The Exhaustion of Back-To-School

By windoverwaterUncategorized

The Monthly Self Care Series will drop next week!

What This Looks Like

Many clients enter therapy confused by how drained they feel. They expected rest. Instead, they feel irritable, emotionally flat, or numb. Summer was supposed to be restorative, but it’s often filled with pressure to do more: socialize, plan, reset your health, or catch up at work before fall.

This internal dissonance between the “shoulds” of summer and the reality of burnout is emotionally taxing. For some, it reignites long-standing patterns of self-criticism: “Why can’t I just enjoy things?” “Why do I still feel so tired?”

Why It Happens

We live in a culture that links rest to weakness and productivity to worth. Back to school, in particular, becomes a trap: the season where you were supposed to reset, feel better, get organized, all while smiling. That double-bind creates fatigue.

Common patterns include:

  • Overfunctioning and emotional suppression
  • Diet or wellness culture pressure to improve your body
  • Social overwhelm paired with performance masking

Clients often share feeling emotionally “numb but overwhelmed,” physically depleted, and unsure how to slow down without guilt.

What Helps:

  • Validate the fatigue. Burnout is real and cumulative. Rest is not failure.
  • Shift from productivity to presence. Re-engage the senses: cool fruit, warm showers, time outdoors without multitasking.
  • Reframe rest as emotional regulation. When we rest, we aren’t withdrawing. We’re recalibrating.
  • Use guided support. Try journaling prompts like, “What would I do if I wasn’t performing healing?” or mindfulness practices centered on compassion.

Therapist Tip:

Remember, your nervous system needs softness. Sensory rituals – lighting a candle, cuddling a pet, floating in water – aren’t silly. They’re stabilizing. Therapy can help make space for these moments and reduce the internalized guilt that says you have to earn them.

Take care of yourself out there. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Let’s talk.

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