In conversation with Editor Ankur Sharma, The News Strike, Kareena Mehta, Founder of Kare Counselling, said the growing prevalence of stress, anxiety, and burnout is being driven by constant pressure to keep up with work, relationships, personal goals, and digital expectations, leaving many people in a prolonged state of emotional overload. Marking National Doctors' Day, Mehta explained that when chronic stress goes unaddressed, it can trigger the body's fight, flight, or freeze response, leading to anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and burnout. She urged people not to ignore persistent sadness, excessive worry, irritability, changes in sleep or appetite, social withdrawal, or overworking as coping mechanisms, emphasizing that seeking professional support before reaching a crisis can significantly improve mental well-being.
1. Stress, anxiety, and burnout have become increasingly common across age groups and professions. What do you see as the biggest drivers of emotional overload today?
One of the biggest reasons so many of us experience emotional overload today is the constant pressure to keep up—whether with work, relationships, emotions, goals, or academics. We are expected to manage everything at once, while the boundaries between work, home, and personal life have become increasingly blurred.
The rise of the digital age has further intensified this pressure. Social media fuels comparison, performance anxiety, and self-doubt, while uncertainty around careers, life goals, relationships, and identity adds to the emotional burden across age groups. People are often juggling multiple roles and responsibilities without giving themselves the time or space to process their emotions.
When this continues over time, the nervous system can remain in a heightened state of alertness, triggering the fight, flight, or freeze response—the body's automatic survival mechanism when it perceives a threat. This can eventually manifest as anxiety, mood swings, frustration, emotional exhaustion, and burnout.
2. Many people struggle to identify when everyday stress has crossed into a mental health concern that needs professional support. What warning signs should they not ignore?
Stress becomes a concern when it begins to interfere with everyday functioning—how you sleep, eat, work, concentrate, and feel about yourself.
Some early warning signs include persistent sadness, frequent crying, recurring panic-like feelings, excessive worry, emotional numbness, losing interest in activities you once enjoyed, or feeling overwhelmed by even small tasks. It's also important to pay attention to noticeable changes in sleep, appetite, mood, energy levels, concentration, and motivation.
Irritability is often an early indicator, as are social withdrawal, feelings of disconnection, and turning to substances as a coping mechanism. Another common but overlooked response is overworking to distract oneself from underlying emotional distress.
Many people appear to be functioning well externally while struggling internally. It's important to remember that you don't have to reach a crisis point before seeking help. Therapy can be especially effective when distress becomes recurring, you feel stuck in unhealthy patterns, or your usual coping strategies are no longer helping.
3. Workplace mental health is now a major conversation area, but many organisations still treat it as a surface-level initiative. What does meaningful mental health support at work actually look like?
Since people spend a significant part of their lives at work, mental health support needs to go far beyond occasional wellness talks or workshops. The foundation is an organizational culture where employees feel psychologically safe to speak up, set boundaries, ask for help, and make mistakes without fear of judgment.
Meaningful support includes manageable workloads, healthy communication practices, clearly defined roles, access to mental health services, well-trained managers, and policies that genuinely encourage rest and recovery. A workplace that rewards burnout cannot simultaneously promote well-being.
Leadership plays a crucial role because employees take cues from how leaders model healthy boundaries, provide feedback, and demonstrate openness. Effective workplace mental health also includes regular check-ins, crisis response protocols, strong anti-harassment policies, and sensitivity to diverse identities and backgrounds.
Ultimately, workplace mental health is not just about reducing stress—it's about creating an environment where people can perform well, build meaningful connections, and grow professionally without compromising their well-being.
4. Relationship strain, low self-esteem, and emotional fatigue often overlap. How do these issues reinforce one another, and what are the first steps toward building healthier coping mechanisms?
As therapists, we often see relationship strain, low self-esteem, and emotional fatigue forming a self-reinforcing cycle.
When people feel emotionally exhausted, they may withdraw, become reactive, overthink situations, or struggle to communicate effectively. These behaviours can create greater conflict and emotional distance in relationships. At the same time, relationship difficulties can reinforce negative beliefs such as, "Maybe I'm too much," "I'm not enough," or "I always ruin things."
These beliefs further lower self-esteem, making it harder to set boundaries, ask for reassurance, or communicate personal needs clearly.
The first step toward breaking this cycle is recognizing these patterns without self-blame. People can begin by identifying emotional triggers, expressing their needs openly, and having honest conversations instead of allowing emotions to build over time.
Helpful coping strategies include adequate rest, grounding techniques, breathing exercises, journaling, self-care practices, therapy, and learning to separate your self-worth from someone else's reactions or mood. Self-awareness and healthy communication are often the most important foundations for healing.
5. As conversations around therapy become more open, what misconceptions about counselling and emotional well-being still prevent people from seeking help at the right time?
One of the most common misconceptions is that therapy is only for people experiencing severe mental illness or major life crises. In reality, therapy is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to better understand themselves, regulate emotions, improve relationships, process difficult experiences, or develop healthier coping mechanisms.
Another widespread myth is that seeking professional help is a sign of weakness or an inability to manage life independently. In fact, reaching out for support reflects self-awareness, courage, and a willingness to grow.
In many families and communities, people are encouraged to "stay positive," "be strong," or suppress difficult emotions. While often well-intentioned, these messages can unintentionally invalidate genuine emotional pain and discourage people from seeking help.
Many individuals also worry about being judged, labelled, or misunderstood by a therapist. Others expect therapy to provide immediate solutions. However, therapy is a gradual process that involves reflection, insight, and meaningful change over time.
Mental well-being isn't about never experiencing struggle—it's about learning how to understand, regulate, and respond to life's challenges with greater honesty, self-awareness, and compassion.
