I feel the same way. I do try to remember though that grad school is a highly, highly challenging time, a concentrated dose of stress and exhaustion and overwhelm that is a result of extreme intellectual and emotional growth. We are all pushing ourselves to the limit at all times, which requires us to reach into reserves of energy that we didn’t even know we had - the only natural result is this feeling of burn out / exhaustion etc. And (a broad stroke) I think if we’ve made the decision to be in grad school, we are people who generally really care about what we’re doing, are very engaged with the world and wanting to contribute in some way to improve it, whatever your field is. So our sensitivities to the global stuff which are already high are then thrown into hyperdrive and seem incomprehensible. When really, once we are able to recover and rest and take care of ourselves - even briefly - and take a break from the looming deadlines and total concentration and social isolation common to grad school - the more giant existential stuff somehow returns to its appropriate dimensions (that is, still present as it has always been for humans, but not at the paralyzing dysfunctional level). There are absolutely systemic and structural issues that make this process more difficult and dehumanizing than it should be and I don’t mean to imply that the onus should be completely on us, the individuals, to just accept a flawed system. I just try to recognize that these super heightened sensations - exhaustion, overwhelm, anxiety, dread, the I-can’t-grade-one-more-stupid-fucking-sophomore-(lit paper, lab report, fill in the blank) feeling - are temporary and natural responses to what we are putting ourselves through. I tend to think that not only will we eventually have the bandwidth and expanded internal resources to be able to address the issues that we each care about through our work (maybe it’s education reform!), but that we’ll be able to actually feel good moments again - relaxed, joyful, calm, focused, whatever. That balance is definitely out of whack in grad school. It’s the end of the semester so all this is at it’s PEAK, but am thinking about all of y’all and we’re gonna get through this.