It’s summer break, and you’re sitting at home, watching television. Your sister calls you over for dinner, but the moment you turn off the show you were watching, you notice the headache that had been growing near your temples. You’ve been like this for a week, and you’re starting to get worried about why you’re so tired all the time. Exhaustion isn’t foreign to you, but being so tired for more than a couple of days is really unusual. After you research a bit about what’s happening, a word catches your eye: burnout.
Burnout isn’t just that feeling of fatigue that’s so common in our lives today. It doesn’t go away with a good night’s rest. It’s a more extreme version that occurs when we have reached our breaking point. Symptoms can stretch anywhere from a sense of failure to feeling trapped to a loss of motivation. As with most problems, not everyone reacts the same way so you don’t have to experience every symptom to have burnout.
What’s the difference between burnout and feeling tired?
It’s not always easy to distinguish between general stress and burnout. With fatigue, you aren’t likely to want to be alone for weeks at a time, whereas with burnout that’s quite possible. You’re also no longer interested in what you used to be, and the lack of activity creates a negative mindset that makes you feel even less motivated. Improper treatment and/or care when you have burnout can further lead to depression, panic attacks, and other psychological disorders. On the other hand, exhaustion generally doesn’t develop that far if you take a break for a couple of days.
Why is it important to teens?
Although it’s important for everyone to learn about, teenagers specifically are very vulnerable to burnout. Given that their schedules are packed from morning to evening, it’s no surprise that this demographic has one of the highest rates of burnout, depression, and suicide. According to the National Center for Health Statistics and the CDC, in 2017, suicide became the leading cause of death for Americans of ages 15-24. Pressure from school and home to be exceptional in academics only hinders teens’ chances of becoming successful as burnout can be a large roadblock in their journeys.
This pressure creates a wave of problems that only pave the way towards prolonged burnout. Strict focus on one’s career or college prevents them from spending time on themself and their mental health, which often leads to regrets much later in life. Burnout can also be caused by a lack of social or familial support, as well as by taking on more work than one can handle.
How can we prevent burnout?
One of the main things to keep in mind to help with mental health is to never feel guilty about taking time for yourself. You have your own life, and it shouldn’t be completely dedicated to others. This means to discover who you truly are instead of living in others’ footsteps, despite how cliche that sounds. Find a hobby that you genuinely enjoy and take some time out of each week to perform that activity. Block out a couple of hours and don’t let other people cut into that time. Also, set up a routine each day on when you will wake up, eat, do your work, have fun, and sleep. It may not seem like much, but having fixed schedules can ground us when we’re feeling low. Exercising and eating nutritious food will help a great deal as well.
tl;dr
Burnout can lead to extreme fatigue and exhaustion, even to the range of severe mental disorders. Especially for teenagers, who have little or no time to spend on themselves, it’s important to find ways to prevent oneself from falling prey to burnout. These can include hobbies and spending time with friends and family. Putting that effort each day can mean the difference between living a satisfied life and a regretful one.