Beyond the Office

When people hear "burnout," they think of work. But burnout can develop anywhere you give more than you receive for a long stretch — and relationships are one of the most common yet least recognized places it happens.

Relationship burnout follows the same pattern as the work kind: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and a shrinking sense of accomplishment. You feel drained by your partner. You turn irritable and detached.

The difference is that it is harder to escape. You can quit a job. You cannot as easily quit a marriage, a family, or a friendship. That is what makes relationship burnout feel so trapped, and often more devastating than its workplace cousin.