As the semester winds down and students are getting ready for finals, University of Minnesota health professionals say students need to take burnout more seriously and seek help if affected. 

Burnout typically affects students the most towards the end of the semester. It is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, occurring when a person experiences long-term stress and feels under constant pressure, according to the World Health Organization. 

Symptoms of burnout in students include a loss of motivation, self-isolation and a low sense of personal accomplishment, according to Dr. Andrew Slattengren, associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

Just under half of University students said they were unable to manage their stress levels in the University’s 2024 College Student Health Survey Report. 20.6% of students with unmanaged stress levels reported being diagnosed with anxiety in the past year and 15.3% reported a diagnosis of depression within the past 12 months. 

Slattengren said the first thing he notices in students who are burnt out is a slip in academic performance, which can include late assignment submissions and a lower quality of work. Long-term effects can include suicidal thoughts, depression and substance abuse, he added.

Slattengren, who has been in education for over 15 years, said only giving people feedback on the work they are doing is not an adequate way to help. 

“What you really need to do is have a discussion with people and see where their heads at, and really dig in and see, ‘Are they having some signs that they’re having some early burnout or are they already pretty far along in that pathway?’” Slattengren said.

The best ways to deal with burnout are turning to other people, reframing the way you look at work, reevaluating your priorities, prioritizing exercise and having a healthy diet, according to HelpGuide.org. 

Slattengren said it is important for students to understand resources the University provides. One such resource is Boynton’s mental health services, which has urgent walk-in care services 30-minute health screenings with a counselor. 

Slattengren said the wisest approach for students is to seek help at the first sign they think they need it and understand it is never too late.

“If you are having issues, it’s not going to get better by ignoring them,” Slattengren said. “You are doing yourself a huge disservice to try to just keep moving on the way it is when things may be actually getting worse in both your academic and social life.”

Slattengren said people are generally more willing to throw away their personal relationships and their own health and well-being to obtain certain goals or achievements.

“Burnout is not an individual issue, it is a systemic issue,” Slattengren said. “We within our society hold up achievement so high on a pedestal compared to personal health.” 

Slattengren, who teaches The Future Physician: Medicine in the 21st Century, said he teaches about burnout because he suffered from it when he was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Although he was not aware he was suffering from burnout at the time, Slattengren said his loved ones and co-workers all saw the signs. It affected how he was feeling about himself and his career trajectory.

Slattengren said he worked with mental wellness programs aimed at improving focus and coping with stress with the help of psychologists to reframe why he did certain things. This helped give him more appreciation, gratitude and mindful self-compassion.

First-year computer science major student Vishwa Krishnan said with finals coming up, he is feeling burnt out. 

Krishnan, an out-of-state student, said the forthcoming end of the year makes him miss his family. Though Krishnan was more school-focused earlier in the year, he said school now feels like a weight.

“It’s just like, you know, you got a lot of stress on you to do better on all the finals that you have because your grades are important for jobs and it affects a lot of the things that you can do in the future,” Krishnan said. 

Krishnan has been trying to stay active to combat burnout by walking and playing basketball. He said he tries to push away his feelings of burnout to focus on the last two weeks of school and see his family. 

First-year finance and economics student Nabil Abdullahi said he does not suffer from burnout even though he is involved with the two student organizations, works a part-time job, juggles various projects and supports his family with their startup. 

Abdullahi thinks he does not suffer from burnout because he stays organized and knows what to  prioritize.

Abdullahi said he last experienced burnout during his senior year of high school when applying for schools to attend. He learned how to deal with burnout from this experience.

“If you’re truly interested in something, you’ll set aside time for it and prioritize it,” Abdullahi said. “This lessens the impact of burnout.” 

Slattengren said he wants people to know you cannot judge a book by its cover. He said someone may seem happy, but may be struggling to function at that high level. 

“If you are having issues, it’s not going to get better by ignoring them, and you are doing yourself a huge disservice to try to just keep moving on the way it is when things may be actually getting worse in both your academic and social life,” Slattengren said.