A workshop for students feeling burnout offered insights and knowledge of the symptoms and causes. It also provided appropriate practical solutions and strategies for coping with burnout.
Beat Burnout, a mental health support workshop, was held at Humber North Campus on March 14.
One speaker, Elyse Seravalle, a student from Wellness Coaching at Humber College and an alumnus of Guelph Humber, said the importance of self-care and stress management in a challenging academic environment.
“Burnout is something many people struggle with,” Seravalle said. “It is a significant factor that influences many parts of our lives but that we don’t always recognize.”
She said burnout is defined by physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress or overwhelming demands.
Burnout could impact various aspects of a student’s life, including academic performance, mental well-being and overall quality of life, she said.
Seravalle said factors contributing to burnout were pressure, overwhelming workload, lack of management skills, perfectionism, poor school-life balance and sleep deprivation.
Symptoms of burnout include decreased motivation, interest, difficulty concentrating, decline in physical health, emotional distress and decreased academic performance, Seravalle said.
Beat Burnout guidance demonstrated to students they can cope with burnout by practicing self-care, self-compassion, building resilience and managing time effectively.
Emily Counti, a 3D Animation student at Humber, said she felt like she belonged in Beat Burnout.
“The workshop gave me the solutions to the struggle I have been coping with recently,” she said.
Counti said the workshop guided her to manage current mental issues and provided a better understanding of burnout.
“This workshop helps me address some of the scientists’ solutions regarding burnout,” she said. “It helps me understand it better, recognize when I’m going a bit too far, and manage my time better.”
Beat Burnout had activities to discuss real-life symptoms, how to navigate them and how to find appropriate solutions.
Seravalle said Beat Burnout was a successful event, though she expected it could have promoted the topic more widely among Humber communities.
“I think the event was successfully organized,” she said. “A more significant turnout would have helped get the point across because burnout is an everyday thing many students experience that I don’t think they recognize.
“Overall, it went well. Still, I wish I could get more topics out there for the Humber communities,” Seravalle said.
She said more workshops like Beat Burnout, regarding sleep prioritizing, mindful eating, and emotional intelligence, which correlate with wellness, will be organized in the following weeks.
“Many of these wellness topics or workshops are very common themes for students,” Seravalle said. “Having better exposure for students to come up with these things will shed light on those topics.”