Feeling worn out all the time?

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 melon, or 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 melon of yours.

Being mentally exhausted can put you in a bad mood. You may feel frustrated, irritated and sensitive. Your wick is short and you are quick to lose your temper. You could start snapping or barking at people more than normal, and you may find it hard to control your emotions.

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 our wonderful town of 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.

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 melon 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.

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 25-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.

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.

You may also like to read about stress management: https://apspear.com.au/stress-management/

If you would like to know more about mental exhaustion and stress, then contact me for a free 15- minute chat.

If you would like to make an appointment:

CALL NOW: 0405 391 110 or complete the contact form: https://apspear.com.au/contact/