It has been a wild rollercoaster this last month. I am so mentally and emotionally exhausted. It has been a struggle trying to work through it, but here I am doing it. I found myself numerous times about ready to give up on everything.
All I want to do is cry, sleep, and lay around. Being mentally and emotionally exhausted has spread over to being physically draining as well. I have no motivation for anything. Lately, I have been forcing myself to do things, which isn’t making the situation any better. I stopped journaling, I didn’t even put out a podcast this last Tuesday. The motivation could not be found to do the things I love to do.
Luckily the house is semi-clean. It took what little energy I had to put the clothes away. Although I said previously I want to sleep, physically my body wants to sleep, but my mind won’t let me. Lately, I have been having a hard time going to sleep and an even harder time getting up. It has been a constant battle.
The internal battle
A battle because I know what I need to do, but I am just so mentally and emotionally over it all. I don’t know where to start because my brain is all over the fucking place. When I spend the day not doing anything I beat myself up for it, because I know this is not me.
Something has to be really wrong for me to feel this way and right now I don’t know what it is that’s preventing me from getting over it. That’s a lie… I know exactly what it is, but I am having an internal battle with myself. My brain says one thing, and my heart says another.
This post was not going to be a post on how to work through being mentally and emotionally exhausted. It was going to going to be what it is and how do you know if you are exhausted. However, I have been thinking about how to reset my mind and clear out all of this bad shit. So I will be sharing that at the end.
Although, I am not even through this rough patch 100% yet. I am still figuring out how to work through it, but I am more than happy to share it with anyone who needs it. Right now let’s figure out if you are mentally and emotionally exhausted, because I know I am 100%.
It is okay to be on a journey of self-improvement and still have days like this. It is all a learning process and figuring out what you want and need in your life and how to cope with different situations. Just don’t let it consume you to the point where you can’t get out.
Mentally Exhausted
What happens when you are mentally exhausted?
Although mental exhaustion can affect people differently. The people around you could possibly notice the difference in your demeanor before you do. Sometimes they may not notice at all. Mental exhaustion could creep up on you during times of extremely stressful situations.
Sometimes referred to as burnout. Recognize if you are starting to feel burnt out because if it continues to worsen it could make you feel like you are in a hole that you can’t get out of. You could experience some of the symptoms or you could experience all of them. It is important to know what they are and how to work through them.
What are the signs of mental exhaustion?
Signs of mental exhaustion again could vary from person to person, but the top signs I can see from myself is that my anxiety is heightened. I am spiraling into a depressive state with fits of anger, lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, and a decrease in productivity.
Physical signs I have had are headaches, body aches, chronic fatigue, and insomnia. Having any of these signs could also affect your behavior as well. Causing you to call out of work, and socially isolate (although we already are doing that due to COVID-19) It could cause you to not even text or call your friends/family. You end up withdrawing from all the people in your life.
I find myself being alone in the living room while my family is in another room playing video games. Someone comes into the room I am in, I remove myself and go into the bedroom to be alone.
What causes mental exhaustion?
Stress is a big factor in mental exhaustion. Normally I am fine with a little bit of stress. A little bit of stress from time to time is fine. It causes our bodies to quickly respond to threats or high-pressure situations. It boosts our adrenaline to react to these stressful situations that require a quick-thinking decision. Once the decision is made or the task is completed our bodies go back to normal.
Being exposed to long-term stress where your body never has a chance to relax activates our body’s stress response. With stress your body produces cortisol and if you are releasing too much cortisol this could eventually mess up your body functions. Meaning your digestion, sleep schedule, and your immune system.
Emotionally Exhausted
What happens when you are emotionally exhausted?
Reading about mental and emotional exhaustion they almost sound the same, but you can tell the difference. You can tell within yourself when it is emotional or mental.
Emotional exhaustion is also caused by prolonged stress. Mental exhaustion as I said could make you feel like you are in a hole that you can’t get out of. With emotional exhaustion, you could feel like you have no power over the situation or the decisions in your life. You may feel like you are stuck in this cycle of bullshit and it will never end.
The same mental, and emotional exhaustion for long periods of time could have permanent damage to your health.
What are the signs of emotional exhaustion?
The signs of emotional exhaustion also sound like mental exhaustion, with some variations. You could experience some of all of these, lack of motivation, feeling hopelessness, forgetting things, and having a sense of dread. Loss of appetite is a big one.
I find myself not eating as much or if I do eat it’s not the healthiest of things. At this point in my meltdown, I don’t care about my health.
What causes emotional exhaustion?
As I have said before some daily stress and anxiety are fine, but if you have prolonged exposure to these is can cause chronic stress, which can take a toll on your body. Stress could be caused by your personal life or work life. It is important to figure out where it is coming from.
