Emotional Fatigue: When Your Mind And Body Say STOP!

Last updated by Katie M.

The past two years of the pandemic haven’t been good for our mental health, to say the least. It’s even left some people feeling very emotionally tired: irritability, loss of energy and pleasure, feeling of incapacity… Most often, we don’t identify these small signals that are nevertheless the sign of mental exhaustion. Understanding emotional fatigue can help you escape the worst and prevent you from totally collapsing. Let’s talk about it.

Emotional Fatigue: When Your Mind And Body Say STOP!
Contents: 

What is emotional fatigue?

To have emotional fatigue means no longer having any strength. But beyond that, there is a form of psychological exhaustion that we’re regularly not aware of, at least in the early stages 😢. Nothing is fluid with emotional fatigue, we can no longer have a functioning relationship, nor be productive at work, nor keep our appointments properly. You run out of time and feel like you’re constantly out of step 😥.

A loss of emotions

What reveals emotional fatigue the most is a different feeling. We feel disconnected from everything, nothing matters anymore. We no longer have the strength to fight because we’re so exhausted. This is a very important warning signal that may already indicate symptoms of depression. However, there are other factors to consider with emotional fatigue 🤕.

The symptoms of emotional fatigue

Being emotionally exhausted reflects a different behavior and reactions that are unlike those we’re used to. Moreover, we may notice:

  • Exacerbated irritability: we can’t stand anything.
  • A lot of accumulated fatigue: we wake up feeling exhausted already.
  • Emotional detachment: nothing has an impact on us, we lose pleasure.
  • A feeling of emptiness and solitude: we feel like nothing moves us anymore.
  • Difficulty concentrating and working: we have problems concentrating, whether at work or not.
  • The feeling of being overwhelmed by emotions, bordering on hypersensitivity.
  • Memory loss: we feel like we no longer have enough mental space to retain everything.

⚠️ Often, these signs are associated with real somatisation, which leads to physical pains or illnesses such as migraines, backache, or more or less benign stomach aches.

Emotional fatigue in a relationship, at work, at home…

Sometimes, the context of our life can lead us to this mental exhaustion. For example, a relationship

with a narcissistic pervert is toxic for our well-being. By fighting every day to make the relationship work, we end up with emotional fatigue due to the relationship. It can also be the case for a job that leads to a burn-out

What are the solutions to overcome emotional fatigue?

The first step is to acknowledge that you’re not well. Easier said than done, as I myself denied my mental state. However, once you’re aware of it, you’ll be able to act to overcome this emotional fatigue.

👉 Understand the source of the exhaustion

To do this, you need to identify the dominant emotion: is it fear 😱? Sorrow 😭? Anger 😡? As I said before, there may be an easily understandable cause for emotional fatigue (relationship, family, etc.). However, there may be another reason that we fail to recognize at first glance, such as pandemic fatigue. This is why it’s important to dissect and analyze the situation in order to best understand what has cause this state.

👉 Restore the balance

Once this step has been completed, the important thing is to restore the balance ⚖️. This can take the form of a break-up, a career change, or simply therapy. The solution is within us, but we’re not always able to listen to the voice within. Seeking help from a professional can make the difference 🤗!

👉 Take time out

The last step is to rest 😪. Living your life at 100 miles an hour that exhausts us, or on the contrary a daily routine that makes us blasé… In short, we press pause on all of it to shake up our habits a bit, but above all, to give ourselves some time. A digital detox is recommended to cut yourself off from the outside world, in order to refocus on yourself. This is the right time to take a holiday and ask yourself the right questions: what would make us feel good? What do we want 🤔?

🤧 Emotional fatigue is our body’s way of telling us that there’s something wrong before a psychological meltdown, so we should listen to it 👂.

Editor’s note: a fatigue not to be underestimated!

Emotional fatigue shouldn’t be underestimated at all. Listen to yourself, listen to your body’s signals before the symptoms get worse. Emotional fatigue isn’t, nothing, you’re psychologically and emotionally exhausted, and you need to catch your breath. Don’t wait to make an appointment with a psychologist.

🤗 Understanding yourself, accepting yourself, being happy... It’s here and now!
#BornToBeMe

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"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." 

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