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Exhaustion is a strategy. What looks like collective fatigue is actually the consequence of a carefully engineered mechanism designed to rob us of our power — our power to resist, to imagine, to protect each other and to create sustainable change. Burnout is many things, including an effective political tool for our oppressors.
According to the American Psychological Association, more than 77 percent of the U.S. population considers the future of the nation a significant source of stress — a figure that has climbed steadily since 2016. But these aren’t just abstract statistics. They reflect a measurable deterioration in our collective capacity to engage.
Crisis-focused news triggers stress responses that can last days, meaning many of us never fully recover between news cycles. We’re caught in a loop of headline anxiety and breaking news, leaving us socially and politically aware, but mentally worn out.
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