When browsing the Internet, we found hundreds of articles on what emotional fatigue is and how to overcome it. In this article, we propose to take a different look at the phenomenon to expand the possibilities, answering questions such as: What is emotional fatigue? How is it produced? And what we can do to prevent or solve it more effectively.
What is emotional fatigue?
The emotional fatigue is part of our condition, and occurs after a big physical effort and states of sustained tension , can span multiple levels depending on its intensity, can be from light to reach the state of total exhaustion, and define it is not easy.
It manifests itself mainly with a feeling of weakness , exhaustion accompanied by discomfort and even difficulty falling asleep and relaxing. We all hear the term fatigue, and normally we associate it with physical states of fatigue and exhaustion that lead us to desire physical bodily rest, but really emotional fatigue comes from the purely psychological sphere and we can obtain it without lifting a single finger .
How is it produced?
Having problems at work, at home, with your partner, and with your children for a long time; fatigue is associated with over-demand . Imagine that your mind is a glass of water, and your emotions are drops of water that little by little will fill it, if you cannot drain the water, there will come a time that it will spill, that is where emotional fatigue appears .
The people suffering from emotional fatigue are usually individuals ordinary one day show a lot of symptoms, whose origins are unknown so much to themselves as doctors, who come for care for ailments that present . The main symptoms for which people with emotional fatigue go to health centers are:
- Insomnia
- Palpitations
- Excessive sweating
- Body aches
- Digestive problems (heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome ) among others.
- Muscle contractures
- Dizziness
Even being of emotional origin, the body will react to this exhaustion in the only way we have available, to call our attention to something that affects us in the non-physical part of our being. Of course, after undergoing medical studies and determining that there is no real physical origin for the discomfort we present, we can suspect that this fatigue is caused by active emotional fatigue.
Extent of emotional fatigue
How far can this condition affect us? Believe it or not, emotional fatigue can affect all aspects of our life , from the workplace, social and personal, as it also manifests itself with sudden changes in our personality and daily behavior:
- Generally, it translates into a decrease in the response or action capacity of the person, your answers will be slowed down, you will allow days to pass before specifying an important matter, you will postpone important tasks. You will delay your projects.
- Low tolerance to stress or stressful situations : You will often find yourself screaming or crying for situations where you did not do it before, the limit of your tolerance for common events will be very low for how you used to be, your character will be very irritable.
- Inattention, you will start to lose things, you will go wrong, you will forget your belongings, or appointments. Your family and friends are going to notice you distracted and out of this world .
- Lack of motivation and disinterest in life , nothing will make you happy, you will notice that you are empty of impulses and that nothing completely fills you in life, you will choose to wait instead of starting new things in your life.
- Physical fatigue or loss of energy , you will often find yourself sleeping, and when you are not asleep you will prefer activities that do not generate physical fatigue, you will catch yourself many times excusing yourself based on the fact that you are very tired. Even in internal dialogues you will ask yourself, why are you so tired?
- Depersonalization, you will begin to feel strange with yourself , with the people and places where you frequent, as if you did not belong to them.
How to prevent it
There are effective ways to avoid emotional overload in our lives , but really all we can say is that it starts from within. As in almost any emotional issue, personal growth ends up being the barrier, in emotional fatigue there is no difference.
- Take a break and reflect daily, it is not necessary to stray far, but you need to think, feel and reflect to locate yourself in reality all the time .
- Keep in mind that everything changes, what is present today is probably not there tomorrow, do not drown yourself in a glass of water.
- Plan simple actions and stimulate your problem solving skills .
- Control your emotions, you are the rider, owner and executor of your emotions. If you create them, you can control them.
- Practice plasticity in all areas of your life, make your thinking about any event diverge in every possible way, in all directions, if you can think about the negative in losing your job, you can also think about the things that desire. Take the test, it is very fun and it will help you understand that the perspective in which you place yourself changes the landscape.
Get out of emotional fatigue
Are we really late already? No problem, as everything in life is temporary, we also have some tips to combat emotional fatigue , we are warriors of life, and surely this fight can also be won.
- Locate yourself , become aware that what you are going through is caused by emotional exhaustion , become aware that you need to get out of it, understand that you have to do it.
- Plan a vacation , if given your problem you cannot do it, then plan a routine, where each day you will include an activity that causes you pleasure , it does not have to be many hours a day but it does need to be daily, during this activity, summarize your achievements, contextualize situations, break down, plan.
- Solve or deal with a single issue at a time , do not handle different problems on the same day, that is, if there are problems with your mother, children, home or work, dedicate yourself to daily planning actions for that area and do not overlap the problems, you have limited resources and you must learn to distribute them. Delegate.
- And last but not least, surround yourself with support and nice people, friends , siblings, family. Go out with them, talk and laugh, ask for help, and if you want advice, involve others in your situation, you will discover that you are not alone, that many people have also experienced emotional fatigue and you will see from someone else’s experience that dating is possible.