09/03/2025
School burnout is often caused by a variety of factors, most often a combination of academic pressure, social stress, extracurricular overload, and lack of or inconsistent sleep. It is important to address school burnout early on to avoid a worsening of symptoms and to promote long-term well being and success. Caregivers can build awareness around signs of burnout in their teen by identifying emotional, physical and behavioral signs.
Emotional Signs: Increased irritability, stress or anxiety often directly related to academics/assignments, increased anger or apathy, decreased motivation or energy level.
Physical Signs: Headaches, chronic fatigue, poor sleep, stomach aches and other digestive issues, tense muscles, frequent illness, dizziness or lightheadedness, skin irritation including eczema flares or acne.
Behavioral Signs: A change or decrease in productivity, change or reduction in consistent behavioral patterns like change in sleep schedule or how quickly homework is completed, change in eating patterns or social withdrawal.
It’s important to note that while symptoms of burnout can look similar to depression, depression is more generalizable. Whereas burnout in teens stems from stress related to academics and or associated social pressures like extracurricular involvement.
How Caregivers can Provide Support
Prioritizing Self-Care and Mental Health: Caregivers can support teens to better manage their burnout symptoms by modeling and supporting them with changes to their Activities of Daily Living, or ADLs. The impacts of poor sleep hygiene, inconsistent food intake and other aspects of taking care of the body have a direct impact on physical and mental health. Caregivers can also support teens by addressing the mental and psychological impacts of burnout. Practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques to reduce stress or if necessary, seeking professional help through counseling and therapy.
Encourage Time Management and Organization: Stress related to organization and effective time management are impactful and can easily overwhelm teens, further compounding their stress. Caregivers can offer strategies to improve time management skills including creating schedules, breaking tasks into smaller chunks, and planning ahead.
Build a Support System: Caregivers are the primary model for both effective and poor management of life’s workload. Emphasize the importance of communication with trusted adults, teachers, and peers. Discuss how to seek help from school resources (counselors, mentors) or friends and encourage building a network of supportive relationships for emotional and academic support.
The discussion of balancing school work, social activities, and personal time is an ongoing conversation and may look different throughout the school year. Explore ways to set realistic goals and set parameters to reduce overwhelm. As caregivers, it’s important to recognize the signs of burnout and take proactive steps to help teens manage their stress and maintain balance during these times.
