Merriam-Webster defines burnout as an “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” A handful of psychological articles define burnout as an increased lethargy as a result of feeling out of control and lacking support. The term is usually aimed at high helping professions – doctors, nurses, homemakers and high-ranking employees.

To me, burnout is defined first and foremost as a feeling of emptiness – or maybe, it is best described as apathy. Much like depression, you become disinterested in things that used to pique your interest. You withdraw from the source of stress, even if doing so causes catastrophe in your life, and avoid working on it. You often feel like you have no support and are alone and adrift, even when in the company of others. Burnout makes someone listless, exhausted and seemingly like a shell of themselves.

I know all this because I was – and am, to a lesser extent – burned out. I am not the only one. Although burnout sounds like an extremely unlikely thing to happen, most students probably experience this at some point in their school career, especially in periods of transition. When your life feels out of control, you feel that you lack appropriate support and you have increasing responsibilities, it can be too much to handle.

For me, burnout began a few months before I graduated from community college. It was a great semester – I had wonderful professors, great friends and I had decided that Hofstra University was my next destination. At the same time, I was massively overloaded. I was taking six classes, working for three student clubs, juggling not only my homework but also friends’ and classmates’ homework. I felt obligated to do everything. If at some point I failed at completing something, (which happened much too often for me to be comfortable with) it felt like a punch in my gut. Rather than continuing to fail, I began withdrawing from activities. I was late with projects, I left things to the last minute and I spent hours mindlessly browsing the internet, ignoring my mind screaming at me to finish my work. I spent a lot of time in my favorite professors’ offices for help on subjects, but also for their encouragement so I could care about accomplishing anything. I seemed like a great student, although I was in way over my head.

I somehow got through the semester without anyone suspecting anything was wrong. I graduated. I started at a new school. The burnout started in full-force – complete withdrawal from activities, an overload of schoolwork and not having a social support network. I began to resent schoolwork and my major. I went to student advising but could not articulate what was wrong – on paper, I was a great student. I stayed up until 2 a.m. working because I avoided my schoolwork all day on the weekends, adding sleep deprivation to the mix. I procrastinated constantly, even in getting help – I cancelled counseling sessions before they happened because I felt silly reaching out. I was miserable. It was when it started seeping into my schoolwork that I decided to self-intervene at the end of the spring semester.

Burnout, I found, is not a quickly fixed situation. It is something that must grow from many small changes. I sorted through my commitments to find things that I enjoyed or that I neglected doing – one of which was just socializing with friends. I began scheduling socialization time. At least once a week now, I eat lunch with a friend and just talk. I began bullet journaling again, breaking down responsibilities and leisure activities into smaller, more manageable chunks. I joined activities that I enjoyed or was interested in and found that when I had a place to escape from difficulties in school, the burnout lessened.

Burnout can affect anyone with too much of a workload, stress or anxiety. Sometimes, it is not noticeable to others, especially if you tend to seem on top of everything. It is important to take the time to get to know yourself and when you are pushing yourself too hard. Your heart might say that it can handle everything – but if you find yourself withdrawing from everything and becoming apathetic about the world, it might be time for an intervention. Talk to a counselor, a professor or a friend. Divide your day into small chunks that include study time – but also time for relaxing, leisure and getting proper rest. Your mind will thank you … I know mine does.