Isaac Adewumi
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Work Burnout in Nigeria: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention
By Hustlebean | Reviewed by a Consultant Psychologist | May 2025
Nigeria’s economy rewards speed.
Targets change weekly, power supply wobbles, and an email stuck in your outbox can wipe out a month’s work. In that churn, Nigerian professionals especially in high-pressure roles like sales and marketing across multiple sectors from banking, healthcare, tech, education, to logistics have become the battering ram of growth and many are cracking under the pressure.
The evidence behind it is clear:
- According to this 2024 Gallup report, Nigeria ranks sixth on the continent for daily work stress, with 57 percent of adults saying they feel stressed every day. Globally, a Gallup study found that 76% of employees experience burnout at least sometimes, with 21% saying they feel burned out “very often or always.”
- A 2023 study published in the European Journal of Social Sciences found that occupational stress and psychological distress are significantly prevalent among Nigerian employees, especially in high-demand sectors like banking, healthcare, and marketing. The study emphasized that burnout is not only widespread but severely under-reported, partly due to stigma and partly due to the normalization of excessive workload in Nigerian work culture.
- The World Health Organization now labels burnout an “occupational phenomenon,” underscoring that unmanaged work stress is a public-health concern, not a personal failing.
In Nigeria, these high-pressure roles are often made worse by infrastructure gaps, volatile exchange rates, late client payments plus already-aggressive KPIs. This mismatch of heavy responsibility but limited control is a textbook driver of chronic stress, according to Oghenetega, a counselling psychologist.
“When you can’t control the obstacles but you’re still accountable for the numbers, the brain never powers down. Cognitive overload becomes the default setting,” she explains.
One of the biggest contributors to burnout in high-pressure roles especially in sales and marketing is the belief that success must be solo.
Drawing from Alfred Adler’s theory of individual psychology, Rachel explains that humans are wired for social cooperation. But in many high-pressure roles, collaboration is missing, and vulnerability is mistaken for weakness.
“When you suppress stress, anger, or fear for too long, cortisol levels rise and your body starts to break down emotionally and physically,” she says.
That’s why workplaces must prioritize collaborative structures and empathetic management. Weekly check-ins, mental health days, and feedback without fear are not luxuries, they’re psychological necessities.
Symptoms: Early warning signs of chronic stress and burnout
Burnout isn’t a single crash; it’s a slow dismantling of motivation, health, and identity. You need to watch out for:
- Persistent exhaustion – you wake up as tired as you went to bed.
- Emotional volatility – irritability, anger, or cynicism that spills onto colleagues, clients, or family.
- Reduced efficacy – simple tasks feel monumental; creativity stalls.
- Disengagement – widened gap between personal values and daily tasks, often felt as numbness.
- Physical red flags – headaches, chest tightness, gastrointestinal upset, or a racing heart without medical cause.
When left unchecked, these symptoms can progress to anxiety disorders, depression, or stress-related hypertension.
Treatment: Turning the tide before it breaks you
Burnout rarely resolves by “pushing harder.” Evidence-based interventions include:
- Professional support: brief cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective for work-related stress; many Nigerian HMOs now reimburse outpatient sessions.
- Medical assessment: chronic insomnia, palpitations, or digestive issues warrant a doctor’s exam to rule out or treat underlying conditions.
- Time-limited leave: even a seven-day digital detox lowers cortisol and restores perspective; plan coverage, set an out-of-office reply, and disconnect fully.
- Structured decompression – aerobic exercise, diaphragmatic breathing, or progressive muscle relaxation each reduce physiological arousal within minutes; aim for one daily practice.
- Peer support groups – sharing experiences normalises struggle and models coping strategies; if your company lacks an Employee Assistance Programme, external support networks of peers on WhatsApp and Telegram communities can fill the gap.
- Medication when necessary – short courses of sleep aids or anxiolytics, prescribed by a physician, can stabilise acute phases while longer-term strategies take effect.
The economic cost of doing nothing about burnout
Gallup estimates that lost productivity from disengaged or burned-out employees drains the global economy by $438 billion each year, almost 9 percent of the world’s GDP.
For Nigerian businesses that already run on thin margins, hidden costs show up as higher turnover, longer sales cycles, and missed innovations. Addressing mental health and managing work stress isn’t charity; it’s risk management.
The EJSS research confirms that organisations with no formal stress management policy experience significantly higher staff turnover and job dissatisfaction. Yet, only a minority of Nigerian workplaces currently have such frameworks in place.
Prevention: Building a buffer against future work-stress overload and burnout
Oghenetega's advice aligns with emerging WHO guidance on mental health at work.
For organisations:
- Redefine pressure: pair stretch targets with realistic resources and clear escalation paths when obstacles appear.
- Coach, don’t command: micromanagement erodes autonomy, the single biggest predictor of burnout. Weekly one-to-ones especially for managers should include “What do you need?” not just “Where are we?”
- Reward process, not just outcomes: celebrate the volume of qualified pitches, not only closed deals; process-based reinforcement keeps motivation steady when external factors tank results.
- Normalise mental-health days: a single day off to reset can prevent a month of disengagement.
For individuals:
- Daily micro-breaks: stand, stretch, or breathe deeply for two minutes every hour; small resets interrupt the cortisol circuit.
- Energy journaling: track tasks that drain or fuel you and batch similar tasks to protect peak cognitive hours.
- Boundary rituals – a post-work walk, prayer, or playlist signals the brain that the workday is closed.
- Social connection – team up on campaigns; humans regulate emotion better in groups, a core principle of Alfred Adler’s social-interest theory.
- Celebrate small wins – mentally note a draft email sent or a tough phone call completed; intrinsic rewards keep motivation resilient.
- Begin learning a new skill - platforms like Youtube, Jobmingle, Coursera can help.
When work becomes your identity and how to reclaim yourself
Professionals in leadership roles like founders and team leads are especially prone to “self-fusion,” where company metrics feel like personal worth. Oghenetega recommends a cognitive reframing: “Your company is a child you steward. It's bad report card is feedback, not a verdict on you.”
Schedule non-negotiable time blocks (family dinners, gym sessions, or faith gatherings) where work talk is off-limits. Research shows diversified identities (parent, runner, choir member) cushion the blow of any single role’s setbacks.
TLDR
Burnout isn’t a badge of honour; it’s a flashing red light.
In Nigeria’s intense work environment, professionals need more than stamina and grit. They need systemic support, early symptom recognition, and science-backed recovery tools.
If your spark is dimming, act now: speak to a professional, renegotiate your workload, and rebuild daily habits that recharge rather than drain you.
Thriving in a high-pressure market like Nigeria is possible but only if survival and staying healthy comes first.
