Emotional Exhaustion: Causes And Ways To Deal With Them
Emotional exhaustion is a state of feeling emotionally drained and depleted as a result of accumulated stress from your personal or work life, or a combination of both. Emotional exhaustion is one of the signs of exhaustion. Everyone can face it without exception. It can be caused by your job, your immediate environment, co-workers, and other situations. Even your family at home can contribute as a stressor. It occurs when your brain can't handle any more stress and pressure and your mind and body suddenly shut down, and you feel like you no longer have control over your whole being.
People experiencing emotional exhaustion often feel as if they have no power or control over what happens in life. In some situations, you may feel "stuck" or "trapped".
The feelings of sadness, anguish and negative emotions caused by exhaustion are not permanent but can affect each person differently. It can last for a short time or longer, depending on the cause, the stressors, the situation, and the person's coping ability. What may be stressful for one person may be completely manageable for another person.
Common Triggers For Emotional Fatigue
Experiencing some stress and anxiety on a daily basis is normal, but over time, chronic stress can take its toll on the body. The causes of emotional fatigue vary from person to person.Here are a few triggers of emotional exhaustion:
Lack of social support
Not having someone to turn to in times of great stress can lead to loneliness, hopelessness, and emotional exhaustion.
Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
Misregulated thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can increase stress and cause a poor emotional response.
Low job satisfaction
Feeling unhappy at work can lead to chronic stress. It can also cause a sense of purposelessness and emotional exhaustion.
Relationship Struggles
Relationship difficulties, such as a divorce or separation from a friend, can reduce social support and increase stress. Co-parenting can also contribute to feelings of mental fatigue.
Living with a chronic illness
When you have chronic pain or live with an illness or disease, you can feel isolated, hopeless, and stressed.
Tips to Prevent Emotional Exhaustion
There are things you can do to deal with feeling overwhelmed and address emotional exhaustion before it becomes debilitating. Many people don't practice self-care or self-awareness, which can lead to a variety of problems, including emotional exhaustion. Here are tips to prevent or relieve emotional exhaustion:
- Realign goals and expectations for yourself. Evaluate a typical weekly schedule to reduce or eliminate unwanted items.
- Practice self-care and mindfulness techniques: For example, try meditation, yoga, exercise, and breathing exercises; this can reduce stress, help sleep, and reinforce being present.
- Being honest with yourself is the first step to healing, it is recognizing that there is a problem and taking action to deal with it.
- Find a mental health professional with experience in stress management
- Focus on trying to create a healthy work-life balance setting realistic limits in terms of work can help you achieve this goal
- Strengthen important relationships with family and friends spend time with people who nurture your spirit and are good listeners
- Reassess your priorities in all aspects of your life & determine what is important to you, set new goals, and give yourself permission to say no
- Identify and do activities that bring you pleasure, find a new hobby, travel to a new place, find a place of worship or volunteer for a cause that is meaningful to you.
Conclusion
People feel emotionally tired when they are not happy with their personal or work life as they are caught up in a situation that leads to even more stress and mental & emotional burnout. Following the tips mentioned above can help you to cope with the situations & letting go of the triggers making you emotionally tired.
