- How come I am worn out all the time?
- Why am I always under pressure?
- How come I can’t seem to relax?
- Why am I feeling tired even after a decent night sleep?
- How do I know when I am stressed out?
- Why am I finding difficult to focus on the task at hand?
In this article I will try and give some insights into why you may be feeling worn out all the time. This is commonly known as mental exhaustion
What is mental exhaustion? When you are physically tired it’s your body and your muscles, but when you’re mentally tired it’s your brain that is affected. It could show up when you have been really focusing on something or a difficult task for quite some time. It could be caused by your job, constantly caring for children or aging parents. Any number of things could be wearing out that valuable brain of yours.
We are built for constant Improvement
The human being is a creature of continual improvement. We as a race want to become better. We want to succeed, and achieve greatness. Humans aim for financial security and wealth. Chasing after more and becoming better at what we do is to be welcomed. Without goals and ambition, we would stagnate and become very unhappy. In actual fact, many folks who suffer from depression or even attempt suicide have done so because they believe that their life has no meaning. So we must have a purpose and a meaning and goals that drive us forward. Read more about Understanding Depression & the Road to Recovery & Suicide Prevention
The downside to this drive is that quite often we become out of balance and push so hard for success and improvement that we become overwhelming stressed. A moderate amount of tension in life is good for us, but too much tension and putting ourselves under constant mental strain wears us out.
A Real Life Example
Now I would like to give you an example from my own life about the above. At the age of 30 I entered into a business deal which I poured 100% of my time and effort into it. I was working 80 to 100 hours a week and always focused on improvement of the business. The more I pushed, the more exhausted I became. In order to keep going I turned to stimulants of various sorts, which began to have a detrimental effect on my body. After 10 years of total dedication to one cause I was not just mentally exhausted, but clinically depressed, depended on substances to keep me going, and totally unhappy. In this time, I’d manage to destroy myself and destroy the marriage to my beautiful wife. This is a prime example of pushing the mind and body too far.
Symptoms of mental exhaustion
- Feeling demotivated.
- Lacking interest in things you normally enjoy.
- Being overwhelmed by simple tasks.
- Feeling frustrated, cynical and irritable.
- Finding it difficult to concentrate.
- Procrastinating.
- Substance abuse.
- Becoming angry.
Read more about Anger Management
Mental exhaustion reduces your productivity
When you are mentally exhausted your productivity goes down, it becomes difficult to stay motivated and focused. You may start to miss deadlines and even the smallest of tasks may feel overwhelming. When you are feeling this way, it might be exceedingly difficult for you to hold your attention on something, or you may react negatively and spontaneously to situations as they arise. For example, in this state of mind it would be dangerous to do things such as drive a motor vehicle in a wonderful town like Sydney, because if you lose your patience, you may do something which is erratic but also dangerous.
Recent research shows that if you have a job which has an extremely high cognitive workload, and you are using your mind continuously for hours on end, then you are more likely to suffer symptoms of insomnia. Not sleeping correctly compounds the problem of mental exhaustion so it’s a vicious circle.
When you are really struggling with mental exhaustion you may be susceptible to using substances to help you cope with this fatigue of the mind. This could lead to other problems such as substance abuse.
Prolonged mental exhaustion
One of the long-term effects of mental exhaustion could be that you start to become depressed. You feel that you just don’t have any energy and that life is moving in slow motion. Some folks say that they feel a numbness or depersonalisation of situations. If these symptoms continue for longer than two weeks, then it may be that you are suffering under depression. Read more about Understanding Depression & the Road to Recover
Exhaustion of the mind switches on our sympathetic nervous system, that is our fight or flight response. You could suffer from feelings of anxiousness, continuously worrying about stuff or even feeling panicked. These symptoms could coincide with symptoms of depression. Another area that may be affected from exhaustion of the brain is when you are physically exercising. Your performance in your chosen sport may decreased dramatically for no apparent reason. You may feel that every exercise you do is a struggle. Read more about Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) , The Useless Emotions of Guilt & Worry & Panic Attack
Other problems associated with mental exhaustion
Mental fatigue can also affect your appetite. You can either be eating more than usual or making bad choices in foods. Poor choices like junk food, salty food, fatty foods, you name it. Or you can go to the other end of the spectrum and not be hungry at all. In this state of mind, you are prone to making more mistakes because your mind is not clear and sharp. This could have disastrous effects especially if you are operating heavy machinery, flying a plane, or simply driving a motor vehicle.
When you are mentally worn out you may feel pain in your body. This could be headaches or sore muscles, back and stomach pain. Prolonged exposure to mental exhaustion and stress can bring on illnesses such as fibromyalgia. Why? The body is using up all it’s available energy to deal with the mental exhaustion, taking the energy away from the immune and healing systems. You have nothing left in the tank to restore and rejuvenate the body or fight off illness and disease so the body falls ill. General wellbeing may also decline.
What can you do about mental exhaustion?
You can take frequent breaks from your mental load. There is a technique called Pomodoro. This is how it works:
- Set a timer for 25 minutes
- Focus on one task the whole time
- Take a 5-minute break when the timer goes off
- After the 4th 5-minute block take a 15-to-30-minute break
- Repeat this technique for the rest of your workday
Physical exercise
Do something energetic. Go for a 15-minute brisk walk. For the fellas hit the floor and do 10 push-ups. Do some jumping jacks, some burpees if you’re real keen or bust out a break-dance move or two. Exercise releases dopamine and endorphins into your bloodstream giving the physical body but also the mind a lift. Of course there are many other ways to help with mental exhaustion. Please read more about it in Stress Management Also read Breath and Ice Therapy
In summary the treatment for mental fatigue is the same as treating stress. There are many ways that we can treat stress. It could be as easy as physical exercise, meditation, time management, and various other techniques.
Take Action Now
I am here to guide you through mental exhaustion and to elaborate on all the above suggestions. You can also give me a call for a free 15 minute chat to see if my service is right for you 0405 391 110 or fill out the contact form: https://apspear.com.au/contact/
I have individual sessions and or 4 session stress management programmes on offer. Find out more here: https://apspear.com.au/services/stress-management/
