Anna Katharina Schaffner – författare

Today our fatigue feels chronic; our anxieties, amplified. Proliferating technologies command our attention. Many people complain of burnout, and economic instability and the threat of ecological catastrophe fill us with dread. We look to the past, imagining life to have once been simpler and slower, but extreme mental and physical stress is not a modern syndrome. Beginning in classical antiquity, this book demonstrates how exhaustion has always been with us and helps us evaluate more critically the narratives we tell ourselves about the phenomenon. Medical, cultural, literary, and biographical sources have cast exhaustion as a biochemical imbalance, a somatic ailment, a viral disease, and a spiritual failing. It has been linked to loss, the alignment of the planets, a perverse desire for death, and social and economic disruption. Pathologized, demonized, sexualized, and even weaponized, exhaustion unites the mind with the body and society in such a way that we attach larger questions of agency, willpower, and well-being to its symptoms.Mapping these political, ideological, and creative currents across centuries of human development, Exhaustion finds in our struggle to overcome weariness a more significant effort to master ourselves.

Today our fatigue feels chronic; our anxieties, amplified. Proliferating technologies command our attention. Many people complain of burnout, and economic instability and the threat of ecological catastrophe fill us with dread. We look to the past, imagining life to have once been simpler and slower, but extreme mental and physical stress is not a modern syndrome. Beginning in classical antiquity, this book demonstrates how exhaustion has always been with us and helps us evaluate more critically the narratives we tell ourselves about the phenomenon. Medical, cultural, literary, and biographical sources have cast exhaustion as a biochemical imbalance, a somatic ailment, a viral disease, and a spiritual failing. It has been linked to loss, the alignment of the planets, a perverse desire for death, and social and economic disruption. Pathologized, demonized, sexualized, and even weaponized, exhaustion unites the mind with the body and society in such a way that we attach larger questions of agency, willpower, and well-being to its symptoms.Mapping these political, ideological, and creative currents across centuries of human development, Exhaustion finds in our struggle to overcome weariness a more significant effort to master ourselves.

A brilliant distillation of the key ideas behind successful self-improvement practices throughout history, showing us how they remain relevant today  “Schaffner finds more in contemporary self-improvement literature to admire than criticize. . . . [A] revelatory book.”—Kathryn Hughes, Times Literary Supplement  Self-help today is a multi-billion-dollar global industry, one often seen as a by-product of neoliberalism and capitalism. Far from being a recent phenomenon, however, the practice of self-improvement has a long and rich history, extending all the way back to ancient China. For millennia, philosophers, sages, and theologians have reflected on the good life and devised strategies on how to achieve it.    Focusing on ten core ideas of self-improvement that run through the world’s advice literature, Anna Katharina Schaffner reveals the ways they have evolved across cultures and historical eras, and why they continue to resonate with us today. Reminding us that there is much to learn from looking at time-honed models, Schaffner also examines the ways that self-improvement practices provide powerful barometers of the values, anxieties, and aspirations that preoccupy us at particular moments in time and expose basic assumptions about our purpose and nature.

AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 WOMAN'S HOURChosen by the Financial Times and Stylist as a Book To Read in 2024'Schaffner is insightful, charming and visionary' Susan Elderkin, author of The Novel CureBurnout is said to be the defining feeling of the post-pandemic world - but why are we all so exhausted? Some of us struggle with perfectionism, while others are simply overwhelmed by the demands of modern life. From confronting our inner critics to how our desire to be productive stops us from being free, Anna Katharina Schaffner, cultural historian and burnout coach, brings together science, medicine, literature and philosophy to explore the causes and history of exhaustion and burnout, revealing new ways to combat stress and negativity. Inventive and freewheeling, full of comfort, solace and practical advice, Exhausted is an inspiring guide to getting control of your own exhaustion - and rediscovering happiness along the way.

A Belfast Telegraph Book for 2026Have you ever told yourself one of these?I'm stupid... I'm ugly... I'm bad...I'm the best... I'm a victim... I'm different...We all tell ourselves stories to make sense of our place in the world and why we are the way we are. Sadly, the most damaging ones often dominate and hold us back.In The Story Solution, coach Anna Katharina Schaffner identifies the six core self-blaming and world-blaming stories, revealing how to break free from these self-sabotaging scripts and release yourself from their grip.Mixing psychological insights, case studies and practical guidance, this empowering guide will help you to rewrite your self-story in five accessible steps and learn how to grow, thrive and prosper.

'Compassionate, insightful and empowering, Schaffner is one of the wisest authors I know' David Robson, author of The Laws of Human ConnectionHave you ever told yourself one of these?I'm stupid... I'm ugly... I'm bad...I'm the best... I'm a victim... I'm different...We all tell ourselves stories to make sense of our place in the world and why we are the way we are. Sadly, the most damaging ones often dominate and hold us back.In The Story Solution, coach Anna Katharina Schaffner identifies the six core self-blaming and world-blaming stories, revealing how to break free from these self-sabotaging scripts and release yourself from their grip.Mixing psychological insights, case studies and practical guidance, this empowering guide will help you to rewrite your self-story in five accessible steps and learn how to grow, thrive and prosper.

This interdisciplinary book explores both the connections and the tensions between sociological, psychological, and biological theories of exhaustion. It examines how the prevalence of exhaustion – both as an individual experience and as a broader socio-cultural phenomenon – is manifest in the epidemic rise of burnout, depression, and chronic fatigue. It provides innovative analyses of the complex interplay between the processes involved in the production of mental health diagnoses, socio-cultural transformations, and subjective illness experiences. Using many of the existing ideologically charged exhaustion theories as case studies, the authors investigate how individual discomfort and wider social dynamics are interrelated. Covering a broad range of topics, this book will appeal to those working in the fields of psychology, sociology, medicine, psychiatry, literature, and history.