Most people have felt extremely tired and have had swinging emotions, and have no idea what they may be suffering from. Is it just stress or possibly more?
What is burnout?
According to the American Psychological Association, “Burnout is a feeling of severe stress that creates physical and emotional exhaustion.” Stress can affect your everyday life to how you treat family and friends to even how you feel about yourself. Stress can be unpreventable for many reasons, but is often short lived. Make sure, if you’re actively going through stressful situations, to constantly take care of yourself and make sure it’s not infringing on your daily life creating simple stress to become burnout.
Common Signs
Are you dealing with burnout? Here are some common signs: eating too much or too little, insomnia, feeling depressed, or feeling detached from everything. According to Denise Witmer, who is a former writer of “Very Well Family” says, “mood swings of intense anger, sadness, fear or generally being more impulsive and partaking in more risky behavior is a huge sign you or someone you know has burnout ”. Burnout can also cause neck or back pain, constant stomach issues, or dryness in throat or mouth. When I go through this, I typically get more annoyed with friends and family as I isolate myself by not going out as much, staying in my room, or in areas of my house that have less people around.
What Causes Burnout?
Burnout can be caused by a multitude of things. If you are dealing with too much work, you don’t have enough energy to function. Loss of control of daily tasks occurs, effort becomes worthless, and socializing starts becoming a distress.
How To Manage Burnout.
According to Mayo Clinic the best way to combat burnout is to evaluate what you can do in this situation. Can you miss a couple of homework assignments or a couple of sporting events/work? Try seeking support. This could be a counselor, family, and even a close friend to just talk too. If you can’t do any of these, try a new activity that is relaxing. A regular exercise routine can help reduce levels of stress in as little as 30 minutes.
A regular sleep schedule is important for bringing back focus and cognitive function. Set boundaries with yourself and the people around you and take time to see where your values are.
Be more forgiving to yourself, not everything needs to be perfect. Talk to a therapist if you struggle. There should be no shame or guilt in getting help or guidance. Some advice that works best for me is scheduling out my work and when I want it done by and the last possible day I can put it off. Just scheduling out time for me to do absolutely nothing works well by giving me time to socially and mentally prepare for the task ahead and if I am still overwhelmed I email my teacher if I can get time extensions or if I can come in at a certain time to discuss with them what I am personally struggling with. Students especially should learn to be comfortable talking out their frustrations with trusted individuals.
