What is mentally and emotionally exhausted?

By Mayo Clinic Health System staff

No matter what side of any issue you fall, 2020 has been a year full of change and trauma. Local and world events have brought out strong emotions and stressors, often one right after another, including COVID-19, social distancing, quarantines, stay-at-home orders, furloughs, job loss, masking, racial injustice, riots and demonstrations.

In addition to social unrest, you may be experiencing a high-pressure job, financial stress or poverty, being a caregiver, raising children, death of a family member or friends or chronic illness.

You may be wondering what's next or what else you will have to endure. As these events unfold, you may begin to feel unwell and irritable, and struggle to concentrate and motivate yourself. You may not even know what is causing how you are feeling. You can feel trapped or stuck. You’re emotionally exhausted.

What is emotional exhaustion?

When stress begins to accumulate from negative or challenging events in life that just keep coming, you can find yourself in a state of feeling emotionally worn out and drained. This is called emotional exhaustion. For most people, emotional exhaustion tends to slowly build up over time. Emotional exhaustion includes emotional, physical and performance symptoms. 

Emotional symptoms include:

• Anxiety
• Apathy
• Depression
• Feeling hopeless
• Feeling powerless or trapped
• Irritability
• Lack of motivation
• Nervousness
• Tearfulness

Physical symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Lack of appetite
• Sore muscles or muscle tension

Performance symptoms include:

• Failing to meet deadlines
• Lower workplace commitment
• More absences
• Performing work duties more slowly

Emotional exhaustion treatment

Emotional exhaustion can be treated by recognizing the stressors you are able to minimize or eliminate. When you are unable to change a stressor because it is out of your control, it is important to focus on the present moment. In your present, there are many neutral or positive events occurring. When you focus on these types of events, it gives perspective about what is happening around you.

Stress often is interpreted as a threat to survival. When this happens, it increases the release of stress hormones from your brain, further contributing to your experience of emotional exhaustion. When you are able to focus on small neutral or positive events, your brain is able to understand that the threat is not as dire as it may first seem. The amount of stress hormone released is decreased so you are able are able to feel more emotionally balanced.

Other strategies to reduce emotional exhaustion include:

• Eliminate or minimize the stressor when possible
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet
• Exercise
• Get enough sleep
• Practice mindfulness to engage in the present moment

Talk with a mental health provider if you believe that you are suffering from emotional exhaustion. They can help you sort through the causes and symptoms you are experiencing to determine a plan that will help you regain a sense of well-being.

Read more about self-care and coping:

Riding on that crazy rollercoaster called life can sometimes be really tiresome. One minute you’re high up and the next second, you’re back down where you started. However, when the lows outnumber the highs, the ride is no longer exciting. Instead, you’ll end up utterly drained on just about every level.

A lot of people get mentally and emotionally exhausted which results in a quite number of unhealthy symptoms within them. These symptoms may disrupt your normal flow of life, affecting your productivity and relationships.

If you experience these 9 signs, it is possible you’re going through a rough patch in life:

1. You are easily irritated.You are getting affected by smallest of things lately. You find negativity all around you and any minute negativity irritate you. You lose your temper easily. As days go by, you feel hopeless. The inability and the lack of power make you feel more and more irritated. Unfortunately, this can mean you take your frustrations out on those closest to you – those who probably don’t deserve it.

1. You are always feeling low and lack motivation in your life.You always feel that something bad is going to happen. You have lost faith in life and there’s nothing that can motivate you to move on. You feel like you’re incapable of getting the work done. You struggle to find the motivation you need. The goals that once stimulated you to work hard are not enough. This is especially difficult to contend with when you’re at the workplace or school since there are inevitably due dates for various tasks or assignments. But if you are not motivated to get to those tasks, you won’t get them done on time… so they’ll accumulate, which will make you procrastinate more. This can result in you failing classes or getting warnings at work. But if you’re feeling numb, you really won’t care much about that, will you?
2. You experience fits of anxiety quite often.As a result of your over exhaustion, you feel more and more stressed than usual. Anxiety attacks are becoming a daily routine. You get worried unnecessarily. You are anxious at slightest of things.
   
