Emotional Exhaustion: How to Overcome and Refuel When You are Emotionally Drained
While stress is a normal part of life and can even be healthy in small doses for short amounts of time, it has the potential to become overwhelming and can often lead to burnout. When we continue to function at full throttle and under excessive stress, we are all at risk of developing emotional exhaustion.
Not only are there many reasons why we may be feeling emotionally exhausted, but there are also plenty of strategies we can use to help take better care of ourselves.
What is Emotional Exhaustion?
Emotional exhaustion is a state of feeling deeply drained—physically, mentally, and emotionally—due to prolonged or overwhelming stress. According to Healthline, this can stem from challenges in your personal life, job, or both. Often, it’s a sign of a work-life imbalance and can lead to anxiety, resentment, low motivation, and the sense that you're just trying to get through the day.
The causes of emotional exhaustion vary from person to person. In many cases, it develops gradually after a prolonged period of constant stress, especially when a fast-paced lifestyle leaves little room for rest and self-care. While some situations—like a chronic illness or unexpected life event—may be out of our control, recognizing the signs of burnout early can help us take proactive steps toward healing.
Experiencing stress and anxiety is a normal part of life. But when stress becomes chronic, it begins to affect both the mind and body. Emotional exhaustion doesn’t usually arrive all at once—it builds over time, often giving us subtle signals before fully setting in. Tuning into these early warning signs is key to preventing deeper burnout.
Physical Symptoms of Emotional Exhaustion:
Sleep difficulties: Stress and burnout often disrupt sleep. You may struggle to fall asleep, wake up frequently, or experience “brain fog” that makes it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Over time, irregular sleep patterns can leave you feeling unrested and depleted.
Changes in appetite: Emotional exhaustion can affect digestion and appetite, leading to eating significantly more or less than usual. These shifts may also contribute to changes in weight.
Frequent aches and pains: Headaches, stomach issues, and muscle aches can signal that your body is under strain and not getting the recovery it needs.
Mental and Emotional Symptoms
Cognitive challenges: “Brain fog” is a common symptom, often showing up as forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty concentrating, or a sense that your thoughts are cloudy or slow.
Emotional sensitivity: When you’re emotionally drained, even small stressors can feel overwhelming. You may experience heightened mood swings, irritability, or a sense of hopelessness and disconnection.
Lack of motivation: Tasks that once felt manageable may now feel daunting or unimportant. You might feel stuck, pessimistic, or like you’re failing to keep up.
Relationship strain: Burnout can reduce your capacity to be present with others. You may struggle to stay patient, feel disconnected from your social life, or find it harder to show up for the people around you.
What To Do When You’re Emotionally Drained.
Acknowledge and identify your stressors.
The first stage of every recovery is accepting where you stand. Acknowledge that you are emotionally exhausted and that you need to make some changes. Take a much-needed break and examine your feelings and thoughts to identify why you may be experiencing mental exhaustion. Have you been taking care of yourself? What is it that’s getting you exhausted? What’s overwhelming you? When are you noticing these symptoms come up?
While it’s not always possible, once you’ve identified the cause of your mental exhaustion, see if you can reduce or remove it. Can you delegate some of your work tasks or get more help with household tasks?
Establish some possible solutions.
Coming up with solutions can be challenging and intimidating at first as it is normal for it to feel as though the problem is too big to solve. Give yourself time to reflect and seek support from trustworthy people in your personal or professional life, or from a mental health professional. Possible options that may be helpful include doing breathing exercises, learning to say “no,” setting boundaries, and prioritizing practicing self-care.
Take a time-out.
Think of yourself like a phone that needs to be charged. If you don’t charge the phone, the phone will stop working. If the phone is only charged in small increments, it never receives enough juice to last very long. Just like a phone, we need to be fully recharged before we can be our best selves. It’s OK to take a break from work, relationships, social media, etc.
Take better care of yourself.
While taking a break, it is essential that you take the necessary measures to allow yourself to fully recover. Listen to your body and ask what it needs. If you feel tired, get some rest; eat whole foods if you are hungry and engage in activities that elevate your mood. Nourish your body with fruits and vegetables and continue to stay hydrated. Be kind to yourself and take care of your needs at your own pace. The outside world can wait.
Make a game plan.
In most cases, burnout can be avoided if you continuously take measures to care for yourself.
After you start to feel like yourself again, come up with a game plan that implements 1-2 self-care habits into your daily routine. Having a game plan can help prevent you from resuming the same habits that once led you to the fatigue symptoms.
Sometimes thinking about all the things that we could or should be doing to be healthier and prevent us from emotional exhaustion can contribute to us feeling overwhelmed. It’s not always easy to put these strategies into practice in our day-to-day life, especially when we’ve been doing things a certain way for a long time. Focus on taking one step at a time by staying aware of the signs and symptoms of emotional exhaustion to warn you to slow down.
Whether you are on the brink of emotional exhaustion, or you have been managing the above-mentioned symptoms for a prolonged period of time, I am here to support you. Call or schedule a consultation today!
