Burnout can happen to students, not just working adults. Burnout does not affect only adults – students also feel the burden of stress. ANNA SHAZIA finds out how to deal with it.
Additional reporting by Gabriel Ramsey In her first year of junior college, Ms Ember Foo Wei Ting hit what she called “the lowest point” in her academic life. She had failed a mathematics exam, and it gave her an “inferiority complex” and made her feel “guilty that I didn’t study as hard as others”. For Temasek Polytechnic student Ryan Ng, who is in the Digital Media and Production Crew, an extracurricular group that provides technical support for school events, peak event season brought him “constant stress”.
Said the 19-year-old communications and media management student: “At some point, I felt like I was dragging myself to school, ‘autopiloting’ throughout the day, and was less conscious of what I said. In some cases, I wouldn’t even remember my conversations with people.” Both were suffering burnout, a condition that should not be ignored, said counsellors.
Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health (IMH) describes burnout as a problem that occurs when stress continues at high levels over a prolonged period. Signs of burnout include fatigue, headaches and irritability. One may find oneself less productive, and have increased conflict with others.
Over time, if such levels of stress continue in an individual, potentially life-threatening physical and mental illnesses m.