8 Signs You Are Emotionally Drained

Burnout is something that you want to avoid when dealing with stressful seasons. Here are 8 signs you are emotionally drained so you can prevent it.

Burnout is real and that happens quite often when you’re walking through hard times. I have noticed, as a highly sensitive introvert, that I experience burnout more often than I feel like the people around me do.

Today, I want to take a look at burnout: what it is and what you can do about it. Recently, I spent an entire week on the couch. Not by choice, mind you. I had a lot of things that I wanted to do and a lot of things that I needed to do, but I couldn’t do them.

My body and brain would not let me do anything other than sit on the couch, watch TV, and read. And, of course, necessities like eating and all that stuff. Honestly, if I didn’t have kids to take care of, I probably wouldn’t have done much of that either. I was burnt out.

That’s a classic case of burnout for me, my body being like, “Hey, listen, nope, we’re not doing anything because you’ve overdone it, you’ve done too much, and what you need to do is just sit right here and rest and recuperate.”

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Burnout is a real thing. I’ve noticed more and more that people are finding the word for burnout and experiencing burnout. So, what is burnout? Psychology Today defines burnout as “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. “

Exactly where I was. I was burnt out emotionally, mentally, and physically. I was completely exhausted because of prolonged stress. So if you are like I was and you’re wondering, “Oh, my goodness, what is going on?” you; ‘re probably burnt out.

I thought it might be helpful to take a look at two things: burnout and emotional exhaustion. When you’re walking through hard times, these are two of the biggest things that I see. You’re burnt out and also emotionally exhausted.

So we’re going to talk about those, and I’m going to try to give you some hope and some practical things you can do to help you deal with it.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

Chronic Fatigue

Number one is chronic fatigue. When I say chronic, I mean most of the time, or all of the time, you are tired, you are drained, you are exhausted. Even if you slept, even if you got eight hours of sleep at night, even if you got ten hours of sleep at night, you are just exhausted and drained all of the time.

If you are walking around and you are noticing that during a month or a week you are more often feeling like this with chronic fatigue, that is a sign of burnout.

Decreased Motivation

Number two is decreased motivation. You have no interest, excitement, or enthusiasm in anything in your life. Work, hobbies, your friends, things that were fun and enjoyable—you couldn’t care less. That’s what that looks like.

I have seen this as well, moments where I’m so burnt out that I can’t do anything. I would think, “Yeah, I would love to go out with my friend, but I don’t have it in me. I would love to paint, I would love to go do this, I would love to do that.” But I just could not do it. That’s how I found myself stuck on the couch watching TV. I’m not a TV person.

Increased Irritability

Number three is increased irritability. If you are easily frustrated or aggravated, if you have a shorter fuse than you normally do, that can be a sign of burnout. I want to pause here really quickly because I want you to be super clear that this is not like if I check everything off the box, I’m burnt out, and if I don’t check anything, then I’m fine.

Or if I only check one or two, then I’m fine. No, all of these things are signs of burnout. You could have one and be burnt out. Also, you’ll notice, as we’re talking about these, that a lot of these things are also signs of depression or anxiety or something more serious. So always, always, even if you just think it’s burnout, take the time to go and talk with your doctor.

Say, “Listen, here are some things that I’m experiencing, here’s what’s going on, here are my concerns. What do you think?” Because your doctor can help you figure out if you just need a vacation or if there’s something more serious that needs to be addressed.

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Feeling Detached

Number four is feeling detached. You feel completely disconnected from work, from your family, from your friends, from different relationships in your life, or just life in general. You may be very cynical and sarcastic about everything that’s going on. That can be a sign of burnout.

If you’re having trouble being productive, you can’t concentrate, you’re not working efficiently, and you have things that are just being left undone—all of these things can be signs of burnout. You can be so exhausted that you just don’t have the energy to finish what you start, and for most of us, that’s unusual.

Physical Symptoms

Some physical symptoms of burnout are things like headaches, your muscles being really tense in your neck and your back, and all over your body. You might have tummy problems. Think of all these things as your body’s way of saying, “Hey, something’s going on here. Please pay attention.”

Neglecting Self-Care

Neglecting your self-care or ignoring proper needs, and I mean the basics, is the next one. If you are not showering, if you’re not nourishing your body, if you’re not moving your body, if you’re not resting, you’re not relaxing—these can be signs of burnout.

When you are burnt out, not only do you not have the energy to do outside things, but you don’t have the energy to do anything. So, if you’ve been in your PJs for five days, that is a sign that you need to check in with yourself and see what kind of support you need.

Isolation

Isolation is withdrawing from social activities, avoiding your people, and this overwhelming sense of loneliness—all of that can lead to burnout or can be a sign of burnout.

Recovering from Burnout

What can you do if you’re like, “I have these signs. I’m recognizing this in myself. What can I do?” Number one, go see your doctor. Share with your doctor the things that you are experiencing and what’s going on, to see if, physically and medically there’s something there that needs to be addressed.

If you do that and your doctor says, “Yeah, I don’t think you’re depressed, I don’t think it’s something more serious, you’re burnt out,” then you really need to take a look at your life and find ways to get more rest.

Rest, for me, has been the best thing for burnout. I mean real rest. Take everything off your calendar that’s not essential. Sleep, nourish yourself with good food, go for walks, find a hobby, but just take time out to pause on doing all the things and take care of yourself.

