CW: Mention of self degradation

 

I’m going to place you in a situation, let’s say it’s the end of the school year. It’s been a long year, hasn’t it? I bet you’re exhausted. Maybe throughout the year you dropped to the worst state you’ve ever been mentally.

 

But at long last it’s time for Summer holidays, and I’m sure you’ll have a blast! Maybe you’ll get to spend time with your family, catch up with your friends, or even travel. Maybe a better time spent would be staying home; gaming, reading, drawing, making music. Whatever it is that you do, you know that it’s recovery time and that you’re going to feel super refreshed when you get back to school!

 

Let’s skip ahead to the end of the holidays. You’re not exactly happy to be going back to school, but hey! At least you’re feeling better than you were at the end of last year. You’re ready to start the year and you just know that you’re going to power through it.

 

However, not even two weeks later and you’re feeling exhausted all over again. You’ve been given so much work, and it’s a step up from last year too. You find that you’re finding it hard to convince yourself to do the damn work.

 

“Why is it so hard?” you ask yourself. You were a star student when you were younger, so why is it so difficult now?

 

Does this all sound familiar? Well don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many students who were once labeled ‘gifted’ throughout their primary school education will find themselves exhausted and burnt out by secondary school. This is extremely common, especially for students with ADHD.

 

Let me say that first off, you’re not broken and you’re not worthless. You’re not lazy either. Do you find yourself staying up all night trying to convince yourself to study, only to get to morning without having done any work nor having slept at all? That’s not lazy.

 

So, why do we get burnt out then? ADHD affects executive functioning; planning, transitioning between tasks, motivation, time management, organisation, and so on. These are all fairly important when working. Add exhaustion on top of that? Even worse. Motivating yourself to do work is practically impossible.

 

You could be exhausted for a number of reasons. You might have worked yourself too hard already, or you could be dealing with numerous personal struggles, whether they be your relationships or self doubt. Maybe you’re trying to please everyone, or maybe whenever you try to rest, you feel guilty.

 

Now, how do we handle this? Remember, you’re not alone. You’re never alone. So if you’re struggling, reach out to someone. A teacher, a colleague, your parents, your friends, a boss, a coworker. The list goes on. You may be able to get accommodations too which can help you out a lot.

 

Take a break, don’t be staying up all night trying to convince yourself to start work. If it’s not going to happen, go to sleep. You can find another time to do it. And when you take a break, really take that break. It’s easy to get caught up feeling like you’re not doing enough work, but that’s how you burnout. Breaks are important, and if you spend the whole time worrying about the things you aren’t doing, then that break becomes pointless. If you can’t find yourself relaxing, maybe try meditation, or just focusing on your breathing.

 

Finally, uphold your self worth! It may seem like it’s easier said than done and trust me, I can understand that. Often throughout burnout I’d find myself degrading myself, calling myself ‘worthless’, ‘lazy’, ‘good for nothing’, and the list goes on. Now I tell you, I’m none of these things, and neither are you. Negative self talk only makes it worse and pummels one’s self worth. So lift yourself up! My favourite way of doing this is by looking at myself in the mirror and hyping up the person looking back. “You’re amazing! You’re so cool and good looking and smart oh my!”. Silly as it may feel, it made me feel like a hero. You’re powerful, let yourself believe that.

 

Burnout is awful, trust me I know. But rest up, you’re worth much more than you may currently give yourself credit for. I promise.