Throughout our academic careers, most (if not all) of us have encountered this one person who was known for being the model student for years: they participated in class often, got the highest marks, and were just all-around perfect! They’re the people our parents had us look up to if we weren’t doing so great and we saw them as this infallible being that would always succeed in life. But suddenly, we encounter these “gifted” folks post-graduation and we find them to be mentally exhausted and struggling with what now is their workload as university students.
The youth online have developed a term for this feeling over the past few years. According to Future Science Leaders, Gifted Kid Burnout Syndrome (or GKBS, for the sake of the article) refers to “the academic anxiety that they (the burnt-out gifted kids) experience currently, due to the way that they were brought up in school.” While some people experience GKBS in the form of difficulty with managing their work from their university professors, others may see it through perfectionism and feelings of low self-worth that can be attributed to being placed in gifted programs in school.
Unfortunately, I’ve had the absolute displeasure of dealing with GKBS. It really took hold during my senior year, mainly in English class. Most of my life, I’d coasted through my classes because I had been deemed as “smart”: I was always on the honor roll, and generally speaking, academic tasks had been easy for me since I was little. But suddenly, I nearly flunked Science class in the 9th grade and slowly the anxiety grew within me over the years. Every so often, I freaked out and broke down as I worried over whether or not I could finish an assignment on time or whether I’d get a good grade on this test. After all, I was the smart kid and had to keep up my GPA so I’d be able to get into a good university.
Honestly, it has been pretty difficult for me to cope with GKBS over time. Whenever it gets really bad, I can become quite self-destructive and shut out the people closest to me, opting to drown myself in self-pity and to belittle myself because I’m not able to be the perfect student anymore. I’ve realized lately that I also use escapism to help me deal with the stress and panic of homework. Personally, I love writing, specifically short stories, and I use my plots as a way to find a sense of peace. It is, after all, something I can control, manipulate, and influence directly to assure that the story unfolds exactly the way I want it to. I guess it just gives me a safe space to vent and express myself without actually having to commit to writing something per se.
I know that these habits I’ve mentioned are definitely not the healthiest way to deal with GKBS, but they’re what I have for now. Slowly but surely I’m looking into new ways to organize myself better and am trying my best to be nicer to myself, because treating myself poorly will only worsen my situation. Among my ideas for helping myself is seeing a therapist, seeing as professional insight might give me the key to healing my mind. But in the meantime, I will try to not be too harsh and take it one step at a time. To the people fighting the same battle, I just want you to keep in mind that even this will pass eventually. In the meantime, make sure to treat yourself kindly, and ask for help when you need it. I assure you that others you know probably understand what you’re going through and want to help you. I certainly wish I had done so sooner, because it has really helped to have someone to talk to when I’m having a hard time.