Throughout university life it is common for students to experience extremely demanding situations, generating exhaustion and stress regarding academic activities. The emotional and physical exhaustion becomes a prolonged disorder called academic burnout, which mainly affects ability, motivation, and academic performance.
This syndrome was included in the list of conditions recognized by the World Health Organization - WHO in 2019. The American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger was the first to identify the state of stress suffered by doctors, police officers and teachers with the term "burnout". while practicing their professions. Later it was visualized that these situations also occur in other activities, such as study.
To identify it, it is important to pay attention to the warning signs, among them, the following stand out: continuous exhaustion, tension in the body, isolation, lack of motivation for the development of academic activities, lack of creativity, anxiety and depression.
Among the main recommendations to combat it are activities that people can use on their own, such as:
- Separate personal life from academic.
- To be organized.
- Do exercises frequently.
- Sleep the necessary hours.
- Set aside time to enjoy hobbies or leisure activities.
- Pay attention to emotions.
- Seek help when needed.
- Eat a balanced diet.
- Develop emotional resilience.
On the other hand, specialists recommend psychosocial treatments to rebuild self-esteem and foster resilience, including mindfulness, commitment and acceptance, and resistance training.
Taking into account that the university stage implies a great responsibility and, in turn, must be combined with others, such as work, personal and social ones, it is important to pay attention to the overload that these situations can imply in many cases, being alert allows us to identify the symptoms of this disorder and, therefore, eradicate it in the most appropriate way, preventing it from affecting performance and academic development.
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