Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Emily Nagoski, a sex educator and author of Come As You Are, teamed up with her twin sister Amelia, a choral conductor, after Amelia twice landed in the hospital from stress. The book separates the cause of stress, the stressor, from the stress itself, the physiological response in the body, and argues that closing the loop on the response is what actually moves the needle. The sisters lay out seven evidence-backed practices, from movement and breathing to creative expression and physical affection. They also examine the cultural forces that hit women harder, what they call the Human Giver Syndrome. The chapters end with checklists and questions for self-assessment.
What you might want to know about Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The Nagoski sisters explain why women in particular get stuck in the stress response and offer concrete tools for completing the stress cycle.
Yes. Brown endorsed the book and hosted the Nagoski sisters on Unlocking Us to walk through completing the stress cycle.
The framing is centered on women, but the underlying physiology and practices apply to anyone.
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle was written by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski, published in 2019 by Ballantine Books.
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle is 304 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.