Ohio State Counseling and Consultation Service offers sessions for students feeling the increasing pressure of academic life during the spring semester. Credit: Christian Harsa | Special Projects Director
With the spring semester in full swing, students may find themselves juggling assignments, internships and extracurriculars amid Ohio’s gloomy winter weather — contributing to academic burnout.
An April 2021 survey by Ohio State’s Office of the Chief Wellness Officer found 71 percent of students experienced burnout in that month alone — a 30 percent increase from August 2020.
Rachel Mangold, wellness coaching coordinator for the Student Wellness Center, said academic burnout — physical, mental and emotional exhaustion from the stress that comes with prolonged study — can manifest itself in many ways, including stress and anxiety.
“When a student is experiencing burnout, you may see them drop things off that were once important to them,” Mangold said. “The first thing to go is our physical wellness. We tend to stop caring for ourselves.”
Mangold said one of the primary ways wellness coaches encourage students to deal with burnout is to focus on factors they are able to control.
“All the stressors that you have, list them out,” Mangold said. “Visualize and focus on which of those are inside your control and which of those are outside.”
The College of Nursing recommends that students who experience stress from burnout establish health habits that work for them personally, build resilience skills, find local mental health support, grow and maintain support systems and seek professional help, if necessary.
Brandon Deuch, a fourth-year in computer science and engineering, said in an email his go-to method for stress relief is exercise.
“Exercise primarily just takes my mind off things and makes me feel refreshed,” Deuch said. “Additionally, taking short, structured breaks from course work to do something more enjoyable also helps.”
Deuch said he believes the cold and gloomy weather coupled with the lack of academic break, like students have in the fall semester, make for a particularly stressful spring semester.
“In the autumn semester, we have fall break at a good point for a mental reset,” Deuch said. “I also think it’s just better weather and a more enjoyable semester with football and other social events — whereas spring semester has an extremely long stretch before spring break and more bleak weather.”
The wellness center offers a number of programs for students who are experiencing stress or need someone to talk to, including wellness coaching — which students can schedule a session for online. The center partners with Ohio State’s Counseling and Consultation Services, which students can schedule a phone screening appointment with here.
Mangold said these programs are great resources for stress management.
“If we think that the student is experiencing something a little bit more severe as a result of burnout, we can make the decision to refer them directly to CCS,” Mangold said.
While jobs, deadlines and extracurriculars are important to maintain, Mangold said students must also know when to put themselves first.
“There are a lot of unrealistic expectations that are placed on students, and they continue to get more unrealistic as the years go on,” Mangold said. “There is nothing wrong with taking a step back and prioritizing your physical, mental or emotional health.”
