Emotional Exhaustion: How To Recognize It
Emotional exhaustion is a distressing state that many people suffer without knowing it. Often this is due to unrewarding work or harmful relationships. However, it is also possible that the opposite is happening: it is the emotional exhaustion that causes everything else to go wrong.
This state is devoid of all forces. This happens when you live mechanically, without thinking or feeling and acting as if everything were imposed. As if our life did not belong to us and this did not matter to us.
In some cases, emotional exhaustion goes hand in hand with adulthood. If the family is dysfunctional, it has probably been necessary to invest a lot of energy in trying to integrate and understand an adverse context. Here are some signs that can help you recognize emotional exhaustion.
Symptoms of emotional exhaustion
Constant fatigue
This tiredness differs from normal in that it afflicts despite having rested for a sufficient period of time. It is as if the body and mind do not want to work. As if the only feasible thing was to lie down on the bed and get up the next month. And, despite this, the fatigue persists.
Emotional fatigue weighs as much, if not more, than physical fatigue. If we are emotionally exhausted, it means that circumstances overwhelm our resources to cope with them. Likewise, a long list of unresolved emotional difficulties results in this feeling of weight that leads to exhaustion.
Cynicism
Modern cynicism is an attitude that leads to insisting and even bragging about something that we are consciously doing inadequately. Something like, “Yeah, I’m doing it wrong, so what?” It also expresses itself with self-destructive and / or reckless actions. Walking in a dangerous area at night, driving at high speed or other risky situations.
We suffer from nervous breakdowns and this prompts us to block our feelings and anesthetize ourselves. It’s like we want or can’t help shouting to the world that we don’t care. Maybe it’s not true, but our life energy is reduced and we feel we don’t have enough strength to resist or to try to have something better.
Detachment
We are unable to truly connect with the people or situations we find ourselves in. It is as if there is an invisible distance that prevents us from creating a genuine bond with the world and with life.
A sense of loneliness can thus emerge that does not worry us too much. We take it as a fact, and not as a reality that we could change in our favor. It is common for us to arm ourselves with clichés about the validity of selfishness or the uselessness of affects.
Sense of ineffectiveness
When someone is emotionally exhausted, they also perceive themselves as helpless or incapable. He does everything in his power to convince himself that no effort will be enough to achieve anything. Furthermore, it will detract from his successes: why set goals if everything remains the same in the end?
The sense of ineffectiveness feeds emotional exhaustion. It is as if, to do anything, you need tons of energy that you don’t have. In this way, it all seems distant and difficult. For this reason, an emotionally exhausted person often opts for passivity.
Frequent boredom
It is difficult to enjoy the big and the small. Almost everything seems boring, monotonous or for no reason. There is no desire to make plans, nor to undertake new projects. You live in a state of inertia. The person lets himself be carried away by circumstances, without putting up any resistance. If this condition is not treated, it can become anhedonia.
If you think you are emotionally exhausted, you need to know that everything can change. Perhaps you will need the help of a professional who can help you detect the problem and address issues that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Nothing is more important than ourselves and if we start a transformation process, the results can come quite quickly. More than a lot of energy to unlock our emotions, we simply need to embark on a new path.
