A summer holiday will not cure burnout if someone no longer knows how to switch off safely, a leading addiction expert has warned.
Chris Lomas, Head of Therapy at pioneering addiction treatment and behavioural health provider Delamere, says holidays can offer breathing space, but will not resolve the deeper pattern if someone is using alcohol, drugs or compulsive behaviours to regulate pressure.
He says burnout can become a gateway to addiction when people in intense, high-pressured working environments start relying on substances or behaviours as a fast “off switch”.
People under sustained stress can become stuck in hyperarousal, where the body is constantly primed and pressured, making quick relief feel more attractive.
Chris said: “A summer holiday can give people breathing space. But it is not a long-term answer to burnout.
“If someone is using alcohol, drugs or compulsive behaviours to come down from pressure, a couple of weeks away is unlikely to change that on its own.
“People are trying to change their state. They are trying to move away from pressure, anxiety, shame, sadness, boredom or emotional overwhelm.
“When someone is stuck in hyperarousal, the brain starts prioritising fast choices over careful ones.
“That is why alcohol, drugs or compulsive behaviours can become so attractive. They offer a rapid change in feeling.
“The danger comes when that off switch becomes the main way a person knows how to regulate.”
Chris says burnout is often misunderstood as simple exhaustion, when it can also be a sign that the body is struggling to regulate.
He said: “Burnout is often talked about as exhaustion. But in addiction treatment we often see something more complex.
“For some people, sustained stress does not just leave them tired. It leaves them unable to switch off.
“The body becomes primed, pressured and unable to properly come down. We all need ways to release that pressure. In simple terms, we need to ‘bleed the radiator’.
“The question is whether we are doing that through healthy daily practice, or whether we are relying on alcohol, drugs or compulsive behaviours to do it for us.
“At first, that can look like stress relief. Over time, it can become reliance.”
Chris says the warning is particularly relevant for high-functioning professionals who may appear outwardly successful while privately becoming dependent on a substance or behaviour to manage pressure, anxiety or emotional overload.
Delamere’s treatment model combines clinical care, therapeutic expertise, holistic practice and long-term aftercare in an environment purpose-built for recovery.
Its approach is built around understanding the person behind the addiction, including the role of stress, trauma, loss, work, identity and emotional regulation.
Chris said: “At Delamere, we try to understand what is driving the addiction, not just the substance or behaviour itself.
“Is it helping someone regulate pressure? Numb trauma? Manage loss? Escape perfectionism? Cope with identity, expectation or emotional pain?
“That is why treatment cannot be one-size-fits-all. Addiction needs to be understood in context. Support also needs to be applied at the right time.”
Seven warning signs burnout may be tipping into dependency
1. You need something to switch off
A drink, substance or behaviour becomes the only reliable way to feel calm, numb or separate from work and pressure.
2. Rest feels impossible without it
Relaxing, sleeping or sitting still becomes difficult unless alcohol, drugs, gambling, scrolling, sex, food or another behaviour helps you come down.
3. You need more to get the same effect
What began as occasional relief starts to increase in frequency, quantity or intensity.
4. You start hiding or minimising it
You underplay how much you are drinking, using, spending, working or engaging in a behaviour because part of you knows the pattern has changed.
5. You make rules, then break them
You promise yourself you will not drink in the week, use alone, gamble again or stay online late, but repeatedly return to the behaviour.
6. You feel anxious, irritable or restless without it
The absence of the coping mechanism creates discomfort, tension or unease.
7. You are functioning publicly, but struggling privately
Work, family and responsibilities may still appear intact, but privately the behaviour is becoming harder to control.
Chris added: “High-functioning is often a misleading phrase. Functioning does not mean well.
“Someone can still be working, parenting, answering emails and meeting responsibilities while privately feeling increasingly dependent on something to get through the day, recover from the day or escape the day.
“The warning sign is not simply using something to cope. It is when coping becomes reliance.”
Chris says the message is not that every stressed professional is at risk of addiction. It is that daily resilience practices matter.
He says healthier ways to release pressure may include movement, sleep routines, connection, properly timed breathwork, therapy, time outdoors, boundaries around work and honest conversations about stress before coping behaviours become hidden or compulsive.
Chris said: “The aim is not to shame people for trying to cope. It is to help them notice when the way they cope is starting to cost them.
“If the only way you can come down from the day is through a substance or behaviour that is becoming harder to control, that is worth taking seriously.
“Resilience is built in the daily practices that help us regulate, not just in the moments when everything has already become too much.
“Burnout does not cause addiction in everyone. But for some people, sustained pressure can create the conditions where alcohol, drugs or compulsive behaviours become the fastest way to switch off.
“If someone recognises that pattern in themselves or someone they love, it is worth taking seriously. Not with judgement, but with honesty, compassion and the right support.”
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