   
3. You can’t sleep properly.You often feel like you are out of the place. The overwhelming feeling of exhaustion makes it harder for you to calm your thoughts and fall asleep. And insomnia becomes just another thing on the list. You are so very, very tired, all the time, and all you want to do is sleep, but you can’t. Why? Because your thoughts are racing at top speed and you can’t break the loop. Just as you start to drift off, some worry will intrude and knock you back into wakefulness, so you can’t get that much-needed rest… which compounds the fatigue that’s already draining you dry.

1. You sense a kind of detachment.You don’t feel you’re attached to anyone or anything anymore. Nothing affects you. You don’t feel good or bad. It’s like you are just a body without any emotion. You’ve gone numb. Whatever it is that you’re dealing with has drained your light to the point where you literally can’t feel the emotions you’d normally feel when you encounter a situation or subject. This is sort of like depression, only instead of feeling weighed down by emotion, you’re weighed down by the absence thereof.

1. You cry for no reason at all.If you’re at the point where having toothpaste fall off your toothbrush first thing in the morning is enough to bring you to a bout of hysterical weeping…that’s not good at all. When we’re exhausted both physically and mentally, we pretty much lose the strength to cope with challenging situations, and regular day-to-day stress is intensified. It’s totally understandable that you’ve probably found yourself crying in front of colleagues, friends, or even random strangers.

1. You feel dizzy and nauseous.Feeling of nausea and dizziness are signs that you need rest and it should be your primary priority. These things happen because you are so stressed out that your body can’t take it anymore and is suffering a break-down. Whenever a person experiences a mental breakdown, this naturally manifests physically as well. This is especially true if you’re the sort of person who carries stress in your belly, or if you clench your muscles subconsciously to brace against whatever is hurting you.

1. You’re constantly tired.Fatigue is something different from just regular tiredness. We can be exhausted after a few days’ worth of partying, but that kind of exhaustion can be remedied with a couple of nights’ worth of decent sleep. Fatigue can’t. When you’re suffering from fatigue, it doesn’t matter if you sleep 20 hours a day or drink 30 coffees in the span of a few hours: you will still be tired to the very marrow in your bones. This isn’t just an occasional thing. This level of energy is your default setting right now. It just never seems to end.

You can make certain lifestyle changes to help alleviate symptoms of emotional exhaustion. These techniques won’t be easy to carry out at first, but they’ll get easier as you begin to form healthier habits. Making just small changes in your daily habits can help manage your symptoms and prevent a total emotional burnout. Once you recognize the signs of emotional exhaustion, try the following:

• Eliminate the stressor
  The best way to treat stress is to eliminate the stressor. If your work environment is the cause of your emotional exhaustion, consider changing jobs or companies. If your manager or boss is causing your stress, you can also consider transferring to a new department or ask to be placed under a different manager.

• Practice mindfulness
  Mindfulness is a term you probably hear a lot, but mindfulness techniques are much more than just a trend. They are scientifically recognized to reduce stress and anxiety and can be the key to ending your emotional slump. Mindfulness is simply the act of engaging with the present moment. This can help direct your attention away from negative thinking. There are many ways to practice mindfulness. Examples include: daily meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, going for a nature walk, keeping a journal to write down your feelings and thoughts.

• Connect with a trusted friend
  Talking face to face with a friend is a wonderful way to relieve stress. The person listening doesn’t necessarily have to fix your issues, they just have to be a good listener. A trusted friend or family member can listen without judging you. If you don’t have anyone close to turn to, check if your employer has an employee assistance program (EAP) with counseling services.

• Meet with a professional
  Along with making lifestyle changes, it’s important to seek professional help to treat emotional exhaustion. A professional, such as a therapist, can give you the tools you need to work through a stressful period. Some of the techniques used by professionals include: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) also known as talk therapy and applied relaxation techniques.

Emotional exhaustion is a treatable condition. The best way to treat it is to eliminate the stressor or the stressful event. If emotional exhaustion is being caused by your job, for example, it may be time to consider changing jobs. If you’re unable to eliminate the stressor, take advantage of resources available to cope. Talk to your primary care provider or a mental health specialist about ways to manage stress and anxiety.

References:

//thepowerofsilence.co/8-signs-youre-mentally-and-emotionally-exhausted/

//www.aconsciousrethink.com/5552/8-glaring-signs-mentally-emotionally-drained/

//themindsjournal.com/9-warning-signs-youre-mentally-and-emotionally-exhausted/2/

//www.healthline.com/health/emotional-exhaustion#outlook