Burnout: a physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress. Being in high school, participating in clubs, sports, and just dealing with the general stress that comes with being a teenager can be insanely stressful and leaves many susceptible to burning out. Burnout is an especially big problem for students during the winter months, due to the cold and being about halfway through the school year.

With the temperature dropping and the days getting shorter it can become hard to do things. The freezing temperatures make you just want to curl up in your bed or relax in front of a burning fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate. When it gets dark at 5:30 pm, it feels like the day has ended, even though there are several more hours to go. These feelings can make it difficult to do anything, they can even cause Seasonal Affective Disorder or seasonal depression.

Many people also experience mid-year fatigue, which is a sense of exhaustion and weariness that is experienced during the middle of the year. It usually leads to people feeling a terrible mix of tired and wired, where they feel insanely stressed but also incredibly worn out.

Given that Hellgate is nearing the end of the semester (or the middle of the year) it’s easy for  students to be overwhelmed with finals, especially student athletes because the basketball, swimming, and wrestling seasons all started recently.

Another cause for feelings of burnout in students is the upcoming winter break. With an upcoming two weeks of school off, it is easy to want to slack off being so close to the illustratus Christmas break. Break and the holiday season can also be a super stressful time for many students, being home and dealing with family can absolutely suck.

While it might be difficult, students just have to push through. If they can last just one more week, they’ll get to relax for two. It is truly a difficult task, but don’t worry, there are many ways to make it through.

The first step is to determine what is stressing you out, identify it and try to come up with ways to make it easier. These could be anything from getting exercise to maintaining your social life. If you spend too much time focusing on your stressors and ignore the other aspects of your life, you are much more likely to experience burnout.

So be sure to regularly schedule breaks, hang out with friends, go to the gym, get your full eight hours of sleep, and prioritize yourself. Things will become much easier if you, yourself, feel better!