output (which requires time and energy) and the unpredictable nature of the performance industry as seen in the irregular schedules, job insecurity, and social isolation that accompanies professional performing. Prolonged stressors, such as these, may lead to burnout in musicians.
“Career burnout” is a commonly studied sect of burnout and encompasses general career-related strategies and consequences. Dive a little bit deeper into the research and you’ll find that research on burnout in specific careers also exists with top results including nursing, educators, and mental health professionals. The same goes for musicians, although the research is less plentiful and slower to emerge (following the general slow trend of musician wellness research).
Musician burnout research has interestingly revolved around student (especially undergraduate) musicians, music teachers, and music therapists. Within each of these categories, however, the trends are the same. Musicians are experiencing high levels of burnout due to the intense nature of the work.
For musicians, specific factors that may contribute to burnout include:
Struggles with time management
Performance pressure and anxiety
Isolation while practicing.
Music educators may struggle to feel a sense of accomplishment if:
Their students are not learning or enjoying music effectively
Their work loads are too heavy
They do not feel like they are allowed work/life boundaries.
Additionally, performers, educators, and music therapists may also experience contact overload which occurs when one is in constant contact with others in order to do their job.
The three characteristics of burnout (overwhelming emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of lacking personal accomplishment) can be seen in specific situations for musicians. Here are some examples of what burnout in musicians may look like:
Inability to concentrate or remember during practice or performance → extreme exhaustion
Feeling disconnected from your instrument, the music, and colleagues; going through the motions no longer feels real → depersonalization
Apathy towards practice due to feelings of slow progress or frustration → lack of personal accomplishment
What Can We Do About It?
It’s important to focus on how to incorporate burnout prevention strategies into a routine, rather than focusing on coping strategies once burnout occurs.
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Learning about burnout, how it is often characterized, how it may manifest in your own life, and what causes it are all crucial components to coming up with a burnout prevention strategy instead of a burnout recovery strategy. Reading literature is a good stepping point to understanding burnout. Additionally, since music-making often requires interaction with others, educating yourself and then educating the people you interact with, helps take steps towards creating an environment where healthy actions and work-life relationships are encouraged (healthy musicianship). The likelihood that professional music environments will focus on musician wellness and satisfaction increases as more musicians learn about the risks of burnout.
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The number one way to prevent or recover from burnout is to rest. Rest allows your body and mind to “catch up” and to recover from the work being done constantly. Whether the work is practicing for multiple hours a day (physical rest would especially be needed here) or teaching several lessons in a row (mental rest would be needed), our bodies and brains are always engaged in some way. So, by resting, we give our bodies a chance to repair muscles, regain strength, calm down, etc. and we give our brains a chance to process information and emotions. Resting also helps reduce levels of exhaustion and may help lower the frequency of depersonalization by allowing one to be more mentally present and aware of their surroundings.
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Since burnout is often recognized as a result of workplace stressors or obligations, one way to help prevent the development of burnout is by incorporating hobbies and non-work activities into a daily routine. Hobbies provide an outlet for creativity or expression of interests outside of professional obligations providing a chance for mental and emotional rest (reducing the risk of exhaustion) as well as creating opportunities to feel personal accomplishment. Engaging in hobbies has shown to reduce stress and promote general life satisfaction.
Additional Reading and Material
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“We musicians are what we do and burnout is a threat to our identity.”
—Natalie Dattilo-RyanDon’t Feel Like Reading?
Reading to learn is not for everyone and, if you are experiencing burnout or the onset of burnout, it may be difficult to put the effort and energy into reading this article. Instead, here is a short video that goes over the topics discussed in this article.
References
Cleary, M., Le Lagadec, D., Thapa, D. K., & Kornhaber, R. (2025). Exploring the Impact of Hobbies on Mental Health and Well-Being: A Scoping Review. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 46(8), 804–814. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2025.2512006Khammissa, R. A. G., Nemutandani, S., Feller, G., Lemmer, J., & Feller, L. (2022). Burnout phenomenon: Neurophysiological factors, clinical features, and aspects of management. Journal of International Medical Research, 50(9), 03000605221106428. https://doi.org/10.1177/03000605221106428Orzel, H. (2010). Undergraduate Music Student Stress and Burnout [Master of Arts, San José State Universtiy]. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/undergraduate-music-student-stress-burnout/docview/848932801/se-2?accountid=7118Teasley ML, Buchanan EM. When Music Goes Up in Flames: The Impact of Advising on Music Major Burnout. NACADA Journal. 2016 May;36(1):43–53. doi:10.12930/NACADA-15-002
Welch, G. F., Biasutti, M., MacRitchie, J., McPherson, G. E., & Himonides, E. (2020). Editorial: The impact of music on human development and well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1246. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01246
Wristen, B. (2023). An exploratory study of relationships between job perceptions and university music faculty burnout. College Music Symposium, 63(2). https://doi.org/10.18177/sym.2023.63.sr.11612
Viola, E., Martorana, M., Airoldi, C., Meini, C., Ceriotti, D., De Vito, M., De Ambrosi, D., & Faggiano, F. (2023). The role of music in promoting health and wellbeing: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Public Health, 33(4), 738–745. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckad063