Signs of Mental Exhaustion
Are you mentally exhausted?
Do you ever feel like you’re always tired, even if you got a good night’s sleep? If getting out of bed feels impossible sometimes, you may be mentally exhausted 😰
This kind of exhaustion is different than exhaustion caused by lack of sleep 🛏. You know that feeling after an intense workout? It’s like that – but imagine that the exhaustion is not in your muscles but rather in your mind 🤯.
Whether you’re experiencing decision fatigue after needing to make difficult decisions, being in therapy and diving into hard things, or focusing on a mentally tough task for a while, mental exhaustion can really take a toll on your energy levels and productivity. Mental exhaustion can also be caused by anxiety and being on high alert – you might also feel this kind of brain drain if you’re always feeling activated or stressed out.
It’s so important to recognize when you’re mentally exhausted and see how you can take steps to decompress and recharge your brain. Just like your phone can run out of battery and need to be charged, we too need to take breaks and recharge. If you let your phone get to 0%, it completely shuts down – but if you continuously charge it in between usage, it won’t get to the point where it stops working.
Some signs of mental exhaustion could be:
Chronic stress 😬: You feel like you are always worried about something and can’t get your mind to calm down. Your body feels the stress as well, manifesting as tightness and tension in your neck, shoulders, and back. You feel tired but your mind isn’t letting you rest.
Anger & impatience 🤬: Think of your mind like a glass of water. If the glass is empty, and you pour a few drops of water in, the water will stay contained in the glass. If you keep pouring more and more water in the cup, without pouring some out first, it will eventually get to a point where it overflows and starts spilling everywhere. Our emotions are like this as well. If you’re mentally exhausted and don’t take time to rest, your emotions will just overflow and you’ll be in a state of reactivity and emotions will be heightened.
Chronic fatigue 🥱: No matter how much you sleep, you’re still exhausted. Sometimes you wake up feeling more exhausted than when you first went to sleep.
A decline in motivation 📉: Doing simple tasks feels like you’re solving a very difficult math equation and you just don’t have the energy to do things, even fun things.
Anxiety 🧠: You’re experiencing more than a normal amount of anxiety and traditional stress relievers aren’t seeming to help at all.
You zone out 🎧: Without even realizing it, you’re zoning out in the middle of doing a task, having a conversation, driving, or eating 🍽. You forget what someone just said to you and completely miss things right in front of you.
Cynicism & doubt 🤨: You’re not feeling hopeful and your mind tends to lean towards cynicism. Hoping takes more energy, and you find it easier to be cynical.
So how do you recharge your mind?
In an ideal world, we don’t wait until we’re nearing mental exhaustion and reach for the charger way before it reaches 1%. Being proactive and taking breaks and eliminating stressors is a much better strategy in the long run.
If you are at a point of mental exhaustion, there are ways to recover. Recharging your mind doesn’t need to be this big task – it can be simple breaks in the middle of the day to rest your body, mind, and spirit.
Some ways to recover from mental exhaustion can be:
Clear your physical space 🧽: Although it sounds simple, being in a clean environment can drastically improve your mental health. When your mind is cluttered, sometimes decluttering your space can help your mind follow 🕊.
Schedule your breaks 🗓: If you have an important meeting, you’d set a reminder so you don’t forget to attend. We should treat breaks as a necessary part of our workday and schedule time – even a few minutes – to take our mind off of work and go on a short walk, breathe some fresh air, do some yoga, stretch, watch a funny video, or anything that gives your mind and body a break. Schedule breaks in between stressful situations too – especially when it comes to difficult family dynamics. Make sure to set boundaries if and when you can.
Eliminate stressors 😫: This sounds pretty obvious but you can relieve stress by eliminating unnecessary stressors. Distance yourself from toxic relationships and situations. Delegate emotionally, mentally, or physically draining tasks that just don’t need to be done by you.
Reduce social media use 🤳🏼: Our brains aren’t meant to be exposed to THAT much content. You can scroll miles on Instagram without even realizing how much you just consumed. When you mindlessly scroll on social media, you don’t have time to process all of the content and your mind gets tired trying to digest all of what you just scrolled through.
Practice simple self-care 🧖🏼♀️: It’s okay if you don’t go to the gym 7 days a week for an hour. Simply moving your body in a way that feels good to you is self-care. You don’t need a ten-step skincare routine but it might be restorative to wash your face with cold water and put some moisturizer on before bedtime. Your self-care is not just another task to stress over or expect to be perfect at all.
I hope that you find ways to rest and restore your mental energy and take the time you need to recharge. Healing Pathways of Houston is always here to help you through mental exhaustion and any effects it’s had on your mental health and relationships. Reach out to our team at info@healingpathwayshouston.com.