I don’t remember the last time I relaxed. Honestly? I don’t know how to. Every time I try to read a book or watch TV, I think about what I have to do next, or my ‘to-do’ list flashes before my eyes. I feel guilty because I know that I could be cleaning my flat, or at the gym, or buying a birthday present for my boyfriend’s mum.
My brain never stops. I’m constantly on hyper-alert about the things I should be doing – but just can’t bring myself to do. I already suffer from anxiety and depression, and this stress has disrupted my sleep and led me to have mild insomnia.
I think I’m one of many in my generation suffering from ‘millennial burnout’. This is not currently a recognised medical condition, and there are no specific stats for it, but in the UK, 74% of us are so stressed we’ve been unable to cope. That same study found that 49% of 18-24-year-olds who have experienced high levels of stress felt that comparing themselves to others was a source of stress, which was higher than in any of the older age groups. This is essentially burnout - a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion.
The idea that millennials are experiencing a specific type of ‘burnout’ was first popularised by BuzzFeed writer Anne Helen Petersen. Her much-shared article on the subject points to the fact that the line between work and life is so blurred for many of us that there is no work-life balance anymore. Plus, we’re online 24/7, so we’re always expected to be available, whether it’s work emails, social messages, or looking for love. It doesn’t even stop on holiday. Her article provoked a wide-ranging response, which she edited down into a follow-up piece.
Anne Helen believes one of the biggest signs you're suffering from this is ‘errand paralysis’, where minor tasks such as going to the bank or returning an online order just feel impossible.
“None of these tasks were that hard,” she wrote. “It’s not as if I were slacking in the rest of my life. But when it came to the mundane, the medium priority, the stuff that wouldn’t make my job easier or my work better, I avoided it. The more I tried to figure out my errand paralysis, the more the actual parameters of burnout began to reveal themselves… It’s not limited to workers in acutely high-stress environments. And it’s not a temporary affliction: It’s the millennial condition.”
This is something I fully relate to.
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