Table of content:
- Introduction
- What are burnouts?
- Burnout VS stress
- The Covid 19 pandemic & burnout
- Preventing and Dealing with burnout
INTRODUCTION
It’s been almost 3 full years since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, and for these past 3 years, the entire human population has undoubtedly been shaken by the virus and the soaring rise of the burnout “pandemic”. Now, if you’re a student reading this, I doubt I have to explain what burnout is. At some point or another, I believe that every student, despite their academic performance, has experienced burnout in one form or another, especially during the covid pandemic. However, as burnout is hard to diagnose due to its similarity with stress, everyone needs to know what burnout exactly is and how to prevent it.
WHAT IS BURNOUT?
Burnout can be defined as a state of complete emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion, which can be caused by prolonged periods of stress. Becoming burnt out is a gradual process, that slowly drains your energy until you no longer have the motivation to do work, or even the things you enjoy.
Emotional symptoms of burnout include:
Feelings of failure and low self-worth
Feelings of helplessness, being trapped/defeated
Feeling detachment from life
Loss of motivation/drive
A decreased sense of accomplishment/satisfaction
Physical symptoms of burnout include:
Chronic fatigue, always feeling drained
Lowered immunity
Headaches/muscle aches
Changes in appetite/sleep schedules
Behavioral signs of burnout are:
Using food/alcohol/drugs as a way of coping
Being overly emotional, taking the frustration out on others
Isolation from others
Withdrawal from responsibilities
BURNOUT VS STRESS
Burnout is often mistaken for stress, as both share many common symptoms. However, there are multiple key differences between them. Although burnout can be caused by prolonged stress, stress is mostly caused by too many external expectations, such as too much pressure or too much responsibility. With stress, people still believe that once all these expectations and pressures are back under their control, everything will feel better again.
However, that is not the case with burnout. While stress is caused by too much, burnout is caused by not enough. Burnout is a result of mental exhaustion that leads to a state of no motivation and neglect. When experiencing burnout, people feel like nothing can positively change their situations.
Stress makes you feel like you’re drowning in a pool of tasks and responsibilities, while burnout makes you feel like the pools all dried up. The tasks and responsibilities are still there, but there’s nowhere to swim, no hope to regain control.
THE PANDEMIC & BURNOUT
Although the covid-19 pandemic didn’t start burnout, it created the perfect conditions to foster burnouts worldwide. I’m sure that everyone can agree that life for the past 3 years has been filled with anxiety, fear, and stress as a result of the uncertainty caused by the covid-19 virus. The yo-yo effect of good news followed by bad news has created mental exhaustion and a growing feeling of hopelessness. On top of that, adults faced the threat of losing their jobs whilst students had to endure the stress of online school and lockdowns. The buildup of stress over those 3 years has unsurprisingly resulted in a spike in burnout in students and adults.
PREVENTING & DEALING WITH BURNOUT
Burnout caused by the pandemic has brought light to the importance and necessity of well-being in our everyday lives. Here are some tips that can help with the prevention and control of burnout:
1. Prioritize exercise and self-care
When your physical and mental energy are low, it is important to prioritize aspects of self-care such as having a healthy sleeping schedule, controlling your eating habits, planning regular exercise sessions, and not avoiding social connections. Additionally, incorporating time to meditate, fill in a journal, or even go for a walk can help replenish your physical and mental energy. Exercise during levels of low energy may seem like the opposite of the solution. However, exercise can be an extremely powerful antidote to burnout: a ten-minute walk can improve mood for up to 2 hours. However, when exercising, try not to focus on your thoughts but on how your body feels, connecting with the feeling of your feet hitting the ground or the sensation of the wind brushing up against your skin.
2. Reframe, and shift your perspective
Although prioritizing self-care can help you feel better and ease mental and physical exhaustion, it does not tackle the root cause of burnout. Only a shift in your perspective on workload and conflicts can help tackle this problem. Take a step back to evaluate what aspects of your situation are under control, before listing the aspects of your life that might not go as you wish. Identifying and reframing your perspective towards the less controllable (or fixed) aspects of your situation can help reduce the negative impacts that they may impose. To help against exhaustion, you could also question the importance of your tasks: don't waste energy on tasks that are not rewarding (in the short or long run) or not necessary.
3. Reach out to other people
When you burn out, it’s extremely hard to find the energy to care, let alone take action to help yourself. However, the best way to tackle this problem is to reach out to someone you trust. This person could be family, a close friend, or a loved one and is open to listening to you. They don’t have to be able to fix the problem, only to be here to support you. In addition to reaching out to someone you’re close to, try to limit your contact with negative people. People with a negative outlook on life will do nothing but drag you and your mood down with them. So, try to limit the time you spend with these people and find people who genuinely make you happy
I hope that this post will help you understand more deeply burnout and its consequences. Remember that there is always a way out of burnout. By being able to recognize the symptoms and take action, you will be able to slowly regain your mental and physical energy and overcome burnout.
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