Luca Barakat, 18, and Amrei Küsel, 18, have been volunteering in climate protection for several years. They rarely think about themselves. What happens when powerlessness turns into overwork and burnout, worry turns into depression? And it’s not just them.
Short breath, everything is spinning. Luca’s body screams for sleep. And yet he lies awake for hours with his eyes wide open. The alarm clock rings at six and a new day begins. Plan, discuss, develop the security concept for the next global strike. What if the ambulance doesn’t get through, something goes wrong? Next plenum, next sleepless night. “You don’t notice burnout straight away. Often only when it’s too late,” says Luca Barakat, 18. He has been active with Fridays for Future for five years. For five years that has meant fighting. For the future of his and all subsequent generations. And recently also for his future directly, the diagnosis was: burnout.