What is a Burnout?

School is stressful, so what should we do to make sure we don't cave under all the pressure?

What is a burnout? A burnout is "a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress" (Smith 1). When work starts piling up at school and other extracurricular activities, the stress builds up.

Symptoms of a Burnout

“Much of the stress that people feel doesn't come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they've started.” - David Allen

You may be on the road to a burnout if: you feel like every day is a bad day, you can't bring yourself to care about homework or different activities. It can reduce your productivity and your energy, and can also ruin your mood. Burnouts don't only affect your schoolwork; it can also affect your home life and friendships. The symptoms aren't just emotional and mental, you can also have physical symptoms of a burnout.

These symptoms include:

- Lowered immunity

- Frequent headaches and muscle pain

- Changes in appetite and sleeping habits

- A sense of failure and/or self-doubt

- Feelings of helplessness

- Detachment from family members and friends

- Loss of motivation

- Increase in a negative or cynical outlook

- Decrease in satisfaction and senses of accomplishment

- Withdrawing from responsibilities

- Isolation from peers and family members

- Procrastination

- Using food, drug, or alcohol to cope

- Skipping school

Stress vs. Burnout

While burnout could be the result of ongoing or unrelenting stress, it isn’t the same as too much stress. Having stress means being involved in too much: there are too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and mentally. However, stressed people can still believe that if they can just get everything done, they’ll feel better.

Burnout, however, is about not being enough. Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and simply put, numb. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of things changing in their situations. If excessive stress feels like you’re drowning in responsibilities, burnout is a sense of being all dried up. And while you’re usually aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always notice burnout when it happens.

Causes of Burnout

Burnout often stems from school, but anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout. This can range from the hardworking student who hasn’t had a three-day weekend in months, to the homeschooled kid who is under too much pressure from parents.

However, burnout is not caused solely by school or too many responsibilities. Other factors contribute to burnout, including your lifestyle and personality traits. In fact, what you do in your free time and how you look at the world can play just as big of a role in causing stress as school or home demands.

How to Deal With a Burnout

Whether you recognize the warning signs of a burnout or you’re already suffering from it, trying to push through the exhaustion and continuing as you have been will only cause more stress and won't help. Now is the time to pause, take a break, recharge, and change direction by learning how you can help yourself overcome burnout and feel healthy and positive again.

Dealing with burnout requires the “Three R” approach:

Recognize. Watch for the warning signs of burnout.

Reverse. Undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress.

Resilience. Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health.

Thank you for reading, and we hope that we provided you with some tips to help prevent and treat a burnout. Remember to take some time for yourselves, and we'll see you next time!