Life today is full of stress, whether we are studying or working. Understanding what causes stress and how our bodies respond to it can help us manage it. There are different tools that can help us cope with stress. However, if we do not focus on our health or listen to how our bodies react to stressful events, periods, and people, the consequences can be serious.
I attended the seven-day training course Unburnable: Mental Well-being and Resilience for Human Rights Educators, held from 14 to 22 October 2026 in Coma-ruga (Tarragona), Spain.
For the first time, I learned about burnout and how it can affect our productivity. The World Health Organization defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” It is characterized by three dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.
Burnout refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be used to describe experiences in other areas of life.
Before reaching the point of burnout, there are tools we can use to manage stress, such as centring, self-regulation, co-vision, peer support in work-related activities, and building personal emotional resilience.
Participants from more than 15 organizations across Europe and the Balkans attended the training. We had the chance to learn about one another’s work and explore possibilities for future cooperation in the humanitarian field.
I would like to thank AHEAD (Associació d’Educadors en Drets Humans), Ljubov Lissina, Kateryna Popkova, Xavier Baró, and Eva Navarro for designing, coordinating, and delivering this excellent program.
By Safiullah EBRAHIM
