Season burnout is real. What actually helps.

Long charters, no days off, no privacy, and a job where the answer is always yes. Burnout in this industry is common and mostly unspoken. WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE Not dramatic collapse. It's flatness, irritability, dreading the guest arrival, sleeping badly then sleeping too much, drinking more on turnarounds, and quietly not caring about work you used to be proud of. WHAT GENUINELY HELPS • Sleep, protected properly. It is the whole foundation and it's the first thing sacrificed. • Getting physically off the boat, even for forty minutes. Different walls matter more than you'd think. • Some exercise you'd do anyway, not one you have to force. • One person off the boat you speak to honestly and regularly. • Money having a purpose. Crew who know what the season is for cope with it better than crew who don't. WHAT DOESN'T Powering through on the basis that it's only a few more weeks. Turnaround drinking as the only decompression. Comparing yourself to whoever seems to be coping best — they're often not. IF IT'S WORSE THAN TIRED Persistent hopelessness or thoughts of harming yourself is a medical issue, not a character flaw. Talk to a doctor, and use a seafarers' welfare helpline — several run 24/7, free and confidential, specifically for crew. ISWAN's SeafarerHelp is the best known. We'd rather this section were used than tidy. If you've come out the other side of a bad season, what helped?