Feeling exhausted is one thing. Feeling numb, disconnected, or like you’ve somehow lost yourself is another.

In this episode of The Real Deal Conversations, host Megan Deal sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Claire Plumbly, author of The Trauma of Burnout, to unpack what burnout actually is and why so many people don’t recognize it until they’re completely depleted.

Together, they explore how chronic stress impacts the nervous system, why burnout can look like anxiety, depression, or even brain fog, and how shame often keeps people stuck longer than necessary. Claire explains what’s happening in the brain and body during burnout, the stages most people miss, and the small, practical shifts that can begin restoring steadiness and energy again.

If you’ve ever wondered why you feel overwhelmed, irritable, detached, or simply not like yourself anymore, this conversation puts words to the experience and offers real hope for moving forward, and it starts with understanding what your body has been trying to tell you all along.

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