Sixty percent of college students have experienced burnout, according to a study done by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 

The APA Dictionary of Psychology defines burnout as “Physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others.”

“I’ve dealt with burnout a lot my senior year,” Kylee Johnson, a senior public health major, said.  “I just don’t feel like doing my work.”

Johnson is not alone in this feeling. According to the American Psychological Association, 70% of all college students felt depleted because of excessive stress. 

Liz Heuser, a senior chemistry major, said burnout also plays a toll on her outgoingness in her social life.

“Burnout definitely just makes me less present when I need to be,” Heuser said. “You know, because I’m so tired I don’t have the energy to do stuff, not even just schoolwork, just like hanging out with friends.” 

Burnout happens as a result of stress or pressure becoming too much or lasting too long. It can affect more than how you feel mentally. It can also affect the way you view yourself and the work that you produce. 

Through an Instagram survey conducted by the reporter for this story, Kent State students shared their experiences with burnout. A common theme among the responses is the amount of schoolwork they have.

Through this survey, students expressed how they have been so bogged down by schoolwork that they don’t have the motivation to start on the work they need to get done. Along with feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work, students who weren’t burnt out felt the sentiment of feeling burnout on the horizon. 

On top of schoolwork, other students found outside pressure and trouble saying “no” can add to the stress of the semester, eventually leading to burnout. 

A survey by Handshake found that 4 out of 5 college students have experienced burnout during their undergrad career. Making it seem like an impossible thing for college students, so how can students keep burnout at bay during the semester? 

“It’s probably avoidable, but when life gets busy it’s hard to stop and slow down when you have so many deadlines at once,” Johnson said. “That’s when I tend not to feel motivated to do things.”

With the topic being something that almost every college student can relate to, there has to be something college students can do to help prevent or cope with burnout. 

“I try to go to bed early,” Heuser said. “Earlier on, I realized that I was getting burnt out because I wasn’t getting enough sleep.”

Some activities students can do to help prevent or cope with burnout are: 

• Do a daily check-in with yourself 

Step away from your work and ask yourself “How am I doing emotionally and physically?” from there figure out what you can do to help support yourself throughout the day and week. 

• Exercise

Exercise can be an extremely helpful and effective coping tool when dealing with or preventing burnout. You can even sign up for a class at the Warren Student Recreation and Wellness Center, like the Multilevel Yoga class.

• Create a daily-routine

Creating a routine can also help create and maintain boundaries between life and school.

Tanner Poe is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].