Burnt Out? You’re Not Alone
|| Graphic by Savannah White
Stress levels are climbing. Schedules are full. Sleep is decreasing. It’s arguably the most difficult time of year for college students everywhere.
All of these symptoms center around two ominous words: finals week.
With the last week of exams quickly approaching, stress levels are spiking increasing the risk negative side effects in students, especially at The King’s College.
In a recent survey by the Empire State Tribune, 87.5 percent of students at The King’s College who responded to the survey feel as if they have more work (i.e. homework, internship, or work) than they practically have the time and ability to do.
“The number of assigned readings the teachers expect me to do is virtually impossible for me to complete in addition to the other assignments I have to get done,” said Annabelle Garrett, a sophomore at The King’s College.
Devoting over 30-35 hours a week to non-academic related activities, Daniel Phelps, a sophomore, echoes her comments. “I definitely have to pick and choose what to spend time on and what to skim or skip,” he admitted.
87.5 percent of King’s students say they find it difficult to engage in hobbies outside of school, according to the EST’s survey, but feel like they have to in order to remain at college.
Both Garrett and Phelps represent many King’s students. As well as a full time student, Garrett serves on her house’s exec team and maintains a part-time internship at a mortgage company. Meanwhile, Phelps balances his time between house exec meetings and responsibilities as House Scholar, his retail job at The Tie Bar, mock trial, a faculty assistant work, and his relationship.
Both live by their google calendars and average five to seven hours of sleep a night, below the recommended eight hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for adults ages 18 to 60 years old.
“I have to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to keep up with my coursework,” admitted Garrett.
Students like Phelps and Garrett aren’t alone. Their experiences echo a growing consensus across the college scene. King’s College students aren’t the only ones suffering from stress and overwhelming responsibilities. A survey from 2016 found that financial worries, work/school changes and work/school schedules were the leading sources of stress among people in the U.S. In a survey, “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2014,” of more than 150,000 students nationwide found that those students who “felt overwhelmed” by schoolwork and other non-academic commitments rose from 27.1 percent to 34.6 percent in 2015.
“I have to drink a lot of coffee to stay awake,” Garret said.
87.5 percent of King’s students say they find it difficult to engage in hobbies outside of school, according to the EST’s survey, but feel like they have to in order to remain at college.
“I often feel like I don’t have a choice,” said Phelps. “I have to work the amount of hours that I do in order to pay for school and rent.”
Balancing various responsibilities on top of academics can increase the risk of burnout students. Students today are primarily dealing with three major psychiatric conditions: anxiety at 48.2 percent, stress at 39.1 percent and depression at 34.5 percent according to the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors.
“Last semester, after taking the most stressful semester of classes in my academic career I frequently experienced ‘burnout’ coming into the spring semester,” admitted Garrett.
Burnout isn’t a condition that you just “wake up” with. The nature of this condition creeps up slowly, over time. It’s often difficult to recognize until it’s too late, and you end up sick or suffering various mental health ailments.
And Garrett is one of hundreds of college students who have experienced burnout. A recent Statista survey found that 14 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 years-old knew a relative or close friend who was diagnosed with burnout.
“Someone who has burnout typically feels exhausted, depleted, and overwhelmed by the stress of demands and have neglected self-care,” said Esther Jhun, Director of Counseling Services at the King’s College and a New York state licensed mental health counselor. “It is chronic distress that impacts one’s mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. People experiencing burnout are ‘running on fumes’ and often wonder if there is a point in all their effort as they feel increased levels of discouragement and cynicism.”
Burnout isn’t a condition that you just “wake up” with. The nature of this condition creeps up slowly, over time. It’s often difficult to recognize until it’s too late, and you end up sick or suffering various mental health ailments.
The signs of burnout include chronic fatigue, insomnia, forgetfulness/impaired concentration and attention, physical symptoms such as chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal pain, dizziness, fainting, and/or headache, increased illness, loss of appetite, anxiety, depression and mood swings, according to Psychology Today.
The statistics seem to say some King’s students may struggle with these issues with 58.3 percent of King’s students reporting that they do not feel fully engaged and present when interacting with family or friends.
“Burnout is a sign to slow down and check-in with yourself,” Jhun said. “ The body is not designed to run indefinitely; it cannot sustain itself in a constant state of burnout. Typically, a person who feels completely burnt out will shut down.”
|| Graphic by Savannah White
Why do King’s students seem to be predisposed to burnout symptoms? Jhun said the reason may be due to their drive to achieve.
“For many of these students, there is an overdeveloped sense of responsibility that gets in the way of recognizing their own needs as they often put them to the side,” Jhun said.
Phelps had two theories. “[King’s] students feel pressure to perform...the anxiety comes from pressure to be impressive or successful. The second reason is people, like me, who do so many things in order to be here and survive. For these people the anxiety doesn’t come from ambition or pressure to perform, it comes from stress of not being able to pay the bills.”
Today’s campuses are primarily composed of Generation Z students (born between 1995-2009). According to the Pew Research Center, research shows generation Z students care “very strongly” both about their physical and mental wellness and health, but don’t know how or where to receive assistance.
“The best way to prevent burnout is healthy respect for self-care, which means being okay with taking care of you,” Jhun said. Healthy boundaries are the key. She continues, “For every ‘yes’, there is a ‘no.’ That is to say if you give your ‘yes’ to everyone/everything else, that will leave nothing but ‘no’ to yourself.”
Do you think you, or a friend may be struggling with burnout? The King’s College offers counseling services. Email counseling@tkc.edu to set up an appointment.