You're three years past the height of the pandemic, and you thought things would feel easier by now. Instead, you're still canceling plans, snapping at your kids, and wondering why you can't catch up. If you're still running on empty, you're not alone.

As a Registered Clinical Counsellor with a background in occupational therapy and over 14 years supporting overwhelmed parents, I've watched countless families navigate this particular exhaustion. Post-COVID parent burnout is a nervous system issue first, not a time management problem.

Standard self-care doesn't work because it addresses surface tiredness, not nervous system depletion. When your body is in survival mode, bubble baths can't touch the level of restoration you need.

Recovery requires nervous system regulation first, then practical capacity building. Here's what actually helps when you're still burned out years later.

Feeling dread instead of excitement about family trips? Here's what's happening in your nervous system and how to partner through capacity differences. Vacations feel hard when one partner carries more mental load because their nervous system is already operating near capacity. High-stress situations like travel don't just add more tasks—they push an already depleted partner into survival mode where even basic tasks become overwhelming. This reveals existing imbalances in how mental load is distributed.