Academic burnout is a difficult issue that many students struggle with throughout the school year. Defined as a negative emotional, physical, and mental reaction to prolonged study that results in exhaustion, frustration, lack of motivation, and reduced ability in school. Students facing this problem can have a really strenuous time overcoming it.

Academic burnout is a significant problem with significant consequences. It is often linked with poor class performance but can be much more serious than a stressful class. Many students this year feel buried in work because of AP classes, extracurricular activities, or coming out of covid. 

Feeling unmotivated, under a lot of pressure, and feeling that you can’t catch up no matter how hard you work are all signs of academic burnout. Comparing oneself to other students’ abilities can also make you feel like you aren’t doing enough which is correlated with burnout.

Especially coming out of online school, where everything was isolated and there were only three classes to attend, academic burnout is something that is becoming more common among students. It also starts affecting grades, which can add to the stress of students.

Academic burnout is a spiral that gets worse quickly if not noticed, having a workload that seems so impossible to finish that you don’t even know where to start. Being stuck in this can feel overwhelming, and very stressful, and is affecting students more and more. After talking to over 30 students, overwhelmingly almost 95% of them have dealt with some sort of minor or major burnout.

Whether it is for a week, a month, or a year,  it is something that most students struggle with at some point of time during their school careers. Academic burnout is something that isn’t always serious but definitely something awareness should be brought to.