Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Hesitant to Ask
“Mom, where do I find my yo-yo? I’m just not able to locate it.”
Puneet, Nidhi’s 4-year-old son, asked innocently with a cute expression of concern on his face. However, Nidhi couldn’t control her temperament. She exploded, scolding her kid and leaving him sulking.
As a 41-year-old career woman, Nidhi had everything: a high-paying job with an MNC, a stable marriage anchored in financial security, a caring spouse, an adorable son and a plush apartment. She should have been happy. But the fact is she was miserable.
Of late, Nidhi had become increasingly irritable. She couldn’t sleep well, argued more with the maid and even little tasks or chores seemed like a challenge to her.
A passionate and talented HR professional that she was, she didn’t find her work interesting. The company’s HR transformation project didn’t excite her anymore – given the fact that it was her brainchild in the first place. She also started finding excuses for not attending zoom calls and her email replies to her boss became fewer and far between. It was as if the zing in her professional and personal lives was just gone…
Nidhi is a victim of emotional exhaustion – a condition resulting from excessive and prolonged stress. The alarming news is that she is not alone.
Across metros and cities, individuals in growing numbers are affected by emotional exhaustion, or about to be affected. To illustrate the point, consider this fact: online searches for ‘signs of burnout’ showed a 24% increase throughout 2020 compared to the previous year.
If not addressed at the right time, emotional exhaustion could escalate into a major wellness issue for urban Indian society at large.
Help is at hand
At Mind-”O”-Matter, the gravity of the situation is not lost on us. To help individuals cope effectively with emotional exhaustion, our team has done extensive research. We have compiled and curated valuable resources that you will find useful. Our aim is to enable individuals rise from the gloomy depths of misery, restore their emotional harmony and lead a happy life once again.
Now let’s explore in detail what exactly is emotional exhaustion, what are its various symptoms, why is it caused and how to treat it effectively.
It’s your mind, rather than your muscles…
COVID-19 has upstaged our individual and professional lives in many ways. One of the profound changes is how we function or work.
Work from Home (WFH) or remote working has become the norm for a growing number of people. Surveys show that many people find themselves working even longer hours than before ever since transitioning to remote employment. Zoom fatigue, social media fatigue have become buzz words since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Following are key findings of the survey:
- 59% of respondents state they’ve started working more hours
- 31% say they feel obligated to work more because their office is now their home
- 27% employees are missing the social connections of traditional offices
- 60% of surveyed Gen Z workers say they’ve already been worn down by the current “always on” work culture
Restrictions on movement, limitations on socializing and a high-pressure job with unusually long work hours are building up stress. Other contributing factors include social distancing, quarantines, financial insecurity, chronic illness and death of a loved one. Aggregated over several months of the lockdown period, these stressors are leading to emotional exhaustion.
After 2020, a large part of the population feels increasingly emotionally exhausted. You can indeed pin it on the pandemic.
Symptoms
So how do you know that someone is emotionally exhausted? There are multiple pointers – physical, emotional, interpersonal and social – which can nail it.
Symptoms of mental exhaustion can vary from person to person. If stress continues to weigh on you, you may reach a point when you feel as though you’re hopelessly stuck.
Many people refer to this as “burnout,” though it’s not officially a recognized medical term.
Emotional signs
Emotional signs of burnout may include:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Cynicism or pessimism
- Apathy (feeling of not caring)
- Detachment
- Anger
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Feeling of dread
- Lack of motivation
- Decline in productivity
- Difficulty concentrating
Physical signs
Physical signs of mental exhaustion may include:
- Headaches
- Upset Stomach
- Body aches
- Chronic fatigue
- Changes in appetite
- Lack of sleep
- Weight gain or weight loss
- Increased illness, such as colds and flu
Behavioral signs
Your mental exhaustion can cause you to behave in ways that are out of character for you.
