Rachel Cox
It is Sunday evening, and you’ve spent all weekend working on that two-thousand-word essay with its endless list of references and fast approaching deadline. You aren’t even halfway. Dirty plates are piling up around you, and your fridge is slowly becoming bare. Although the list of things to do is nowhere near complete, you feel exhausted.
If any of this sounds familiar, you may be suffering from academic burnout. This is a state of prolonged physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by chronic stress related to academic work. Unfortunately, this is a very relatable experience for many university students.
Whether you’re a STEM, humanities, or social science student, we all have busy schedules and tight deadlines, so it can be hard to switch off. All our assignments are on laptops and iPads, which accompany us everywhere we go. We have instant access to lecture slides, and recordings, thousands of academic papers and even supervisors and tutors so what’s the harm of doing a quick reading before bed? Even the libraries are open 24-hours a day. The university culture encourages us to pack our schedules full of social events, sports, and studying, but does this do more harm than good? Here are the signs and symptoms of academic burnout, what to look out for and how to avoid it.
IF THEY ARE CONSTANT AND AFFECT OTHER AREAS OF YOUR LIFE THEN IT MAY BE MORE THAN JUST A LITTLE STRESS
Signs and Symptoms
Louise Theodosiou is a psychiatrist for the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and she explained to the BBC that burnout happens when ‘people are feeling under a lot of stress, and perhaps where there are very high levels of work’.
Some common symptoms are: 
- Feeling tired or drained daily
- Feeling helpless or defeated
- Feeling alone
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Having a negative outlook
- Experiencing self doubt
We can all experience these from time to time but if they are constant and affect other areas of your life, then it may be more than just a little stress.
The science
So now we know what it is, how does burnout affect our physiology?
From protecting us from danger to allowing us to rest and digest food, the nervous system is crucial for our everyday lives. Many psychological conditions cause imbalances in our nervous system, and burnout is no exception. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for triggering the ‘fight or flight’ response when we are in danger by flooding our body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. During burnout, there is an overreaction of the sympathetic nervous systems so its activation is prolonged. This leads to symptoms like raised heart rate, sweating and hyperventilating – all of which are very unpleasant.
Burnout can also change the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. These are small chemicals like serotonin (the happy hormone) and dopamine (the reward hormone) that move around the brain regulating mood, motivation, and cognitive function. Imbalances in neurotransmitters can lead to symptoms like anxiety and depression. It can also lead to brain fog, which is definitely not what you want at university.
YOU CAN STILL IMPLEMENT SHORT BREAKS LIKE GOING ON A WALK, MAKING A HOT DRINK, OR READING A FEW PAGES OF A BOOK TO EASE YOUR MIND
Tackling academic burnout
Set realistic goals
In an ideal world, we would all avoid getting academic burnout in the first place. One thing that could help is setting realistic goals. You can break down your stride sessions into smaller, less overwhelming tasks which make big projects seem a lot more manageable.
Instead of ‘pick a dissertation title’, you could plan to ‘make a mind map on topics that interest me’ and then ‘have a look at current research on a certain topic’. Pacing yourself through the year can also help you avoid cramming in content right before the exam.
Make a schedule
A typical office job starts at 9am and ends at 5pm! So why at university do we work at 10pm? Blocking out time in your schedule for work (I like using Google Calendar) can be a great way to ensure your work gets done and you aren’t left frantically writing your dissertation the night before it’s due.
You can start by adding your current lectures and seminars and other commitments like social events and sports, and then see where you have a free hour or so to lock in and get some extra work done.
Wellbeing
Prioritising your wellbeing is key to tackling burnout. One of the ways I like to do this is by planning time to do hobbies. Whether it’s baking a cake, playing an instrument or playing sports, hobbies are perfect for taking your mind off daunting tasks. If you are short on time and really need to get that essay written, you can still implement short breaks like going on a walk, making a hot drink, or reading a few pages of a book to ease your mind.
Although it can be tempting, avoid doomscrolling! Despite being a quick fix for boredom and so tempting, doomscrolling can increase anxiety and stress, and excessive social media consumption has been associated with an impaired attention span.
Talk to someone
It is important to remember you are definitely not alone. Taking time to talk to your friends and course mates can really help to destress. You can even plan a study session together so you are making progress and chatting at the same time. But in all seriousness, your friends and course mates are the ones who know exactly what you are going through, and even if they can’t provide advice, just having someone listening to you can really help put problems into perspective.
There are also lots of support services here at the university, like the student and wellbeing service and if you are worried about a friend, then report and support services can even help with that too!
Rachel Cox
Feature image courtesy of macancy on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy Kasra Assadian on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of Andraz Lazic on Unsplash . Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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