I was constantly sweating

I was constantly sweating, because I was on hyper-alert - waiting for the next thing to worry about. Eventually, I booked an appointment to see my doctor and told him I felt like I was about to break. He said my anxiety and depression symptoms were exacerbated by feeling burnout, and suggested I take some time off for my mental health. I wasn’t surprised by his diagnosis, but the thought of being allowed to stop was such a relief.

I took a few weeks off work where I had absolutely nothing to do. I still had my to-do lists going round in my head, and felt like I needed to make the most of my time off, but I was also so exhausted that I just slept. In the end, the time off helped, but a year later, the burnout still hasn’t gone away. I'm now looking into therapy as my doctor suggested - even though that’s now a new source of stress as I’m struggling to find an affordable one.

I'm also doing a lot of reading up on how to manage stress. My go-to is to flare up in an argument with my boyfriend because I’m so on edge, but I don’t want to be like that, so I’m trying to find other ways of channelling how I’m feeling instead, like doing creative writing.

I’m also trying to see more of my friends and talk to them about what I’m going through, because I know a lot of them feel the same way. Last year, I spent a lot of time staying at home trying to get through my lists, and felt guilty about going for beers with my friends and wasting money. But now I need to remind myself that being with people helps because it makes me feel less alone, and it takes me out of my head.

I know a lot of people think this is another typical ‘millennial snowflake’ issue. But the world changes and generations adapt. I know life was also difficult for our parents and grandparents, with a lot more hard graft, but things are tough now in different ways. If previous generations knew what I went through on a daily basis, they wouldn’t think of millennials as lazy and entitled. We’re just trying to do our best, and often, it's harder than it looks.