As we approach the end of our studies, some of us will be feeling drained and debilitated from exhaustion with no motivation to do the things we once loved to do or to complete those last rounds of assignments.
You may be contemplating “Why am I so lazy? Why do I have no energy for the things I once was able to do efficiently?” To answer your question, it is not a case of laziness you are experiencing, but the draining and impactful force that is ‘academic burnout.’
What is academic burnout?
Under a definition provided by Charles Sturt University, ‘academic burnout’ is the feeling of exhaustion, mental dissociation and negative emotional reaction due to prolonged or repeated amounts of study or academic workload. This can lead to lack of motivation, loss of creativity and a reduced ability to perform well academically.
These stresses continue to be felt and affect our cohort.
The struggles of stress and frustration continue to impact university students each year. According to a 2022- 2023 Australian and New Zealand Student Wellbeing Survey from Youth Insight “out of 1,137 University students across Australia and New Zealand, 72% of those students reported being stressed by their studies on a frequent basis”.
The central source of these stresses was explained to be the resulting pressure of trying to balance personal responsibilities, part time work and the high workload of trying to keep up with university assignments and attendance simultaneously. This has led to the staggering figures found that within the survey, around 1 in 5 students felt stressed constantly and 7 in 10 students felt overwhelmed and stressed weekly.
Second-year university student Nelda Zakour and third-year student Emily Thompson have shared their own experiences of dealing with academic burnout and how it represents within their daily life- more specifically within their ability to manage their university workload.
“Tasks that were once straightforward became overwhelming. My ability to focus and complete assignments completely diminishes which affects my productivity and my ability to showcase my skills because of my lack of engagement” Nelda said.
Emily explained that her burnout not only represents her ability to handle her university workload but her ability to enjoy life to the best of her abilities.
“When a burnout occurs, I feel in a complete stop in my life, and struggle to wanting to continue with study, seeing friends and all lifestyle enjoyments. I become bed bound, ignoring all things I loved as I have reached a level of exhaustion and overload.”
How to combat academic burnout?
These debilitating effects on academic burnout highlights the importance ways to prevent and recover from these overwhelming pressures. Psychologist Gareth Furber explained in an Times Higher Education article the best ways to recover from academic burnout such as “keeping up a healthy sleep cycle, re-evaluating and descaling your workload where possible, setting realistic goals for yourself each day and understanding that burnout is your body telling you to slow down and seek assistance to understand the underlying cause of its creation.”
Emily and Nelda share similar advice to university students in saying that seeing the signs of burnout early is important for its prevention and early recovery.
“Take breaks, take your time and be slow, there’s no rush take it as it is, as it’s your body saying it hasn’t gotten the break it needs and deserves” Emily said.
Nelda shares the same sentiment. “It’s ok not to be ok, we are humans and part of being human is realising we are not perfect. Prioritise self-care, break tasks into smaller steps, and don’t hesitate to reach out to university resources.”
Useful Resources
There are also important resources to facilitate within the University such as WSU Counselling Services and WSU Talk Campus Service that assist students through these symptoms of burnout and help navigate student life when it gets too overwhelming.
Through understanding these signs of burnout, we can recognise not only how important our mental health is but how it is present in every aspect of our life, highlighting how crucial it is to check in with ourselves and prioritise our own mental healthiness to ensure and sustain our overall happiness within everyday life.
Monday to Friday 9.00am – 4:30pm.
Email: counselling@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone: 1300 668 370
WSU Talk Campus Services & Blog
Read this article in New Perspectives, WSUP’s Magazine Print edition
