What is activism burnout?
Activism burnout can occur when an activist feels exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated, and their emotional energy is drained.
Think of it like a battery.
If you constantly use it without allowing time to charge, it becomes depleted.
So, to make sure your battery is running at its best, you need to allow yourself time to recharge and rest.
In the same way a battery gets depleted at different rates depending on how it is used, different actions will use your energy faster or slower.
Activism burnout most often happens when you're exhausted, often this can be down to high usage of social media, fatigue from educating others, and experiencing constant microaggressions, amongst many other factors.
So, how can you protect your emotional battery to prevent complete burnout?
What are the signs you’re heading towards activism burnout?
- Detachment
- Low mood
- Difficulty concentrating
- Lack of creativity
- Fatigue
- Exhaustion
- Overwhelmed
- Reduced performance and productivity
- Anxiety
How can you prevent it?
- Remember to check in with yourself
- Practice self-care; this may be going for a run, knitting, or something that fulfills you
- Set boundaries with yourself and with others
- Remember that it is okay to rest; take time out and be honest with yourself and others
- Alter your social media habits to limit doom-scrolling
- To help with the amount of overwhelming content about different topics and lived experiences on social media, you can create a different social media account with different content, which has a focus on self-care and wellbeing.
- Set a screen timer, to clock off social media after an allotted time.
For more support with mental health and wellbeing, visit our Small Things Matter resources.