Behavioral signs may include:
- Poor performance at work
- Social withdrawal or isolation
- Inability to keep personal or work commitments
- Calling in sick to work or school more often
Now that we have understood the multi-layered symptoms of emotional exhaustion, it’s pertinent to understand it in the context of stress.
Stress Vs Emotional Exhaustion
There’s a fine line between stress and emotional exhaustion. However, many people fail to grasp this subtle distinction.
Stress is our body’s natural response to positive and negative situations that are new, exciting or scary.
This biological response results in a surge of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. Once the stressor has been removed, your body should go back to normal.
Mental exhaustion is usually the result of long-term stress. When you’re continually dealing with things that activate your body’s stress response, your cortisol levels remain high, impairing digestion, sleep, and your immune system.
Just as with stress and emotional exhaustion, it is equally important to understand the difference between physical and emotional exhaustion.
Physical Vs Emotional Exhaustion
Physical exhaustion, which is an extreme state of unrelenting fatigue, can be a spin-off of mental exhaustion. A 2017 review of 11 studies noted that mental exhaustion impairs physical performance and can make even simple tasks or exercise feel considerably more physically challenging.
Now let’s examine why emotional exhaustion is caused in the first place.
Causes of Emotional Exhaustion
Emotional exhaustion can be caused by a long period of persistent stress in any area of your life.
While the triggers of mental exhaustion aren’t the same for everyone, some are more common than others.
Common causes of mental exhaustion include:
- High-pressure occupations, such as emergency responders and teachers
- Working long hours
- Financial stress and poverty
- Job dissatisfaction
- Being a caregiver for an ill or aging loved one
- Living with a chronic illness
- Death of a loved one
- Having a baby
- Poor work-life balance
- Lack of social support
The 5 stages of burnout
Burnout doesn’t happen out of the blue. It is a gradual process that builds from the ground up.
Based on Winona State University’s burnout study, as well as our own team’s research, we present the 5-stage journey of burnout.
1. Honeymoon Phase
When we undertake a new task, we often start by experiencing high job satisfaction, commitment, energy and creativity.
In this first phase of burnout, you may begin to experience predicted stresses of the initiative you’re undertaking, so it’s important to start implementing positive coping strategies, such as taking practical steps to support your wellbeing alongside your professional ventures.
The theory is that if we create good coping strategies at this stage, we can continue in the honeymoon phase indefinitely.
Common symptoms include:
- Job satisfaction
- Readily accepting responsibility
- Sustained energy levels
- Unbridled optimism
- Commitment to the job at hand
- Compulsion to prove oneself
- Free-flowing creativity
- High productivity levels
2. Onset of Stress
The second stage of burnout begins with an awareness of some days being more difficult than others. You may find your optimism waning, as well as notice common stress symptoms affecting you physically, mentally, or emotionally.
Common symptoms include:
- High blood pressure
- Inability to focus
- Irritability
- Job dissatisfaction
- Lack of sleep or reduced sleep quality
- Lack of social interaction
- Lower productivity
- Unusual heart rhythms
- Anxiety
- Avoidance of decision making
- Change in appetite or diet
- Fatigue
- Forgetfulness
- General neglect of personal needs
- Grinding your teeth at night
- Headaches
- Heart palpitations
3. Chronic Stress
The third stage of burnout is chronic stress. This is a marked change in your stress levels, going from motivation, to experiencing stress on an incredibly frequent basis. You may also experience more intense symptoms than those of stage two.
