When stress at work keeps building, knowing what do to is not always obvious

Trapped in Overwhelm helps you understand why work has gradually become more difficult to manage and discover practical ways to respond that fit your own situation.

In this book, you'll discover how to:

  • Understand why stress and overwhelm can gradually take hold. 

  • Recognise why different situations call for different responses. 

  • Find practical ways to respond to workplace stress and support recovery in everyday life. 

Get instant access (€11)See what’s inside
Recognise the pattern

Recognise the pattern

See how stress and overwhelm gradually develop over time.

Understand what changed

Understand what changed

Discover where meaningful change is most likely to begin.

Response with confidence

Respond with confidence

Choose practical responses that fit your own situation.

Why doesn't the same stress advice work for everyone?

Understanding why stress develops makes meaningful responses easier to recognise

When stress at work becomes difficult to manage, people often turn to familiar solutions.

More rest. Better planning. Exercise. Mindfulness. Clearer boundaries.

Each of these approaches can be helpful.

The real question is whether they address what is actually driving the stress and overwhelm in the first place.

Placing increasingly high demands on yourself? Taking on more responsibility than you can sustain? Working in an environment where support or clarity is gradually disappearing?

The experiences may look similar.

The reasons behind them often are not.

That is why Trapped in Overwhelm begins by helping you understand what is happening before deciding what to do next.

Explore Trapped in Overwhelm (€11)
Trapped in overwhelm problem

Understanding workplace stress in a different way

Understanding how workplace stress develops changes what you do next

Most people begin by asking a simple question.

What can I do?

It is a natural place to start.

Trapped in Overwhelm begins one step earlier.

How did I gradually get here?

That small change in perspective changes the questions you ask as well as the decisions that follow.

As you read, you'll gradually learn to look beyond the symptoms of stress and overwhelm and recognise the patterns that shape them.

That new perspective helps you identify where meaningful change is most likely to begin, making it easier to choose practical responses that fit your own situation.

By the end of the book, you'll have a practical way of looking at workplace stress that helps replace:

  • confusion with direction; 

  • overwhelm with clarity; 

  • guesswork with meaningful action. 

Trapped in overwhelm different perspective on stress

Bob's journey from pressure to overwhelm

See how small changes can gradually build into overwhelm

Bob enjoys his work and takes pride in doing it well.

As work gradually becomes more demanding, he does what most of us would do.

He adapts.

At first, nothing feels seriously wrong.

Months later, Bob finds himself increasingly overwhelmed and can't explain how work reached this point.

His story brings the book's approach to reducing stress and overwhelm to life, showing how workplace stress can gradually develop over time.

It also prepares you to recognise the many different pathways through which overwhelm can emerge, and where meaningful change is most likely to begin.

Trapped in overwhelm Bobs journey

There is more than one pathway into overwhelm

Different stories. Different pathways. One practical framework.

Bob's story is only one example. Throughout the book, you'll discover five familiar examples that illustrate different pathways into stress and overwhelm.

When good becomes never good enough

Discover how increasingly high expectations can gradually become exhausting.

When responsibility keeps growing

See how always being the reliable person can slowly become overwhelming.

When recovery never quite catches up

Understand why moving from one demanding period to the next can gradually reduce your capacity to adapt.

When work never stands still

Explore how changing priorities and uncertainty can quietly increase stress over time.

When speaking openly no longer feels safe

See how an unhealthy work culture can gradually increase stress, uncertainty and emotional exhaustion.

Trapped in overwhelm different pathways

What you'll find in the book

From scientific understanding to practical guidance for everyday working life

Trapped in Overwhelm combines science, stories and practical guidance in one accessible guide to understanding workplace stress.

🔬 A science-based perspective

Discover a practical framework that translates current scientific understanding into an accessible way of looking at workplace stress.

📖 Follow Bob's journey

Follow one person's gradual journey into overwhelm and discover how understanding the pattern changes the questions he asks—and the practical decisions that follow.

👥 Explore different pathways

Five additional case studies illustrate how different situations can gradually lead to stress and overwhelm, each pointing towards different practical starting points.

💭 Reflect on your own situation

Reflection questions throughout the book help you connect each chapter to your own working life and recognise patterns that may otherwise remain unnoticed.

✅ Discover practical guidance

Practical guidance throughout the book follows naturally from the situations and patterns you've explored, helping you decide where to begin in your own situation.

🤖 Included: the Stressinsight AI Guide

The book introduces the Stressinsight lens, a different way of looking at stress and overwhelm.

The AI Guide helps you apply that way of looking at workplace stress to your own situation, explore new questions and continue learning whenever you need it.

Get the ebook (€11)
Trapped in Overwhelm V3_Cover

You may recognise yourself if...

This book is written for people who want to understand what lies behind these experiences

This book may be a good fit if one or more of these situations sound familiar.

  • You feel increasingly overwhelmed but can't quite explain why. 

  • You've tried different approaches without finding one that really fits your situation. 

  • You'd like to understand what is happening before deciding what to do next. 

  • You're looking for practical guidance that fits your own situation rather than general advice. 

If that describes where you are today, Trapped in Overwhelm was written for you.

Start reading today (€11)
Trapped in overwhelm recognition
Trapped in Overwhelm author Erwin van den Burg

Erwin van den Burg

Built on science. Written for everyday working life.

Trapped in Overwhelm is part of the Stressinsight learning environment, where current scientific understanding of workplace stress is translated into practical guidance for everyday working life.

Written by neuroscientist Erwin van den Burg, the book draws on current scientific understanding while remaining accessible, practical and relevant to the situations people experience every day.

It was written with one purpose in mind:

To help you better understand workplace stress so that practical decisions become easier to make.

Understand what changed. Discover where to begin.

Start reading within minutes and discover where meaningful change is most likely to begin.

Your purchase includes:

📘 The complete ebook
Trapped in Overwhelm

📖 The companion guide
Signs You're Under Too Much Pressure

🤖 The AI Guide
Apply the book to your own situation whenever you need it.

🔓 Immediate access
Start learning within minutes through the Stressinsight learning environment.

Get instant access to Trapped in Overwhelm (€11)Start reading in just a few minutes