Recognizing the signs of mental and emotional exhaustion and addressing them at the right stage is crucial before it drag you into a downward spiral. The signs of mental and emotional exhaustion can be quite subtle and are often misunderstood as rough days or bad moods. But they are not like the usual tiredness that sleep can fix, but rather something way different and deeper that sticks with us for a prolonged period. It’s like a fatigue that penetrates deep into the mind and is reflected in the body, and leaves one with the feeling of a chronic heaviness.
Warning Signs of Mental and Physical Exhaustion
Decreased Performance at Work/Home
When you are mentally and emotionally exhausted your performance at work and home decreases significantly. You feel lost and disconnected most of the time and find difficulty in completing the simplest of tasks. You consistently forget things because your attention is stuck on the heaviness of your body. While you are in front of your screen at the office, you fail to process things, leading to a dip in your performance. Even the little routine tasks feel huge and insurmountable, and you feel overwhelmed just thinking about them. Additionally, your desire to create anything new is nowhere to be found. It’s not laziness or lack of care, but simply the symptoms that accompany the state of being exhausted.
Lack of Interest in Social Activities
Losing interest in social activities is another sign of mental and emotional exhaustion. Activities that used to excite you earlier now seem like a hill to climb. You no longer feel like interacting with people and wish to spend alone time with no interruption or interference by anyone. Even if there are plans to meet friends, you find new excuses and escape.
Continued Feelings of Sadness
When you continually feel sad and aren’t able to find any appreciative level of happiness in the hobbies or activities that earlier used to enhance your mood, it is another indicator that you are mentally and emotionally exhausted. From the surface level, it may look like just a bad day or simply a bad mood but deep down it is something much bigger that feels insurmountable and you have no access to any workable solutions.
Easily Irritated
Situations or circumstances that you could have easily handled or dealt with when you were feeling better now seem big and irritating. You are easily irritated by the slightest inconveniences in your life and find it hard to deal with them. As you look at this cycle over time it begins to expand to the point of hopelessness if not handled. At this point, drugs and alcohol seem like great alternatives.
A Feeling of Disconnectedness
Have you ever felt disconnected from yourself, your life, or your surroundings, where you can’t understand or interpret what’s going on but you just silently observe life without making any effort to react or change the current situation? This is a feeling of apathy. It’s where you don’t care, and you don’t even care that you don’t care. This is a clear indication that you are emotionally and mentally exhausted.
It’s very important to understand your mental and emotional state and work on improving it by finding a way to change the emotional momentum in your life. If you continue feeling this way, the situation will get worse. There is another way, and you can turn things around once you learn how.