What is mental exhaustion? Mental exhaustion is a feeling of extreme tiredness, characterized by other feelings including apathy, cynicism, and irritability. You may be mentally exhausted if you've recently undergone long-term stress, find it hard to focus on tasks, or lack interest in activities you usually enjoy.
Exhaustion isn't just physical. You may not recognize the signs, but mental and emotional stress can leave you feeling fatigued, too. If you think you may be mentally or emotionally exhausted, reach out to Banner Health for help.
Burnout typically refers to physical and mental fatigue caused by one's work-related stressors. In contrast, emotional exhaustion occurs as a response to negative challenges in life, relationships, home environments, and more.
Feeling negative, hopeless, helpless about your situation and feeling unable to resolve your issues. Mental exhaustion and low energy level, resulting in low engagement and low participation in work/life activities as well as physical symptoms like fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, and reduced appetite.
feel isolated — disinterested in the company of family and friends, or withdrawing from usual daily activities. feel overwhelmed — unable to concentrate or make decisions. be moody — feeling low or depression; feeling burnt out; emotional outbursts of uncontrollable anger, fear, helplessness or crying.
Additionally, taking a really proactive approach to recovery will speed things along – for example, if you involve a psychologist. On average, you'll usually start to see the first signs of recovery after a few months of treatment. Full recovery can take over a year, depending on your specific situation.
This is commonly known as brain fog or mental fatigue. According to recent research, an overstimulated brain impairs your cognitive abilities. This affects your productivity, decision-making skills, or memory. For example, brain fog makes it hard to concentrate.
Therefore, the easiest response to being overwhelmed with emotions and stress, is to cry. Lack of a mental break means your brain is too tired to organize your thoughts and reduce the stress you feel. So, your body is using these tears to expel a stress hormone called cortisol.
The most common signs someone is having a mental breakdown are: Hopelessness. Thoughts of suicide. Sense of worthlessness.
When the stress becomes unbearable, it can lead to a nervous breakdown. Studies have shown that stress affects both your mind and your body. Long-term stress can lead to structural changes in the brain, which can affect your memory and lead to difficulty concentrating.
What does it mean when you feel numb? Feeling emotionally numb commonly arises as an unconscious protective response to feeling difficult emotions, whether due to anxiety, stress or trauma. Experts regard it as a form of dissociation, a process that allows us to unconsciously protect ourselves from emotional pain.
Many of the symptoms of depression are the same as emotional exhaustion. The biggest difference is that depression can manifest as feelings of loneliness and sadness with no apparent reason.
Social exhaustion can also be called introvert burnout or introvert hangover. Although it's not a medical diagnosis, it is a valid experience that introverts and extroverts can face. It can be an emotional and physical response to social overstimulation that leaves you feeling drained and exhausted.
They leave you feeling drained after every conversation. They want your nonstop attention and the conversation is always about them. They may be charming, charismatic and the life-of-the-party personality. They also may cheat.
A nervous breakdown may last for days, weeks, months—even years. Because it's usually longer in duration, it takes more time and energy to recover from, as well.
Be as honest and open as you can
Explaining how you're feeling can allow others to understand what you're experiencing. If you think describing your condition or how you're feeling might be overwhelming, show them an article from a book or website.