Have you ever felt that you’ve lost control of your life and cannot get out of the situation you live in? Stress, never-ending tiredness (both physical and emotional), no positive vision of your future, no stimuli to work, no desire to do anything; It’s like you’ve come to a dead-end and there’s no way out. It’s like you’ve got trapped in your own tiresome and exhausting life. Well, congratulations! You have emotional burnout.
Every year the feelings we’ve described visit millions of people around the globe. And, if trusting statistics, their number is growing drastically. For instance, the growth of levels of physical fatigue related to emotional burnout has reached an astonishing 38% within one year only. According to Forbes, 52% of employees experienced burnout in 2021, and that’s a huge number of people who fail to keep up with the demands of life.
While for some people emotional burnout may sound like someone’s whim and laziness, in reality, it is a significant problem, which requires help from a mental health professional.
More about Emotional Burnout
When we speak about emotional burnout, we imply the state of feeling emotionally drained. People experiencing emotional exhaustion feel overwhelmed. They feel like they can no longer meet their own and other people’s expectations due to mental and emotional exhaustion. Although the core of the problem lies in the mental and emotional health of a person, burnout has pronounced effects on a person’s physical health too.
The symptoms of emotional burnout are the following:
- frequent headaches;
- permanent fatigue;
- trouble sleeping;
- increased irritability;
- nervousness;
- apathy;
- depressive state;
- emotional overeating or vice versa – no appetite;
- the feeling of being underestimated;
- no motivation to work, meet friends, or get involved in any type of activity
- you feel hopeless.
These are only some of the plethora of feelings, emotions, and physical conditions you may have. You should understand that all those symptoms don’t hit you altogether. They’ll pile up, appearing one by one, dragging you into the hole of despair. So, your main task is to notice the problem before it gets full-blown and hits you strong.
Why Does the Burnout Happen?
There’s no one exact reason why you experience emotional exhaustion. There are always several things that layer one onto another, eventually bringing you to the state where you can be called worn-out.
The typical causes for your condition may include:
- lots of stressful situations flooding your life;
- working or living in a high-pressure environment;
- working long hours without sufficient rest;
- a lack of time for personal life;
- shortage of sleep;
- you lack recognition for the work you do;
- drowning in responsibilities you cannot handle on your own, etc.
By the way, some personal character traits can make you more prone to emotional exhaustion. Burnout is more common in people who
- can be called a type-A personality, aka people setting high goals for themselves;
- are rather pessimistic in their views of the world and the situation they live in;
- are perfectionists who are never satisfied with the result they achieve;
- have the need to control everyone and everything and never delegate to others.
Dealing with Emotional Burnout. Useful Tips
If everything you’ve read above is about you, you should know that you have the power to change this. People suffering from emotional exhaustion can turn the clocks back and restore their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. So if you need some support and advice on how to do this, we’ll be glad to share some tips for coping with this problem.
Acknowledge the Problem
Emotional burnout can, in some way, be compared to alcoholism or drug abuse. Basically, you know you’ve taken the wrong turn, but you do nothing to change this. In this regard, acknowledging the problem is your first step to its resolution. If you don’t feel fine emotionally and physically, just say it. Accept the problem, and don’t deny you have it.
Get Rid of the Stressor
If the cause of your exhaustion is your job, consider changing the environment you work in. This may involve asking for a transfer to the other department, going for remote work (if that’s possible in your company), or changing the company you work for. Anything that can reduce stress at work will do.
Finding a solution may be more challenging if the cause of your stress is your family members, financial issues, or other things you cannot change easily. A stay-at-home mom who got worn out by her daily routine may ask her husband or other family members to give her at least a couple of hours a week for herself. This time should be used for emotional and physical reload and staying one-on-one with yourself.
Establish Healthy Work-Life Balance
To be able to work and be productive, you need sufficient rest. Finding a perfect work-life balance may be the key to your emotional stability and well-being. Leave the weekends for yourself and never take your job home. These are the two essential rules that will help you preserve your emotional and physical charge and live a happy life.
Eat Healthily
Very often, the cause for our physical and emotional draining out is a deficit of the vitamins and nutrients essential for our nervous system and body on the whole.A balanced diet is an easy and tasty way to bring yourself back to good physical and mental form.
Enrich your diet with fruits, vegetables, slow carbs, and good fats. Eliminate processed food and limit sweets, which provide you temporary satisfaction only. Eating healthy isessential for your sleep, digestion, energy levels, and other organs and systems that need your care and attention.
Start Working out
Exercise for 30 minutes a day to recover from burnout. By activating your muscles, you enhance the production of endorphins and serotonin, which are essential for your emotional well-being and happiness. While adding to your good mood, the physical load is great for distracting your attention from things that may bother you.
Mindfulness is the Key
Practice mindfulness to concentrate on where you are now and what you feel. Learning to focus on things that matter here and now can do wonders for people suffering from emotional exhaustion. You can try various practices, such as meditation, yoga, keeping a diary of emotions, and all sorts of breathing exercises that will turn your brain off and let you feel the moment.
Bottom Line
Emotional burnout sounds very rough. And it actually is so. The good news is no matter how deep in the abyss, there is always a way to the top. Never forget about that. And don’t let circumstances spoil your life and make you live through the emotions no one wants to experience.