Why You Have A Stressful Vacation: Before, During and After

You plan the trip.
You book the flight.
You count down the days, expecting relaxation — but instead you feel anxious, on edge, and even more exhausted.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed or dysregulated before, during, or after vacation, you’re not alone. For many high achievers, busy parents, young professionals and helping professionals, especially those navigating burnout or trauma, time off can trigger as much stress as it’s meant to relieve.

Why It’s Hard to Slow Down — Even on Vacation

For high-performers, the ability to “unplug and power down” can feel nearly impossible. This sense might indicate you may be carrying more than just a heavy workload — you might also be carrying nervous system patterns shaped by chronic stress, burnout, or trauma.

Instead of relaxing, your brain and body may interpret stillness as unsafe. That’s not laziness or weakness — it’s your nervous system doing its job to protect you!

What’s Really Behind Vacation Stress?

1. Pre-Vacation Anxiety: Control and Preparation Overdrive

As your vacation nears, your to-do list doubles. You work harder just to leave work — and it’s rarely complete. For professionals whose identity is tied to productivity, stepping away from responsibility can feel like a threat to control, value, or safety.

Related pattern: Trauma and control anxiety
When trauma has taught you that control = safety, vacations feel like letting your guard down — which your body resists.

2. Mid-Vacation Restlessness: The Nervous System Can’t “Drop In”

You’re away, but your mind is still racing. You check emails, scroll compulsively, or feel guilty for not doing something “useful.” This is your nervous system failing to perceive and register your present surroundings. This is not a personality flaw. Your brain, entrenched in the “Do-er mode” is searching for something to attend to, fix or work on.

“When the nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight mode, rest feels unfamiliar and unsafe.”
— Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score

Related pattern: Nervous system over working
Without tools to regulate and deactivate your stress response, your brain won’t allow deep rest — even in paradise.

3. Post-Vacation Dread: Return Feels Like Whiplash

As the end of your vacation nears, you may feel a wave of anxiety, irritability, or even relief as you return to work.

The work stress you put on hold rushes back in — sometimes harder than before. But it’s a discomfort you’re more comfortable with, so you’ll take it.

Related pattern: High achievers burnout
Constant productivity can create emotional whiplash when shifting between “off” and “on.” You’re not avoiding responsibility — you’re bracing for impact, sometimes trading one discomfort for a better known one.

Why Burnout Doesn’t Disappear with Time Off

Burnout isn’t fixed by rest alone. It’s a deeper issue rooted in chronic over-functioning, emotional suppression, and a nervous system that doesn’t feel safe to just be.

Therapy — not just time off — is what helps you:

• Understand your body’s response to rest and pressure

• Rebuild trust with stillness and joy

• Break the pattern of earning rest through exhaustion

• Create sustainable rhythms for life and work

Therapy in Pittsburgh for Professionals, Busy Parents and High Achievers

If this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing what I call "high-functioning burnout" — where things still look “fine,” but inside feel far from it.

I specialize in helping professionals, caregivers, and high-achievers learn how to slow down safely, reconnect to themselves, and recover from survival-mode living. Allowing them to thrive with their potential rather than just “making it work” in survival-mode.

Whether you’re working through anxiety, trauma, or burnout, therapy can give you the space and tools to regulate your nervous system, set boundaries, and feel like a whole person again — not just someone going through the motions.

You Deserve More Than Just a Break

If your time off leaves you feeling more tired, anxious, or emotionally flat, you’re not failing — your nervous system is just asking for support.

Book an intake session to explore how therapy can help you actually rest, recharge, and feel like yourself again.