How to work on recovering from being mentally and emotionally exhausted
I am still in the process of doing this, but some things I have found helpful. I have been doing these the past few days and I see a change in my mood and aura. My brain is a little bit clearer and I don’t think this is something I will stop doing. It’s making me feel good.
Limit your time
What I mean by this is to limit the amount of time you spend with the toxic person or situation that is causing you to feel mentally and emotionally exhausted. I mean I would avoid them altogether, but if you cant then limit your time. Your time and mental health are important, make it a priority for your sanity.
Journaling
Although I stopped doing it for a while there is that I picked up the pen again and began journaling. When I wasn’t journaling I had all the conversations and situations replaying in my head over and over. Once I took the time and wrote them out in great detail. I wasn’t thinking about them as much. I got everything cluttering my brain out and I felt a sense of relief.
Walking or bike ride
We recently got me a bike for when Mike and Mikayla have been rollerblading. It’s been years since I rode a bike, but there was just something about having the wind in my hair cruising through my neighborhood. I just relaxed and took in the scenery. Looking at all the birds, ducks, and geese. I took in my appreciation for the things I saw and was present in the moment. By the time I got back home a half-hour maybe an hour later. I was lighter.
Listening to lofi music on Youtube
I came across this by accident, but I am loving it. It’s a piano, keyboard, and instrumental music may be with some lyrics, but it’s just smooth and relaxing. I journal to this or I will curl up on the couch and just little and enjoy. Or I do what the teenager in me does… I lay on my bed in some weird position. Like my feet on my wall or I will lay at the foot of my bed with my feet on my dresser. Just some weird comfy position and just take in the relaxing music.
Cuddle with your animals (if you have pets)
Somehow my pets seem to know when I am down or having an off day, week, or month. My cat Momo sits at my feet while I am trying to work. You can see what I am talking about on my Instagram. My other cat Tubby comes and lays on me when I go to bed and Chewie lays with me or on me while I chill on the couch. I don’t know what it is, but it calms me knowing my animals “get me”.
Take a break
Take a day to call off of work, and don’t clean the house. Also, take a break from friends/family. Feel what you need to feel and do what you need to do to get yourself aligned. If you need to take the time to sleep then do it. Don’t feel guilty for just needing to take a day. The world will not fall apart and the world will get over it.
Take care of yourself
When you take that day, take care of yourself. Ask yourself what do you need? What do you want? Have a chill day and just do the things that make you happy. Sleep, dye your hair, sit in the bath for hours listening to the lofi music I just introduced you to. Light some candles, do a face mask, and journal. Whatever makes you happy… do it. No one is going to fix your mental health and mindset for you.
I know some of these may not be easy for you to do but definitely try. You cant function 100% for your family or for work if you are not 100%. Even if you just do something for 10 minutes a day for yourself it’s better than nothing. That way you are giving yourself something to look forward to each day.
Have you figured out if you are mentally and emotionally exhausted? Anyone who is dealing with some mental and emotional exhaustion I feel you! It has been a bitch and I don’t wish this on anyone. I hope you guys have learned some ways to deal with this when it happens. I know it has been an uphill battle for me.
Until next time, Have a good day!
Reading this kinda affirmed my feelings as well and just reminded me that we’re all probably becoming mentally and emotionally exhausted. Very enlightening to read your post!
Thank you, Nina. We all are having some type of issue. As I said in another comment it is reaching an all-time high for everyone. Weird how this all happens during the month of mental health awareness. Coincidence… maybe??
Mental and emotional exhaustion is the biggest malaise of the 21st century and with COVID it has become worse. Thanks for talking about mental health and self care is so important. We cannot survive in the long run without self care and i like how you have put in detail what mental and emotional exhaustion is, to be aware of the symptoms and how to deal with it. A great piece of writing. Jerry Godinho
Thank you, Jerry. I do agree with COVID going on mental health issues is at an all-time high. Those who think self-care doesn’t work are missing out. I was not one to do it either until this past year and it has helped tremendously with my mental health. I still have my days, but they are far and few between.
Over working causes physical stress which eventually leads to psychological stress.
The best way to avoid stress is knowing out limit and taking a break
Overworking, overthinking and anything with the word over in it usually isn’t good for you at all.
Yoga and meditation are my go-to’s for self-love and resetting. Next is cardio…a sweaty run usually does the trick! I find blogging is probably the best therapy of all, just like you did with this article! Nicely done!
Debra, I find blogging therapeutic as well, but I guess that is the journaler in me.
Mental health is such an important issue. These coping skills will likey help many to understand how to not only realise when something is going on but also understand how to start to move forward to getting to a better place.
Thank you Kay, That is my goal. I want readers to see that this may be what you’re going through right now, but it doesn’t have to last forever.
