Let's Talk about Student Burnout!

Let's Talk about Student Burnout! 

Hey student support community! Welcome to Student stress awareness week! One common thing among students is burnout! Since so many people go through it I thought it might be helpful to talk about it. Feel free to read a little about student burnout and then join in a discussion to share your thoughts!

What exactly is this thing we call student burnout? 🤯

Student burnout is so real!  It happens when all the stress of school and personal life get too much and we don't know how to cope with it. It leads to exhaustion, frustration, and lack of motivation. It's the weeks after weeks of studying and giving it your all to the point that you just break.  It's the feeling of being unable to keep up. You think you have too much to do, too many assignments, too many exams, and too many lectures to catch up on. You can’t get started on anything because you think there’s so much to do and that whatever you do won’t be enough. If you find yourself feeling these kinds of things, you might be experiencing burnout. 

What are some causes and triggers for burnout? 🌪️

High work load when our assignments get overwhelming and feel we can't keep up

Perfectionism when we have unrealistic expectations to be perfect and our work is never enough

Competition when we feel constant pressure to perform well and comparison with peers

Lack of Support when we lack support systems, both in academics and personally.

Uncertain Future our anxiety about the future with career, jobs, finances and successes.

Unclear assignments, instructions, and expectations from teachers and unorganized teachers.

Conflicts with peers, classmates, people, relationships, parents can cause excess stress

Lack of recognition, sometimes people don't acknowledge all the hard work we are putting into school, or we are consistently getting negative feedback/grades which makes us feel discouraged to keep going

Recognizing the Signs: 🚨

• No enthusiasm and feeling discouraged about work

• No motivation

• Neglecting self

• Struggles with sleep and eating

• Having physical symptoms like headaches, and stomach problems, 

• Trouble concentrating

• Feeling hopeless and helpless

• Physically and emotionally exhausted

• Anxiety, depression, and irritability

• Poor performance

Coping Strategies and Prevention 🛡️

take care of your health: eat right, stay hydrated, exercise, and get enough sleep. take breaks and enjoy restful vacations. 

give & get social support: friendly connections are a much needed source of humor, optimism, and encouragement. spend time with loved ones and get involved in the community by volunteering. use social media wisely it provides both pros and cons.

maintain a healthy work-life balance: sometimes we need to evaluate workload and priorities. We must set healthy boundaries as needed. To balance the demands of work, find and enjoying hobbies can be nice.  

reduce your stress: we all have stress and it is unavoidable but sometimes we can work to reduce it. some things that we can work to improve on is, good communication, conflicts & relationship issues, heavy workload and inefficiencies with how we get work done, and increasing our resources.

change your mindset: be aware of how your own moods/thoughts/perceptions are fueling feelings of stress & burnout. for example, if you believe everything has to be done at a perfectionistic standard, you are adding to your own stress and increasing your risk for burnout.

find meaning & purpose in your work: reflect and find what’s important to you, what brings you joy and meaning? spend more time working on that.

Discussion Questions: 🤔

What has been your experience with burnout as a student?

What strategies do you use or could use to deal with and prevent burnout?