OPINION: 'It won't be grand' - Irish people risk these major health problems due to stress and burnout

The kids are screaming, the washing is piled high, there's no shopping in the house and your partner hasn't noticed you've been running on auto-pilot the last few weeks but you tell yourself..."it'll be grand".

In Ireland, the phrase "it'll be grand" is more like a mantra, a way to plaster over the cracks and hide our levels of stress or discomfort with a situation. It comfort us and reassures us that everything is going to be OK and things will get better, but sometimes it doesn't.

As a nation we are very capable of shrugging off the big problems in our lives and sweeping them under the carpet and just "get on with it". We pride ourselves in being strong and self-reliant, silently moving through life's daily struggles telling ourselves to "cop on" and that others have it so much worse than we do.

While the latter may be true in the grand scheme of things, that doesn't take away the effects that stress and burnout has on us as a whole and more importantly, in the long term.

Burnout seems to be the new buzz word when it comes to mental health, social media hits us with ads akin to "5 ways to prevent burnout" and "Careers and burnout - what can be done?", but what exactly is burnout, what does it look like and what are the effects?

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Are you experiencing burnout?

For a lot of us, burnout is probably something we associate with healthcare staff working 100 plus hours a week or full-time carers that have little to no supports, but in reality burnout can look like many things such as feeling detached from things you used to love or enjoy, sleeping more but never feeling rested or snapping at your child over something minor then feeling immense guilt after it and then secretly crying in the bathroom.

But unsurprisingly, stress and burnout doesn't just affect our mood but it can have drastic affects on our physical and physiological health.

Chronic stress can weaken the immune system, the digestion system and can be a huge contributor to heart problems. It also interferes with memory, concentration and emotional regulation, which is why you may feel your have brain fog or a sense of emotional numbness sometimes.

Over time, stress and burnout leads to anxiety, depression and other long-term mental health conditions.

Women in particular experience many physical symptoms without connecting them to stress including constant headaches, digestive issues, joint pain or persistent fatigue and these are often signs that the nervous system is reacting to the stress and thus should not be ignored.

According to recent Irish surveys, the top causes of stress include work pressures, financial concerns, health and family pressures.

A 2024 survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed financial stress was particularly high among young adults with 60% of respondents reported difficulty in making ends meet.

Family and caregiving duties also weighed heavily, especially on women in the 45-54 age bracket, who reported nearly twice the stress levels of men in the same group.

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There has been a lot of talk about self-care in recent years - whether that's going for a walk to clear your head, having a night away by yourself or with friends or just having a glass of wine at the end of the night - and while this is so important to give yourself that time to debrief the day, it's important to have a look at the areas of your life that is causing the most stress.

Maybe it's the balance of your work and personal life, maybe it's not getting enough support from your partner with the housework and the kids, maybe you struggle to say no to people and find yourself in situations you'd rather not be in or maybe you're just a naturally anxious person who has been dealing with some form of stress your entire life.

Whatever the cause, it's imperative to your health and mental wellbeing to recognise it and be aware of it in order to make subtle changes that will make your life that little bit easier.

While we pride ourselves on our strength and dignity of holding it all together, this age-old practice among the Irish could very well be our demise .

Strength is admitting that you're struggling, that you need a little extra help or you need to step away from something because your mental and physical health is suffering. 

Of course, there are general stresses in life that everyone inevitably has to deal with but it's how we deal with that stress is important. Ignoring the signs of symptoms of burnout when you're trying to hold it all together is not a long term solution as it will trickle into our daily routines that will affect our work, relationships with our family and friends and our relationship with ourselves and our own identity.

So what can you do and what actually helps?

Everyone is different, and one thing that might work for someone might be extremely stressful for someone else.

Health and wellness doesn't have to look like an expensive yoga retreat or a juice cleanse, it could simply be going for a long walk by yourself, having open and honest conversations with your partner or family about your needs (and not feeling guilty for it) or booking a GP appointment because you're just not feeling yourself.

In our defense, the Irish have gotten a lot better about being open about how we're feeling and in many cases, just having that conversation and saying "I just feel like crap lately" can open up a world of advice and possibilities on how to move passed it.

But other, times we need to dig a little deeper, let go of the shame and the stigma that surrounds it and be able to sincerely say "I'm not OK".