A Deeper Look at Student Burnout

There’s a certain kind of exhaustion that goes deeper than being tired. It isn’t just a lack of sleep or a few unfinished to-do lists. It’s a type of mental and emotional fatigue that creeps in quietly till everything feels like it’s too much. For myself and many others, this exhaustion tends to show up during academically stressful times at school. That is academic burnout. A lot of us, including myself, don’t recognize it until we are already drowning within it. We think we’re just being lazy and blame ourselves for “slipping,” even when we are doing our best just to keep up. But burnout is not laziness, it's the body and mind’s natural response to long-term, unrelenting pressure without enough rest or reward. The worst part? It’s way more common than people admit. One of my favorite teachers once told me a phrase that stuck, “learning is becoming aware.” Once you become aware of your behaviors, thought processes, and the mental (or physical) cycles that lead you to burnout, it’s a lot easier to treat and work with. 

Here are a few common signs you might notice during academically stressful times:

• Dragging yourself through the day rereading the same sentence multiple times without absorbing the material.

• Feeling emotionally numb, closed off, or oddly disconnected from goals that you once were excited to achieve. 

• Losing interest in things that used to make you feel proud or excited. 

• Constantly feeling like you’re “behind,” no matter how much you do. 

What's frustrating is that burnout often hits students who care the most. These are the students who push themselves, set incredibly high standards, and chase perfection. And when burnout hits, those same students typically blame themselves instead of becoming aware of the system they are stuck in. While becoming aware is the first step it’s also important to be mindful of how you deal with the burnout after recognizing it. For several years, I’d recognize my burnout and bury myself in more work as a “solution,” telling myself that if I just got things done, the burnout would go away. I do wish it were that easy, but you can’t out-organize your way out of emotional depletion. It’s almost impossible to trick your brain into caring when it’s already checked out. So, what helps with burnout? Taking breaks without guilt, redefining the concept of success (not basing it solely on grades), setting boundaries with how much work you take on in a day, Incorporating moments of joy throughout your day that have nothing to do with academic validation. The hardest part is realizing and accepting that everything will not be perfect. As a perfectionist myself, that’s something I still struggle with. But sometimes, “good enough” really is enough. It isn’t about giving up but rather about learning how to sustain yourself long term. Academic burnout is very real. It does not make you weak or incapable, but it is something to assess and work on to improve your quality of life. So the next time you catch yourself stressed over an assignment or test, take a moment to breathe and remind yourself that before you are a student, you are human.