“How AI helped me recover from burnout”

Recovery cannot be planned

As a doctor and medical advisor, I worked in healthcare with dedication for many years. After a period of exhaustion and overload, I ended up with burnout, and then I went through the standard recovery process: intake, rebuilding, evaluation. Like so many others, I embarked on a carefully designed reintegration path—intended as a safety net, but not always tailored to the unpredictability of real recovery.

My energy levels fluctuated, insights came at unpredictable moments, and what I could give on any given day rarely matched the predetermined pace of the recovery program. My counselors often understood this, but the system they work in is not built for variation.

That's precisely where technology started to become meaningful to me: an unexpected ally that moves at the rhythm of recovery.

Technology in the space between

On the recommendation of my sister — herself a manager accustomed to juggling many balls at once — I began using AI tools such as Notion AI.

It started very simply: getting things down on paper again. Capturing my thoughts as they arose, organizing and structuring them. AI helped me formulate small goals — not big, not far ahead, but achievable and tailored to my energy at that moment, like hanging up the laundry or preparing for an online treatment. Tasks that had previously overwhelmed me were presented clearly with the help of visual schedules and icons. That gave me breathing space. It helped me make choices without exhausting deliberation.

Where guidance is often organized in blocks — with weeks between appointments — technology opens up an intermediate space. While the system takes cumbersome steps, people in recovery make small, meaningful movements in that space: reflecting, organizing, and building. Professional guidance focuses on small steps, but between sessions, a lot is up to the individual. This is precisely when technology can help to maintain moments of recovery, identify signs of relapse, and reinforce effective patterns before they fade away.

Consider, for example, the reflective AI mentioned earlier, such as Notion AI, which can be used to structure diary entries, plans, or goals. AI can answer questions such as:

• “What were the recurring themes in my notes this week?”
• “How can I formulate my goal for next week in a more achievable way?”

Speech recognition tools such as Whisper, or an assistant like ChatGPT, also help to record thoughts, identify a relapse, or outline the next step. Especially when I felt overwhelmed, it helped to say my thoughts out loud and see them structured on paper. That cleared my head, gave me some perspective, and slowly restored my sense of control and confidence.

These tools not only help with reflection but also make recovery tangible, step by step. They provide clarity without pressure. They adapt to the pace of the person recovering, not the rhythm of the system.

Burnout is no exception

My experience is not unique: the way I used AI can also be valuable to others, as a supplement to existing support.

According to the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), one in five workers in the Netherlands suffers from burnout symptoms — that's around 1.6 million people and 11 million days of absenteeism per year. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) also confirms this trend, noting that 20% of workers between the ages of 15 and 74 experience burnout symptoms. The social and personal impact is significant.

Yet most reintegration programs are designed with linear recovery as the starting point: start, build up, finish. But those who become mentally exhausted often recover cyclically with peaks, troughs, stagnation, and sudden clarity. The current system is not designed for this. And those who do not fit into the system risk losing twice: their job and their sense of purpose.

These figures give reason to explore further and apply technology—and AI in particular—in this area, not as a stand-alone innovation, but as a supplement to existing recovery structures.

Recovery is not a return to the past

AI is not a psychologist or a therapist. Nor is it a case manager or a reintegration coach. But it can contribute to a recovery process that is not strictly measured. Not as a technological band-aid, but as a reinforcement of a person's own rhythm, focus, and thinking space.

And that is important.

Because if you can contribute to society again—even if it is part-time or in a different place than before—this must happen in a way that matches your abilities. And where your heart lies. In work that feels right, from the inside out.

That feeling of value is not optional. It is essential for proper recovery.

Time for recovery-oriented innovation

Technology is often used to work faster, more efficiently, and with greater measurability.

I call on developers to optimize AI tools not only for speed and profit, but also for gentleness, nuance, and restorative power. And I hope that employers and healthcare professionals dare to listen to what is going on between appointments.

To the people in recovery. They are the core.

Those who use AI solely for efficiency miss the opportunity for human depth. It is time for technology that moves with the unpredictability of real life.

*Responsible use of AI in recovery processes requires careful integration — in compliance with laws and regulations (such as the GDPR, NEN 7510, KNMG) and with an eye for ethics, human involvement, and the conditions for good care.*