Burnout

BURNOUT

With rising expectations, millenials can’t help but burn out.

WORDS BY Puja Mohan

ILLUSTRATION BY Elliot Burr

This past break, I was reading news articles online when I stumbled across a Buzzfeed News story titled “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation” by Anne Helen Petersen. Usually, I go on Buzzfeed to take quizzes that tell me when I’ll get married based on my favorite color, but this article captured my attention. Petersen mentions how younger generations are often viewed as lazy and privileged, yet weak and incapable, which I found quite interesting. This wasn’t the first time that I had heard or read about how kids nowadays are spoiled and not equipped to survive in the real world.

According to the Association for Psychological Science, burnout is a legitimate medical disorder associated with a loss of desire and interest, extreme weariness and negative thought processes, resulting in mental and physical impairment in daily activities. Burnout can also lead to permanent changes in the physical and chemical processes of the brain, leaving sufferers prone to psychological and physical illnesses. Emily Ribnik, a professional clinical counselor and supervisor at Kent State Stark, highlights that experiencing physical symptoms, such as stomach cramps and body aches, or other emotional symptoms does not necessarily equate to having a mental illness or disorder.

“Burnout builds over time, and sometimes we don’t always catch it before it kind of kicks in as this really intense experience,” Ribnik says.

However, these kids, who were supposedly spoiled and privileged, are now grown-ups and truly struggling to survive. This lead Petersen to dub millennials as the “burnout generation.” Although controversial, researchers Neil Howe and William Strauss published an article in The Atlantic identifying individuals born between 1982 and 2004 to be the millennial generation, which includes adults who are likely in college or have recently entered the workforce. Why might it be that people who are between the young ages of 15 and 27 are experiencing burnout? Are we really just entitled since birth or are there legitimate concerns that we need to look out for to protect our generation?

When applying our understanding of burnout to the millennial generation, we know that college students are categorized as millennials. College students are forced to deal with immense stress and pressures. Adjusting to the independence and freedom of college, learning to tackle the rigor of academics while balancing a job and extracurriculars, navigating social networking, as well as being forced to make decisions that can determine the course of one’s future are only a few examples of pressures that can lead one to fall victim to burnout.

“My first semester was really rough for me because I’d go a week being productive and being all caught up on my work,” says Miranda Eplin, a freshman journalism major, “but then out of nowhere I’d get extremely overwhelmed and shut down completely. I’d sleep a lot and constantly worry. But the worrying didn’t motivate me either.”

Freshmen undergraduates appear more likely to experience burnout.

“It’s very hard to be a freshman because it’s your first year. You probably don’t have built-in friendships and a support system. You don’t know faculty on campus, and this is a huge life transition. It’s all this upheaval at once that I think makes it very easy to burn out,” says Shannon Ciesla, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kent State University.

Burnout can happen to anyone and everyone. I, at times, have fallen into the depths of stress and exhaustion while also not taking care of myself enough physically or mentally. I have now come to recognize the dangers of doing so. There is, in reality, a frightening possibility that such poor lifestyle habits could have pushed me to fall victim to the unfortunate label of being a member of the burnout generation. In the future, I would hope for both myself and my generation to have more awareness and understanding in order to both prevent and overcome burnout.

Prevention and early detection are key to avoiding the serious effects of burnout. Ciesla discusses time management and self-care as crucial components of prevention. When applying this to undergraduates specifically, the cruciality of a routine becomes apparent.

“At the beginning of every semester sitting down and kind of figuring out what your obligations are for courses as well writing out a schedule, but also putting in that schedule time for self-care,” says Ciesla. Self-care can include getting sufficient sleep, eating properly, meditating, exercising, staying hydrated, or simply taking little breaks throughout the day to do what you love.

“There’s a lot of things going on between the ages of 15 and 27, some that are very new but can still be very stressful even though it’s really exciting,” Ribnik says. She includes examples such as living outside of home, entering a full-time job, developing serious friendships and relationships, or even learning how to drive. “We’re always experiencing new things and that newness always wears off. But during this age it can be really stressful,” Ribnik says. The added experiences of social media, lack of education in regards to essential life skills such as money managing, how to live independently, how to make a basic meal, and others seem to add to the pressures faced academically. Ribnik also points out that families are facing different yet difficult economic issues than in the past, and with the evolution of America’s global identity post 9/11, millennials and their families are forced to grow up with these added stressors and pressures that previous generations did not face.

“If you find yourself in the midst of a kind of a state of burnout that it’s good to recognize that and take stock of what your current priorities and your goals are,” Ciesla says. “Consider getting an assessment at that point or talking to someone to see if there’s something else going on too. For example, if you’re suffering from some kind of anxiety disorder, that will really exacerbate a lot of these things that you’re experiencing with burnout.” Other options include talking to friends and family, seeking out counseling or therapy, and getting involved with programs on campus that target burnout prevention and coping.

I like to take a step back from all stressors and responsibilities. I choose to do an activity I enjoy, like watching a movie and eating ice cream, and just trying to relax. If this doesn’t help, I try to journal about what is troubling me while listening to music. Once these intense feelings subside, I take a methodical approach to the tasks at hand and begin making a schedule, planning out everything I have to do and when it is due by, and how many hours each day I should allot to such work. I set aside time to eat, shower, relax and maybe, though rarely, exercise.

Giving yourself small rewards in between such a schedule, such as hanging out with friends or watching TV, can serve as motivation. Another motivating force can be friends and family. I would say many of my friends have also experienced exhaustion, high stress and feelings of anxiousness. During these times, we recognized having that strong support system with each other and becoming comfortable opening up about our feelings helped us cope. Even simple activities such as journaling, meditating and exercising has helped many of my peers and I manage our stress.

“Now I have an Emotional Support Animal, and taking care of him makes me realize that I can’t be so in my head, and he repays me with love and a peace of mind,” Eplin says. “This semester I’m still struggling, but not as bad as I did last semester. I continuously grow and it takes time. But I know the journey is worth it.”

PUJA MOHAN | pmohan3@kent.edu