Kathmandu, May 26 -- At a time when productivity defines almost everything, burnout has emerged as an embedded part of urban lifestyle.

It is normalised, negotiated and even romanticised. Emotional exhaustion disguises itself as independence. Social interactions become fragile. Consequently, it convinces people to believe that isolation is a close, warm, comfortable friend.

But when exhaustion makes connection feel unbearable, people may begin to mistake disappearing as healing. It arrives as a sudden urge to disconnect from everyone who once felt familiar. The need for rest transforms into resistance to being perceived. One starts to cancel plans, leave messages unread, and take emotional detachment as peace.

Being constantly around s...