Rest and self-care are really important when you are dealing with burnout. Yes, it might mean that you scale way back on your “responsibilities” and things you need to do, but that’s okay because you have to take care of yourself if you want to be able to show up and serve and be there for all the other things you have going on in your life.

I’m not telling you to quit your job. If you can take a vacation, take a vacation, but the things that you can say no to, say no to those things for a short time so you can take care of yourself and recover from burnout.

Signs and Symptoms of Emotional Exhaustion

Now, I mentioned before that I also wanted to talk about emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion and burnout are very similar, but I have found that burnout is more visible. It’s mental, emotional, and physical, but it’s also a lot of physical things that you can see.

Emotional exhaustion can sometimes be a little more hidden and it’s more personal because it’s things within yourself. I might be able to look at my friend and wonder if she’s feeling burnt out, but I might not always be able to look at her and think, “Hmm, is she emotionally exhausted?”

Because I’m not in her mind, I’m not in her body, I don’t know what she’s going through. We’re going to look at a couple of quick signs of emotional exhaustion, and there might be some overlap with burnout, but I think they’re distinct enough that I want to pull them out.

Feeling Overwhelmed

Number one is feeling overwhelmed. Constantly feeling overwhelmed by all the things. Your responsibilities are overwhelming, your tasks are overwhelming, and your emotions are overwhelming.

I hear from ladies in our community all the time that their emotions just feel so big. They’re just too big. “I don’t know what to do with them, they’re too big,” or “I feel like I’m drowning in my emotions.” Feeling overwhelmed like that is a sign that you’re emotionally exhausted.

Emotionally Drained

The second thing is being emotionally drained or depleted more than usual. I know that many of us here are introverts and highly sensitive people so being emotionally drained is kind of the norm. But I’m talking about more than what is normal for you. When the smallest thing or the smallest task leaves you feeling completely emotionally spent.

Increased Sensitivity

Increased sensitivity is another possible symptom. We embrace sensitivity as a gift from God around here, but I’m talking about more sensitivity than your usual. So are you crying all the time? Are you having outbursts of anger? Are you struggling with not dumping all your emotions, on all your people?

Pay attention to that, because when you are emotionally exhausted, just like when you’re burnt out and your body’s like “Nope, we’re not doing it!”, your emotions will do the same thing. You will lose your ability to control and manage your emotions if you’re exhausted.

Reduced Ability to Cope

Number four is a reduced ability to cope. When life is throwing things at you left and right, and you just can’t anymore. You can’t handle it, you can’t cope with things, you have nothing left to give.

Sense of Hopelessness

If you’re feeling hopeless or helpless about your future or just have no optimism, like “This is just how it is, it’s not going to get any better.” Pay attention to that. I am not talking about hopelessness that has gone into despair and depression. That’s not what I mean here.

I mean if you’re just struggling to see something positive about your future. Yes, this could also be depression or anxiety. So be sure to get whatever support you need from whatever medical professional that you need.

Depersonalization

Another thing here is depersonalization, which is a really big word. So we talked before in the list for burnout about feeling detached from your life and relationships. Depersonalization is being detached from yourself.

It’s almost as if you’re watching your life happen before you and you’re not involved and present in your life.

Extra Emotional

If your emotions are just all over the place. They’re up and down, you’re really emotional one minute, you’re down and upset and sad the next minute, and you’re mad. You might have emotions that don’t fit the situation.

You might be mad at your friend and it has nothing to do with your friend, it has something to do with what’s going on within yourself. You might be sad about something that, in the past, would not have made you sad. Thinkt big, wild, all-over-the-place emotions, or emotions that don’t fit the situation.

Brain Fog

And the last one is cognitive impairment. You’re having a hard time concentrating or remembering things. You’re in that brain fog and nothing makes sense and you just don’t know what’s going on. You’re struggling with confusion or inability to think clearly or make decisions, and feeling really scattered.

Recovering from Emotional Exhaustion

Just like with burnout, I’m going to encourage you to go and talk to your doctor and share what’s going on. They can help you figure out if it’s burnout, depression, anxiety, or something else. Then you can work with them to make sure you have the tools to work through those things.

Get Enough (or Extra) Rest

Rest is really important with emotional exhaustion as well. Take time to rest. Get enough sleep. Sleep is so important to our bodies and to our brains. Make sure that you’re eating nourishing food. Don’t skip meals. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water. Take care of yourself and nourish yourself with good food.

Take breaks. We live in a culture that is so go, go, go, and hustle, hustle, hustle, and you may feel like you have to do all the things all the time. You don’t. You need to take breaks, rest, pull back, and breathe. Take time to pause and just be still.

Find Support and Community

Finally, I think it’s so important to find support. Talk to a friend, talk to a coach, or talk to a therapist. Find people who can support you, people who can come alongside you and walk with you through the season that you’re in, because you are not meant to do life alone.

We are meant to do life in community, and having support when you are emotionally exhausted or when you are burnt out can be so helpful. Having someone who can encourage you, having someone who can speak the truth to you, having someone who can remind you of what you already know, because sometimes when you are in the thick of it, you forget.

Having someone there who can just remind you, “Hey, you’ve got this, you’re going to be okay, this is what you need to do, I believe in you,” can be so important.

I hope that this has been helpful for you so you can start to recognize when you’re experiencing burnout or emotional exhaustion. I want you to be able to take a step toward caring for yourself so that you can actually find peace, joy, and strength so you can enjoy your life.