Can Burnout Affect Your Sex Drive? The Effect of Chronic Stress on Desire

When you’re exhausted, overwhelmed, and constantly running on empty, desire is often one of the first things to fade. But that doesn’t mean something is wrong with you or your relationship.

In this episode of Burnout-Free Me, Dr. Amy Grimm explores how burnout and chronic stress affect the nervous system—and why that directly impacts libido, intimacy, and pleasure. This isn’t a conversation about fixing desire or forcing intimacy. It’s about understanding what your body is doing when it’s been in survival mode for too long.

Amy breaks down how the fight, flight, and freeze response can turn inward, leading to self-criticism, avoidance, and overthinking around intimacy. You’ll learn how burnout quietly reduces capacity for pleasure, why desire often goes offline as a protective response, and what to pay attention to if you suspect burnout may be affecting your sex drive.

If you’ve ever thought, “Everything is fine, so why don’t I want this?”—this episode will help you make sense of what’s happening with compassion, clarity, and a nervous-system-informed lens.

Burnout & Wellbeing Coaching With Amy:

✨ Ready to break free from exhaustion and stop running on empty, so you can create real balance, reclaim your energy, and finally feel like yourself again? Book your free Burnout-Free Me consultation today!

🌐Visit www.daringdvm.com to learn more about coaching and ways we can work together. You can also find out about team trainings and speaking engagements here.

JOIN the Burnout-Free Community for weekly inspiration, coaching tools, special offers, and more!

📩Let's connect on Instagram or LinkedIn

Meet Amy:

Dr. Amy Grimm is a success and well-being coach, speaker, and veterinarian who helps high-performing professionals lead with clarity, energy, and purpose without sacrificing their well-being.

A former medical director who experienced burnout firsthand, Amy now coaches leaders across industries to recognize the hidden costs of hustle culture and create sustainable success through strategic prioritization and people-first leadership.

She also hosts the Burnout-Free Me Podcast (previously Daring DVM Podcast), a free resource for high-achievers and career professionals who want to live with less stress and create a life of balance, fulfillment, and joy.

Outside of work, Amy and her partner enjoy travel and all things outdoors. You’ll most likely find them on top of a mountain, in the middle of a desert, somewhere underwater, or 100 miles into a ride on their tandem mountain bicycle.

Have you ever made a small mistake—sent the wrong email, misspoke in a meeting, said something mildly awkward—and then found yourself replaying it over and over in your head long after it was already resolved?

If so, you’re not overreacting. You’re experiencing a very normal nervous system response.

In this episode of Burnout-Free Me, Dr. Amy Grimm explains why your brain fixates on mistakes, why “just letting it go” doesn’t work, and what’s actually happening in your body when anxiety takes over. You’ll learn how your threat response gets activated by perceived risks to your competence, reputation, or belonging—and why trying to out-think anxiety often makes spiraling worse.

Amy walks you through a simple, science-based 3-step strategy to interrupt the spiral, calm your nervous system, and help your brain stand down once the danger has passed. Along the way, she shares real-life examples (including a painfully relatable social slip-up), common client scenarios, and the exact language she uses in coaching to help high-achievers recover faster after mistakes.

This episode is for you if you:

• Can’t stop replaying small mistakes
• Feel anxious or embarrassed long after an interaction ends
• Struggle with overthinking, self-criticism, or rumination
• Want practical tools to calm your nervous system quickly
• Are ready to stop spiraling and trust yourself again

You’ll walk away understanding that nothing has gone wrong—you’re not broken—and that learning to recover from mistakes is a skill you can practice and strengthen over time.

✨ If you’re ready to stop running on anxiety and start feeling more calm, confident, and grounded in your day-to-day life, learn more about coaching with Dr. Amy Grimm here.

Burnout & Wellbeing Coaching With Amy:

✨ Ready to break free from exhaustion and stop running on empty, so you can create real balance, reclaim your energy, and finally feel like yourself again? Book your free Burnout-Free Me consultation today!

🌐Visit www.daringdvm.com to learn more about coaching and ways we can work together. You can also find out about team trainings and speaking engagements here.

JOIN the Burnout-Free Community for weekly inspiration, coaching tools, special offers, and more!

📩Let's connect on Instagram or LinkedIn

Meet Amy:

Dr. Amy Grimm is a success and well-being coach, speaker, and veterinarian who helps high-performing professionals lead with clarity, energy, and purpose without sacrificing their well-being.

A former medical director who experienced burnout firsthand, Amy now coaches leaders across industries to recognize the hidden costs of hustle culture and create sustainable success through strategic prioritization and people-first leadership.

She also hosts the Burnout-Free Me Podcast (previously Daring DVM Podcast), a free resource for high-achievers and career professionals who want to live with less stress and create a life of balance, fulfillment, and joy.

Outside of work, Amy and her partner enjoy travel and all things outdoors. You’ll most likely find them on top of a mountain, in the middle of a desert, somewhere underwater, or 100 miles into a ride on their tandem mountain bicycle.

If you’re heading into the holidays feeling tired, overstimulated, or quietly overwhelmed, even while everyone around you seems to be sprinting toward joy, this episode is for you.

This isn’t a productivity episode. It’s a pause.

In this short, heartfelt holiday check-in, Amy shares a more personal, behind-the-scenes moment from her own life and offers permission to let this season be softer. For many high-achievers, the holidays come with unspoken pressure to keep going, keep performing, and keep optimizing—when what’s actually needed is rest, presence, and space to breathe.

Amy reflects on why the holidays don’t have to be cheerful, polished, or high-energy to be meaningful, and why slowing down isn’t something you need to earn.

She also invites listeners to step into community—by sharing topic requests, podcast recommendations, and helping spread this work to more high-achievers who need it.

If you’ve been craving a gentler close to the year—without fixing, hustling, or figuring everything out—consider this your permission slip.

HOW TO SUBMIT Topic Requests or Podcast Recommendations:

Step 1: Visit my podcast page by clicking this link. 🔗

Step 2: Scroll to the bottom of the page. ⬇️

Step 3: Fill out the request form. 📋

Step 4: Hit Submit! That's it! ✅

Burnout & Wellbeing Coaching With Amy:

✨ Ready to break free from exhaustion and stop running on empty, so you can create real balance, reclaim your energy, and finally feel like yourself again? Book your free Burnout-Free Me consultation today!

🌐Visit www.daringdvm.com to learn more about coaching and ways we can work together. You can also find out about team trainings and speaking engagements here.

JOIN the Burnout-Free Community for weekly inspiration, coaching tools, special offers, and more!

📩Let's connect on Instagram or LinkedIn

Meet Amy:

Dr. Amy Grimm is a success and well-being coach, speaker, and veterinarian who helps high-performing professionals lead with clarity, energy, and purpose without sacrificing their well-being.

A former medical director who experienced burnout firsthand, Amy now coaches leaders across industries to recognize the hidden costs of hustle culture and create sustainable success through strategic prioritization and people-first leadership.

She also hosts the Burnout-Free Me Podcast (previously Daring DVM Podcast), a free resource for high-achievers and career professionals who want to live with less stress and create a life of balance, fulfillment, and joy.

Outside of work, Amy and her partner enjoy travel and all things outdoors. You’ll most likely find them on top of a mountain, in the middle of a desert, somewhere underwater, or 100 miles into a ride on their tandem mountain bicycle.