Getting mentally fatigued and being emotionally exhausted are not the same things. Emotional exhaustion is an extremely unhealthy state of mind, which needs to be taken care of immediately. We will help you with that in today's post, but first let us be certain if you indeed suffering from emotional exhaustion.
What would be the red flags of emotional exhaustion?
Emotional exhaustion is generally manifested in the form of chronic stress as well as mental conditions such as, anxiety and depression. To know for certain that your stress is actually an indicator of emotional enervation, you need to be on the lookout for the following signs. Remember, only by diagnosing rid of it, can you treat the condition effectively.
1. Sleeping doesn't relax
Do you feel as exhausted when you awaken in the morning as you feel before hitting the bed? Does sleep not help in making a you feel well rested or relaxed? Well, then it's quite possible that you are going through emotional exhaustion. A good night's sleep is not likely to make you feel any better or positive about your life. Until you actually treat your condition, things will stay this way.
2. Relaxing and unwinding doesn't work
Are you trying different relaxing techniques, but nothing is bearing any fruit? While relaxing and unwinding should alleviate your stress and exhaustion, people who have emotional exhaustion rarely get any relief from these techniques. You will have to be more creative to relax your mind and recharge it.
3. You're always annoyed, but you have no idea why
Have people in your life started pointing out that you are almost always very cranky and angry? Has that angered you further? Have you tried finding out why you feel so irritated constantly, and failed at that? When one is going through the state of emotional exhaustion, they are very sensitive to everything, and react inside a rather volatile manner to even the silliest things.
4. Insomnia is your new friend
Stress causes insomnia, but there's a way you can differentiate between insomnia brought on by stress and insomnia caused by emotional exhaustion. While the former is treated through general relaxing techniques, the latter persists despite those practices.
5. Nightmares are regular visitors
Emotions and dreams are closely associated. Having nightmares almost regularly, shows that there is something terribly wrong happening in your subconscious mind, which finds a getaway and manifests itself as nightmares inside your sleep. You may not be able to realize these issues when you are conscious, but when you are sleeping and have no control over your mind, these emotions drop their veils and reveal themselves.
6. You don't feel attached to people and things
This sign almost confirms that you are indeed suffering from emotional exhaustion. If you need to force yourself to feel for the people around you or your things, it means that your emotions are just fried, and you're simply emotionally bushed. A feeling of emptiness fills the space around you.
7. Concentrating is a real struggle
When our emotional database is emptied, it becomes difficult to concentrate on anything. Focusing on your regular tasks or your life goals can feel like an ordeal, and you will find your mind wandering off most of the time. If this sounds like your current situation, or if it has been this way for quite some time now, then you're emotionally used up, and need to recharge yourself.
8. Your defense mechanisms sucks
When you are emotionally unwell, that is sure to have repercussions on your physical health. You are likely to get sick often. Very few people are aware of this, but prolonged stress harms the defense mechanisms making it very weak and prone to diseases.
9. You just can't eat
When a person is going through a period of emotional exhaustion, eating takes great effort. Even though you may feel hungry, you will not be able to swallow your food. Even your favorites won't entice you like they used to. To put it simply, yes, you simply cannot eat.
10. Headaches trouble you a lot more than often
When people are emotionally beat, headaches are a regular occurrence. It is because your mind is functioning more than it ought to normally, to process all that's happening with you emotionally. And what is worse is the fact that though you are spending so much of your mental energy on overanalyzing exactly what has happened and is happening, you can't find out the cause of this emotional exhaustion that you simply feel all the time.
If five or even more of these signs are true for you personally, then you are emotionally exhausted, and want to take care of your condition. Let us let you know how.
What you can do to treat your emotional exhaustion
1. Find someone you can trust, and share your circumstances with them
Opening up to someone you trust is vital when it comes to treating emotional exhaustion. This individual could be your friend or someone you're related to. If letting out things which are so close to your heart to a person you know scares you, you'll be able to seek help from an expert who won't judge you for a way you feel. Unburdening yourself is essential and you need to seek help for your.
2. Find out what's causing this exhaustion
Analyzing, identifying and isolating the problem is the first step to correct it or solve it. You will have to go deep and think about various situations that drain you mentally. You'll have to ask yourself some hard questions, that will provide you with a compass to navigate and get to the problem that lies somewhere deep within. Brushing the real cause under the carpet, and pretending to consider it in the room, is not going to help you.
3. Take a break
Yes, we are talking about a holiday, and no that is not a superficial or short-term solution. This vacation will help you take a break from everything which has been going on, and for a while you can observe and analyze your situation from the outside, which will give you a more unbiased and proper assessment of your situation. And as we said before, if you diagnose your condition better, the therapy will automatically be better too.
4. Don't try to shove your feeling inward
Not talking t someone about what you are going through, not unburdening yourself, and instead keeping every emotion you are feeling buried inside of you, will only contribute to make things worse.
So what should you do instead? Cry whenever you feel like crying; if you feel like complimenting someone, go on and do that; if you are mad at someone, you have to find a way to address your feelings inside a civilized manner. If there are those who are constantly upsetting you, then you need to confront them. As soon as you start communicating your feelings, you will notice how relieved you feel.
5. Professional help
If you see that taking a break or communicating your emotions isn't helping you, then you need to find professional help. Remember, there is nothing wrong with visiting the psychiatrist. You are not feeling well, emotionally, and also you need to make yourself feel better again, and that will be possible only when you get yourself treated by a doctor.
Bonus:
Ways you are able to clean your tank of emotions and obtain recharged
1. Have a pity party for yourself
Everybody needs a pity party at least once in their lives. You need to enable your guard down, and been genuine about how exactly you feel. If you think there are a few things in your lifetime that suck, talk about them. If a person asks you how you are, don't say you are fine just for the heck of it; say how you really feel. Let the people you love into your nightmare, and see how they help you through it. When they don't, then maybe they aren't as close to you as you thought these were, and may be it was time to let go of them.
2. Remember you're only human
Being emotionally exhausted is really a perfectly normal human experience. It doesn't mean something is wrong along with you, and that you are a lost case. It just means you aren't feeling perfectly, and need to rest. Stop beating yourself up for not being able to control everything; you are striving for something that is just not possible.
3. Say no more often
Learning how to say no is essential to treating emotional exhaustion. Here's why. People who are emotionally fatigued are more than often people-pleasers. They think it is very hard to say no to people because they are sacred of one, breaking those peoples' hearts; and two, losing friends. As a result, they carry on doing things they don't want to which pile keeps growing, finally exhausting the person emotionally.
So to treat yourself of the emotional exhaustion, learn to say NO.
That is all we have on today's post. We hope you found it helpful. Do let us know what you think the post nailed and what it got wrong, in the comments below. We love to study from you. 
