This past year has been rough for all of us, especially in the area of education. As different and as difficult this year has been, it’s no surprise that teens are burning out. Without a lot of social interaction, so are parents. Nobody was meant to spend the majority of their time in front of a computer screen.

Putting life on hold isn’t an easy break from work and stress. If anything, it seems to add more stress. Even if the pandemic hasn’t affected you as much as others, burnout is common among teens at any time. How do you know when you are getting burnt out? Some easy signs that you might be burning out can be depression, anxiety, and insomnia. You can also experience bad eating habits, over-emotional behavior, physical pain, or nervous/risky behavior.

If you are feeling burned out, you’re not the only one. A survey done by the American Psychological association says, 36% of teens have mentioned they feel tired or overwhelmed. Furthermore, 23% of teens have said they skipped a meal due to stress and 30% have noted they feel depressed due to stress as well. Stress levels tend to heighten a lot more than they should during the school year. On the other hand, this survey was done in 2013 and stress levels are higher now more than ever.

How does stress lead to a burn out? Burnout itself is a type of chronic stress. It can lead to emotional exhaustion, depression, detachment, or lack of accomplishment. Especially when stress continues to build up as it tends to do during the school year, burn out follows. Unfortunately, many teens turn to risky behaviors to deal with it, but there are other ways.

To deal with burnout in a healthy way, you can look to a professional who is trained to help. Other coping mechanisms include, creating reasonable and reachable goals for yourself, making sure to eat enough and healthy food, and drink more water. In addition, getting a healthy 7-9 hours of sleep each night can benefit you more than anything. Taking much needed breaks throughout the day setting aside time to do what you like to do will also have a positive effect. Overall, stress and burnout in teens is common especially during the school year, but there are ways to help it.