How do you deal with people who drain you emotionally?
Allow yourself time to recover and regulate. Set boundaries and limit your time with them. Practice self-care and think of what proper "recovery" looks like to you. Check in with your emotional needs before deciding to spend time with that person and shape interactions in a way that could feel less draining.
They can drain your mental and emotional resources, hijack your sense of self, infect your mood and outlook on life, create stress and unhappiness, make you doubt your feelings and experiences, slow or sabotage your progress, and pull you away from healthy, empowering, uplifting relationships.
It can be an emotional and physical response to social overstimulation that leaves you feeling drained and exhausted. You might feel physically tired, stressed, angry, or irritable. Social exhaustion can feel like hitting a wall.
On the other hand, some people with toxic traits may behave poorly because of past trauma, a dysfunctional family life, or substance use. A person's inability to process stress and grief can sometimes transform into toxicity towards others.
How does living with a negative person affect you?
Even your worldview can become skewed by their incessant lack of enthusiasm. Under the influence of a negative person, you might even second guess yourself on important decisions, feel sad, uncomfortable or depressed.
However, it is how you deal with conflict that can potentially be problematic. Research has uncovered four toxic behaviours that can get in the way of communication and derail collaborative relationships if left unchecked. The four behaviours are Blaming, Contempt, Defensiveness and Stonewalling.
Toxic people love to manipulate those around them to get what they want. This means lying, bending the truth, exaggerating, or leaving out information so that you take a certain action or have a certain opinion of them. They'll do whatever it takes, even if it means hurting people. They Abuse Substances.
Unlike extroverts, who are energized by interactions with others, introverts are drained by social interactions, get their energy from being alone, and prefer to focus their energy on their inner world.
They're high on Neuroticism. An emotionally draining person is typically on the high end of the Neuroticism personality dimension. They're constantly negative, worried, anxious, and nervous. All of us experience these feelings from time to time, but for neurotic personalities, these experiences tend to be sticky.
Short answer: Other people drain your energy because you allow them to and because your energy tank is running on empty, leaving you without the fuel you need to deal with them. Short solution: Shift your focus from trying to change other people and instead focus on making yourself feeling better.
