What Is Millennial Burnout?
Do you often feel stressed? Does the pace of life make you feel like you're continually on the go or at the end of your rope? Are you often so wiped out by work that you struggle to switch off? And are you a member of the millennial generation, who, according to the Pew Research Center, were born between 1981 and 1996? If your answer to these questions is 'yes', maybe you suffer from 'millennial burnout'.
Millennial burnout is a term first popularised by BuzzFeed writer Anne Helen Petersen. Unlike 'regular' burnout, which leaves sufferers feeling physically and emotionally frazzled, run into the ground and overwhelmed, millennial burnout also adds, among other things, 'errand paralysis'. This is when minor tasks, such as cleaning the car, or sending a parcel in the mail, feel impossible. "It's not as if I were slacking in the rest of my life," she wrote. "But when it came to the stuff that wouldn't make my job easier or my work better, I avoided it." So it doesn't get done, which leads to a backlog of tasks and feelings of shame.
In the UK, 74% of us feel so stressed that we are coming apart at the seams, mentalhealth.org reports. So why are millennials tearing their hair out? Millennials feel their problems are 'exacerbated by social media, because of the constant pressure to be living up to your best life,' British psychotherapist Beverly Hills told the BBC. This pressure is made worse when the definition of 'success' seems to have changed. It used to be about earning money, but now it's things like being passionate about work, being super-healthy, holidaying and having amazing experiences, etc. That's a lot to have on your plate and the 'failure' to cope leaves many feeling guilty, ashamed and at their wits' end.
However, the concept of millennial burnout has not gone unchallenged. Many have said that it's merely a form of entitled laziness or the result of poor choices – for example, trying to do too much. After all, as psychoanalyst Josh Cohen writes for NBC, this isn't the first generation to suffer from overwork and exhaustion, nor is it the first to have to adapt to new forms of technology and culture. Could the answer simply be that millennial ambition reaches too far?
The jury is still out on whether millennial burnout is real or not – though it isn't a recognised medical condition. Whether it will become one is unknown. So for the time being, try not to stress about it.
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