Common symptoms include:
- Lack of hobbies
- Missed work deadlines and/or targets
- Persistent tiredness in the mornings
- Physical illness
- Procrastination at work and at home
- Repeated lateness for work
- Resentfulness
- Social withdrawal from friends and/or family
- Uptake of escapist activities
- Anger or aggressive behaviour
- Apathy
- Chronic exhaustion
- Cynical attitude
- Decreased sexual desire
- Denial of problems at work or at home
- Feeling threatened or panicked
- Feeling pressured or out of control
- Increased alcohol/drug consumption
- Increased caffeine consumption
4. Burnout
Entering stage four is burnout itself, where symptoms become critical. Continuing as normal is often not possible in this state as it becomes increasingly difficult to cope. We all have our own unique limits of tolerance, and it’s key that you seek intervention at this stage
Common symptoms include:
- Development of an escapist mentality
- Feeling empty inside
- Obsession over problems at work or in life
- Pessimistic outlook on work and life
- Physical symptoms intensify and/or increase
- Self-doubt
- Social isolation
- Behavioural changes
- Chronic headaches
- Chronic stomach or bowel problems
- Complete neglect of personal needs
- Continuation or increase in escapist activities
- Desire to “drop out” of society
- Desire to move away from work or friends/family
5. Habitual Burnout
The final stage of burnout is habitual burnout. This means that the symptoms of burnout are so embedded in your life that you are likely to experience a significant ongoing mental, physical or emotional problem, as opposed to occasionally experiencing stress or burnout.
Common symptoms include:
- Chronic sadness
- Depression
- Burnout syndrome
- Chronic mental fatigue
- Chronic physical fatigue
Neglect burnout at your own risk
Sings of burnout are not easily apparent and physically visible – just like a broken arm or a scar across the cheek. Hence most people are prone to dismiss them. But in the long run, ignoring them can be detrimental. The more you ignore burnout, the greater the risks in the future. After all, it’s your wellness at stake.
Outcomes of neglecting burnout include:
Unhealthy release of stress hormones
Stress hormones are very important in helping us detect threats in our day-to-day life. However, too much of those – high heart rate, high blood pressure, increased blood sugar levels and increased use of energy – and the harmony is gone. Cortisol will also impair other bodily functions, leading to digestive system, immune system, and reproductive system.
Physical ailments
Change in eating habits, change in sleeping patterns, digestion problems, weight loss or weight gain, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, and headaches.
Challenges in social interaction
Emotional burnout may also result in failure to interact well with loved ones and coworkers.
Treating emotional exhaustion
It is important to treat burnout before it takes its toll and does any lasting harm. Making lifestyle changes is the first step in coping with emotional exhaustion. In some cases, therapy and medication may be required.
Here we share some tips and techniques to overcome emotional exhaustion.
Remove the stressor
It’s not always possible to eliminate the source of your stress, but it is the best way to treat stress.
If you’re overwhelmed by your responsibilities at home or work, consider asking for help with tasks or delegating some of your responsibilities to others. Enlisting the help of professional services is another way to help lighten the load.
Take a break
Time to rest and recharge is an important part of treating mental exhaustion. This can mean taking an extended vacation, clearing your schedule for a couple of days, or even just taking a bit of time for yourself each day.
Exercise
You don’t need to engage in a complex or high-intensity activity to reap the benefits. Moderate exercise, such as a brisk walk, is enough.
Relaxation techniques are scientifically recognized to lower stress and anxiety. A 2013 study involving 30 medical students in Bangkok showed that mediation lowers cortisol levels in the blood, which may lower the risk of diseases associated with stress.
Get adequate sleep
Sleep is necessary for your emotional well-being. Aim to get the recommended eight hours of sleep each night.
Medical treatment
Speak to a doctor about your symptoms. Your doctor may suggest medications to help manage your symptoms as you work through your mental exhaustion with other techniques and therapy.
Bounce back
Mental exhaustion is treatable. Talk to a therapist about ways to effectively manage your stress and bounce back into the vibrancy of life!
Author's Notes
The purpose of this column is to enable the reader to build a healthy Coping Strategy one good habit at a time. Please allow yourself upto 6 months of constant practice and allow the habits to build up to see the change. If you find yourself struggling to conquer stress, please contact us on khyati@khyatibirla.com to see how you can go on to lead a better life. #habitsthatcausestress #stressmanagementtips Khyati Birla