When Burnout Turns Coping Into Addiction - Alina Meyer-Riad | Season 2 Episode 5

In this episode of Share. Inspire. Explore., Chris Wilson sits down again with resilience coach and addiction counsellor Alina Meyer-Riad to look at the habits we reach for when burnout sets in.

Overworking, endless scrolling, a drink to take the edge off: these coping mechanisms start as a way to survive, and can slowly turn into something that holds us back.

Alina explains why these patterns often stay hidden at work but surface hardest at home, how a coping tool can tip into dependency, and the small, honest steps that help break the cycle.

Share. Inspire. Explore. is the podcast from Where I'm At, honest conversations on burnout, career change, and what comes next for working professionals.

Connect with Alina

Website: https://www.amr-resilienz-staerken.de/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amrresilienzstaerken/

Join the community, free to join: https://community.whereimatcommunity.com/store/product/membership

Where I'm At is based on lived experience, reflection, and educational support. It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for individual medical, psychological, legal, financial, employment, or specialist support where relevant.

Season 2, Episode 4

It's Not Just in Your Head: The Science Behind Stress

Dr. Andreia Luis is a biomedical scientist with a PhD from the Medical University of Vienna. Her research examined how the body responds to extreme physical stress, the same biological process that, over time, plays out in burnout.In this conversation, Andreia walks through what chronic stress actually does inside the body: changes at the DNA level, rising inflammation, and a measurable drop in cellular energy. She also shares her own experience of burning out during her PhD, and the signs she did not recognise until years later.Talking points:- What happens inside the body during chronic stress, from DNA changes to a drop in cellular energy- Missing the signs of her own burnout despite studying how cells respond to stress- Why mental and physical health are treated as separate problems, and what the science says about that- What recovery looked like, and why rest became prevention rather than repair

Dr. Andreia is currently building the Longevity Hub Austria, a community focused on science, innovation, and lifestyle for long-term health.

Connect with Dr. Andreia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreiavluis/

Longevity Hub Austria: https://longevityhub.at/

Share. Inspire. Explore. is the podcast from Where I'm At, honest conversations on burnout, career change, and what comes next for working professionals.

Join the community, free to join: https://community.whereimatcommunity.com/store/product/membership

Website: https://www.whereimatcommunity.com

Where I'm At is based on lived experience, reflection, and educational support. It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for individual medical, psychological, legal, financial, employment, or specialist support where relevant.

Season 2, Episode 3

Rest is necessary. But for most people in burnout recovery, it's not enough. In this conversation, organisational psychologist Dr Ben Searle explains what positive psychology adds to burnout recovery, and why reconnecting with your values and strengths is what actually brings you back.

Ben spent 20 years researching burnout before going through it himself. In this episode, we cover why the first sign of burnout is often a fading of positive experiences rather than exhaustion, how to use your values and strengths to rebuild confidence, and how to tell the difference between a fear decision and a values decision when returning to work.

Share. Inspire. Explore. is the podcast from Where I'm At, honest conversations on burnout, career change, and what comes next for working professionals.

Join the community, free to join: https://community.whereimatcommunity.com/store/product/membership

Where I'm At is based on lived experience, reflection, and educational support. It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for individual medical, psychological, legal, financial, or specialist support where relevant.

Katrin Tschürtz had five jobs on one contract. She asked for help. Nothing changed. So she kept going, until she couldn't.

In this episode, Katrin shares the full arc of her burnout:

- the years of overwork in the film industry,

- the panic attacks that arrived without warning,

- the moment she told a therapist she no longer wanted to be here,

- and the five weeks in a therapy hotel in the mountains that she says saved her life.

This is an honest burnout survivor story, and it carries one idea worth sitting with: burnout gave Katrin her life back. Not in spite of the collapse. Because of it.

⚠️ This episode contains a personal account of burnout including a period of intense despair. If you're struggling, please reach out to someone you trust.

About Katrin:

Website: kindfulness.at

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrin-tschuertz-personal-corporate-kindfulness/

Share. Inspire. Explore. is the podcast from Where I'm At, Chris Wilson's burnout recovery community.

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Where I'm At is lived experience, not therapy or professional advice.

When Burnout Comes Back — Season 2, Episode 1

Burnout can come back. Even when you've been through it before. Even when the work you're doing is the work you built for yourself.

In this Season 2 opener, Chris Wilson shares the honest account of what happened between seasons. A second burnout — with significant circumstances outside his control, and a part that was genuinely his to own. The podcast had become an escape. The work addiction found a new vehicle, dressed up as purpose.

In this episode:

— Why burnout can come back even when you love the work

— The part that was outside your control, and the part that was yours

— Treating burnout like terrain that demands ongoing respect

— The brand shift from Hero to Guide and Explorer

— The sea swimmer and the mountain climber

— Nine months writing his own story, and the relief when it finally went out

Season 2 runs to May 2027. Twenty-nine episodes. Recognise. Reset. Reinvent.

The Where I'm At Community is open. 14-day free trial: https://community.whereimatcommunity.com/store/product/free-trial

whereimatcommunity.com

Where I'm At is based on lived experience, reflection, and educational support. It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for individual support where relevant.

The fall was Part 1. The surrender was Part 2. This is Part 3, and the final episode of Season 1.

In this episode of Share. Inspire. Explore., I close my personal burnout story and reflect on what this whole season has been. What Reset actually looked like — the slow, often boring work of rebuilding a life on different terms. The beginning of Reinvent, and what happens when the question shifts from "how do I get back to who I was?" to "who am I now?"

And one core lesson from everything: you can't outwork your wounds.

This is also a thank you — to the guests, the listeners, and everyone who showed up for Season 1. Season 2 is coming.

Share. Inspire. Explore. is the podcast from Where I'm At — lived-experience conversations on burnout, career change, and what comes next.

Where I'm At is based on lived experience, reflection, and educational support. It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for individual medical or psychological support where relevant.

The actual moment of surrender isn't cinematic. It's 4am, a work laptop, and an email that says: I can't come in.

In episode 20 of Share. Inspire. Explore. -- Part 2 of my three-part burnout story -- I share what came after the collapse. What asking for help really looked like. What psychiatry, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation actually gave me. And what burnout showed me about myself once I finally stopped running.

This is for anyone who has hit their limit and is trying to understand what recovery actually involves -- beyond the tidy narrative.

⚠️ 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: This episode contains honest discussion of burnout, psychiatric care, and a serious physical health event.

Share. Inspire. Explore. is the podcast from Where I'm At -- lived-experience conversations on burnout, career change, and what comes next.

Where I'm At is based on lived experience, reflection, and educational support. It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for individual medical or psychological support where relevant.

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞⁣

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This is part one of a three-part personal story.

Burnout doesn't start at work. For me, it started in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Growing up where the world could shift without warning, I learned, quietly, without anyone teaching me, to stay braced, stay useful, and stay small. I carried that wiring into every room I walked into for the next 30 years.

In this episode, I trace the patterns that drove me: the fear underneath the ambition, the coping that quietly became a problem, and the moment I couldn't hold it together anymore.

Share. Inspire. Explore. is the podcast from Where I'm At — honest conversations on burnout, career change, and what comes next.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: bomb explosion, burnout, mental health, alcohol dependency. Please take care of yourself first.

Where I'm At is based on lived experience. It is not therapy, crisis support, or professional advice.

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞⁣

⁣

📝 Join the burnout recovery community: https://community.whereimatcommunity.com/store/product

⁣

⭐ If this episode helped you, please rate it, follow, and leave a comment, it helps more people find this burnout-safe space.⁣

⁣

☕ Want to support the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/whereimatcommunity⁣