Thank you for these tips. We are in lockdown since March 15 and it can also cause mental and emotional exhaustion since this pandemic is affecting us
Yes, it is affecting everyone. Some are thriving, normally I would be because I am used to be being home most of the time anyway. However, not being able to go to do nature things has taken a toll on all of us in my household. We are getting snippy with each other.
I’ve bewn suffering too, but mine is that I can’t stop working. I struggle to go to sleep too. I’ve been sleeping for very short periods, 3 hours being the longest. In fact I slept for only 50 minutes on the day of writing this comment. I have to work hard since my weddings day is fast approaching and I don’t have enough money for it, and I done want to postpone it.
I feel ya, Mohamed. I have a hard time sleeping because I am thinking of blog post ideas, or freebies to make, social media posts. I am thinking of everything and then can’t sleep if I don’t start doing it or write it down. The past month I have probably slept 1-3 hours a night until this past weekend I got like 5-9 hours of sleep. It was amazing and glorious. Congrats on your wedding! I wouldn’t want to postpone it either. My fiance and I are just going to get married at the courthouse when it reopens. Money is tight and I don’t want that kind of stress in my life.
I think it happens with each and everyone of us. the only way to deal with it is to notice it as early as possible and give yourself some rest and your post is super helpful for it
Such a good point to catch it as early as possible. I know for me I get snippy or short with those around me for things I normally wouldn’t. I just get irritated by everything. That is normally when I know I need to take a break.
I am exhausted too, I am just dragging myself. Your tips are good though.
hi
burnout, stress, spiralling downward trends, sleep disorders and all the other factors mentioned by you are on the rise these days and we need to have a really balanced way of life to deal with them
I can identify with so many of these symptoms right now! I find I constantly want to nap, always on the verge of a headache, and I am beyond irritable. What I’ve found that works for me is simply talking about it. Like voicing my needs. I play Pokemon Go with my husband and friends. Saying I need to avoid specific people because of my irritability helps a ton. Or just admitting that I’m not having a good day and need those around me to be extra patient as I try to be normal. That seems to be the best solution for me so far. Some days I just take a break too. No social media, no phone, and simply relax.
It does help to talk about it, sometimes I just journal it out. Just taking that little break to refocus really helps. BTW I love Pokemon GO!
Very true. We need rest. to take care of ourselves and the people around us. When we are exhausted, we couldnt function well. That’s why it’s okay to take a break, even just for a while…
Exactly. It is okay to take a break. I need to remind myself constantly. I am always go go go and then wonder why I am feeling burnt out.
I found myself mentally exhausted (and depressed) during much of late March and April this year due to stress. Turning off the news helped me a lot, as did finally getting out of the house. Once my computer died, I started going to my husband’s office to work. Just seeing the 10 people who work there really made a difference.
What I do is read my travel blogs. In some way it relaxes me.
Me, whenever I got to feel mental exhaustion and stress I just take solitude. It is my time to be alone, to feel peace and tranquility for I could be able to meditate and breath out. Once I’m done, I’m good enough to continue and face life.
I hear ya. I too sometimes take time for myself to just get away from all the noise. Recenter myself and then continue on about my business.
I was that last year as people loaded all their workloads on me while I had my sister come and visit me during the summer. I had enough and just quit my job at the possible moment because my workplace would never give me “mental health days”.
Such an honest and open piece of writing.
I’m sure most people are feeling strained with all what’s going on in one way or another. Stay strong c
Oh, I am sure we all are. We all need to stay strong.
This is amazing. Thanks for sharing
You are welcome!
I am currently mentally exhausted. I just started exercising again to see if that helps. We’ll see
I can definitely relate to this feeling. Fortunately I’m in a better place!
I am getting there. A lot of people want quick results and fast turnarounds, which doesn’t help you in the long run. It’s about finding a way to deal with this long term, especially if you are prone to becoming mentally and emotionally exhausted often.
I know the feeling sometimes, sometimes its best to step back and think of ourselves
Sometimes you need to. For me it’s hard because I want to make sure my family is taken care of, but I always know they shouldn’t fall apart if I take a day or 2 to myself.
Everyone experience this phase in our life but its the way you would handle things right
I think I having mental exhaustion right now.
I remember going through emotional exhaustion a few years ago. I was at the height of my career in the corporate world. I don’t understand why I felt ‘unfulfilled’ that time since I already have everything – or so I believed. One day I woke up and just lost interests. Until I quite and ventured to a new path. Thanks for this inspiring post!
I used to have this mental exhaustion back when I was working in corporate. Now I am in a better place, happy and loving my work.
Thanks for this informative piece on mental health, learnt so much & really helpful for exhausted prevention. cheers, siennylovesdrawing
I have exactly the same symptoms when mentally exhausted and what helps me the most is:
– Journaling, as you said.
– My dog, as you said.
– Cooking.
– Traveling.