An individual may feel emotionally drained when they are overwhelmed by various demands they have to contend with in their daily life.
When the demands on a person exceed their personal resources and their perceived ability to cope, it can result in feeling emotionally drained. Emotional exhaustion lies at the heart of burnout. As your emotional resources are used up in trying to cope with challenging situations — such as overwhelming demands, conflict, or lack of support at work or at home — your sense of well-being and capacity to care for yourself and others is diminished.

Symptoms of emotional exhaustion :

• Feeling negative, hopeless, helpless about your situation, and feeling unable to resolve your issues
• Mental exhaustion and low energy level, resulting in low engagement and low participation in work/life activities as well as physical symptoms like fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, and reduced appetite
• Reduced work performance, including absenteeism and poorer results, and impaired functioning in other important areas of life and general feelings of inefficacy
• Low motivation and low concentration to tackle responsibilities and to-do lists
• Increased emotional reactivity – more irritability, frustration, anger, anxiety, and stress in dealing with challenges and also apathy since you might feel as though nothing will improve

Why do we feel emotionally exhausted?
Emotional exhaustion usually arises after a period of stress. Several things can contribute to emotional exhaustion in people, depending on a person’s tolerance for stress and other factors in their lives at the time. Examples of things that can triggers emotional exhaustion include:

• A significant life change, such as divorce or death of a loved one being a caregiver
• Financial stress
• Raising children
• Juggling several things at once, such as work, family, and school
• Chronic medical condition/ Healthy issues
• Toxic family/ freinds

Typically, emotional exhaustion occurs if someone feels overwhelmed by factors in their life. They may believe they have a lack of control over their life or they may not be correctly balancing self-care with life’s demands.

Steps to reduce your emotional fatigue:

• Expand your personal awareness: If your emotional energy is low, the first step towards change is building awareness of your symptoms before seeking help.
• Ask for support: Your family and friends are your support system – draw on them when you need to for a fun distraction, a deep discussion, or to just spend quality time together. Get professional help if needed.
• Improve your sleep cycles: Try to get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night if you can. Take your permitted breaks at work. Day-time short naps might help you get back your energy levels to optimal capacity.
• Stay active- Eat healthily- It’s important that you keep moving your body daily and eat relatively healthy food and keep working on improving your self-care routines.

Some tips for you:
– Eat a balanced diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean sources of protein
– Limit how much alcohol you drink
–  Avoid tobacco smoking.
– Exercise for 30 minutes a day, most days of the week.
–  Establish a sleep routine by going to bed at the same time each night and getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

Practice Work-Life Balance-

–  Try not to let work or caring for a loved one take over, and ensure they plan regular vacations and rest days.
– Take scheduled breaks throughout the day and make time for things they enjoy at least weekly.

Some ideas for you:

• drawing
• collecting items, such as stamps or coins
• gardening
• reading
• seeing a movie
• spending time with pets
• walking in the park
• Get your chakras balanced- Practice daily spiritual/ mindfulness practices like meditation, yoga, and breathwork. Try a Reiki energy healing session to release your emotional exhaustion.
• Be Grateful- “Life is short”. Enjoy your moments; the people who care about you. More the gratitude muscle you build; less your emotional exhaustion.
• Remember your strengths- We tend to forget what we are capable of when we are suffering from sheer exhaustion. Take a moment to think about your skills, abilities, positive qualities, and strengths. You might be surprised by your ability to overcome obstacles.
• Limit the use of substances– Remember any addiction offers temporary relief; be it smoking, drinking, cannabis, etc. Go deeper within yourself and tap into your inner peace and strength. Less dependency on such addictions; more emotional stability you will experience.
• Build Your Positive Mindset Muscle- Changing a person’s thoughts can alter their moods and behaviors. These small changes can have a big impact on physical and emotional well-being. Some more tips for you: 

• Focus on what is going right in life rather than what is not
• Reset negative thoughts with more positive or realistic ones
• Avoid comparisons with others
• Accept your feelings and emotions
• Focus on the now. ” One day at a time”.

Let’s accept that feeling emotionally drained is very common for human beings; it happens!

The more important thing is to notice the symptoms that you are feeling the burnout and start doing something about it. Get the support you need; personal and professional and make a strong commitment to yourself to get out of this emotional exhaustion. While it may feel impossible to recover from being emotionally drained, it is important to recognize that you have the tools and skills available to you to help you get back control over your life as you navigate the world around you.

I am here in your corner if you need support and help.

Namaste!