Jacqueline Kerr couldn’t shake the sense that her brain was betraying her. She worked demanding positions as a grant writer and public health researcher, but struggled to maintain focus. She would sink her teeth into a work project and something else would interrupt: A phone call, a child needing pick-up from camp.
Her responsibilities made her mind feel "swamped and submerged," she says — a feeling that intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
"By a few weeks in, I was just absolutely, you know, fried. As a mom, you carry such a mental load at home, on top of any work challenges," Kerr says. She worried that feeling mentally overwhelmed would hinder her work performance. "Your brain is your resource, your commodity, your value."
Kerr was suffering from burnout — mental exhaustion and depleted motivation that stemmed from life stress, often work-related. The pandemic kicked Americans’ burnout symptoms into high ...
