HAVE YOU ever noticed that every meal has started to feel and taste the same as each other? That with every bite you take, there lingers this feeling that something may be completely wrong? I come with bad news that unfortunately, COVID-19 isn’t the only thing that the roaring 2020s has given us; burnout has been on the rise, too, and it may have also affected our mental sense of taste among others.

With the lockdowns and minimum safety protocols that were created, a level of social isolation has been imposed on everyone. Spending almost two years locked within the same four walls and sitting in front of a computer all day are definitely not things a sane person would regularly do. Yet, billions of people across the globe were able to do such a thing in unison.

While this may have seemed like some kind of punishment to social butterflies and a warm comfort for the introverts, everyone still felt the impact of isolation in the long years that followed. This form of loneliness is unlike any other; compared to previous times when we could spontaneously plan hangouts, we became physically unable to do so because of the lockdowns. Moreover, parents have become stricter—largely to the frustration of today’s youth.

In turn, the helplessness that it causes is also of an entirely new level. People would easily describe burnout as the feeling of losing your inner light—the burning feeling that keeps you alive and creates a reason for you to function.

But like with any other abstract emotion, burnout cannot simply be encapsulated with words. To me, burnout is also not being able to settle on a decision. Burnout is the realization that what I do now will most likely be irrelevant in the near future. Burnout is wanting to quit all my positions and affiliations but also struggling to find the motivation to do so. Burnout is eating my comfort food without feeling any form of comfort at all. Burnout is being the real-life zombie that the Korean band DAY6 sings about: “Not alive but I’m still walking”—working for a goal that our brains may not be able to comprehend anymore in the first place.

In short, it feels more like losing the wick of your candle rather than just losing the flame. The wax that keeps the flame alive may still be there, but, without the wick to hold the flame in the first place, the candle cannot be lit again and is rendered hopelessly, utterly useless.

Unfortunately, there are still people who do not accept burnout—along with several other mental health illnesses—as valid predicaments. Most of the time, these would be dismissed as something that is “just in our heads” and that it is just us being overly dramatic. This may be one of the reasons why individuals who burn out tend to hide it from others. They are too ashamed to be judged over something unavoidable—all until their mental state buckles under the strain of being alive and thus breaks down.

At this point, we can’t really blame ourselves for wanting to keep our burnout hidden. After all, we’re inherently afraid of being shamed for any reason at all. Sometimes, it’s also our lack of trust that kills any potential for a friend to help us with what we are dealing with. We are more often than not too prideful to ask for even the slightest bit of help.

Undeniably, this monochromatic day-to-day life has left me feeling like a zombie on autopilot. Perhaps our reality now is that we are not living anymore; we are zombies who are merely surviving in this world that we are unshakably chained onto. On the bright side, though, we are surprisingly doing a tremendous job.

Luckily, burnout can be cured. With the right practices and by attempting to find what works for them, an individual can slowly rebuild the motivation that they once lost. At one point, it may even come to them as a surprise that they have already beaten their slump.

So, the next time somebody asks if you are okay, remind yourself that it is alright to just answer: “Honey, I’ve run out of wicks, but this is still salvageable. Someday, we’ll be burning even brighter than ever.”