School has just started and just thinking about midterms and papers can be stressful. You may hear about avoiding or dealing with burnout often, but what does it really mean to have burnout? College students and many professions are known for their high rates of burnout. In some studies more than half of students evaluated 56% displayed signs of burnout. So, how do we address it? First, we need to understand exactly what burnout is.
Working without seeing the rewards you desire can be very discouraging. After this happens repeatedly combined with other factors such as not enough sleep or overwhelmed and you may begin to see little value in the work you do. This is where burnout can come in. Burnout is defined as "the condition of someone who has become very physically and emotionally tired after doing a difficult job for a long time" in Merriam Webster. In other words, burnout happens after long periods of too much stress.
It is easy to confuse stress with burnout, but it is also important to note that there is a large difference between stress and burnout. Both, if allowed to continue can be very dangerous. With stress you start to suffer from physical damage first; which can cause you to live shorter, and with burnout you begin to suffer from emotional damage; and you may not feel like your life is worth anything. The key difference, however, is that with burnout you suffer from detachment instead of being anxious like with stress.
Some symptoms of burnout include frequent exhaustion and headaches, withdrawal, feeling helplessness for an extended period of time, increased procrastination, frustration, lack of motivation, and increased cynicism. If you notice these are all common complaints among students, parents, and other people with stressful jobs. This makes it easy to miss or dismiss as just being tired.
Not only does burnout lead to both physical and mental damage, it can also effect you in different areas of your life other than school or work. It can make you less productive at work, affect your social relationships, stop enjoying hobbies, or discouraged from pursuing your goals. Your ability to fight colds decreases, and the risk suffering from a breakdown increases. If you start to notice the warning signs of burnout you should take time to rest and restore balance to your life.
However, once you notice you are suffering from burnout you should address it immediately. There are so many resources out there for avoiding burnout or dealing with burnout but you need to find the right ones for you and your situation. Some suggestions include creating a support system, seeking help, and taking a step back to see the big picture. Make sure to get more sleep, stop comparing yourself to others, take breaks, change your outlook, and realign your commitments with your goals.
Burnout is a serious issue, but is treatable. Though, with the proper help it can be treated. As a college student, I find it troubling that burnout is common today, especially among my peers. While research has shown me how to address burnout on the individual level, I found very little on addressing large groups known to have burnout. Perhaps, if we look at the reasons why so many college students and health professionals burnout we can find ways to prevent it. These changes are necessary if we want to help prevent the consequences of widespread burnout. I do not know the answers to all these questions, but I believe that if enough people care and come together we can greatly improve our communities.
