This past week, it was announced that a first-year student at Yale commited suicide. Her name was Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum and she was only 18. At an Ivy league school, you’d expect them to have excellent student health services, but recent tweets from former and current students on Twitter are painting a more dim picture.
This whole story makes me sick to my stomach, thinking someone younger than me was so overwhelmed by their academics that they chose to take their own life. Did she feel there was no way to alleviate her stress? Was she simply burnt out? Why don’t colleges do more to protect the students who pay their bills?
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. There are physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms that occur when a person has burned out. Physical symptoms include change in sleeping and eating patterns, feeling perpetually tired and experiencing muscle pain. Emotionally, one may feel helpless, defeated and detached from the world. Behavioral symptoms include withdrawing from responsibilities, procrastinating work and using food, drugs or alcohol to cope. It is obvious that burnout is a real occurrence that many of us have felt or currently feel.
I knew college would be a place where you are sure to find some reason to stress out. I welcomed any challenges that were to come, but little did I know that, mid-junior year, a pandemic would take us out of the classroom.
After months of long classes, endless assignments and no break in between, I am tired. Yeah, there may only be a month left, but four weeks is a long time. Frankly, what keeps me going is the hope of a normal summer. A summer with zero obligations and zero discussion posts.
Usually, the weekends were my saving grace. A quick break before the week begins again. Now, my weekends have become merely an extra two days to get assignments done. While a prolonged global pandemic contributes to the elevated mental health problems among students, it is evident that I am not the only student burning the candle from any end that it will light. At this point, it feels like I am functioning out of spite and I don’t want the work to win.
While I may check most boxes on the burnout symptom list, I refuse to back down. I will acknowledge my struggle, seek help from those who love me and give myself those little breaks I need so I can come out the other side with a degree in my hands.
For more resources visit: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/current-events/supporting-your-emotional-well-being-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/
For on-campus resources:
https://www.hendersonbh.org/t-student-counseling-services/nova/
