Emotional exhaustion is a chronic state of physical and emotional depletion that results from excessive job, personal demands, and/or continuous stress. It describes a feeling of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one's work.
Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don't see any hope of positive change in their situations. If excessive stress feels like you're drowning in responsibilities, burnout is a sense of being all dried up.
Emotional burnout is a state in which one feels worn-out mentally because of accumulated stress from a situation in their personal life. It could be work-related, school-related, relationship related or it could be related to any other aspect of your life. Burnout can be very exhausting to experience.
How Long Does Burnout Last? It takes an average time of three months to a year to recover from burnout. How long your burnout lasts will depend on your level of emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue, as well as if you experience any relapses or periods of stagnant recovery.
Burnout will never go away on its own. We're quick to dismiss mental disorders and feelings because they aren't immediately visible like a broken leg might be–but ignoring them can be just as painful. The more you ignore burnout, the greater the risks in the future. Remember: You don't have to get better in a day.
Burnout is like a relationship that's gone bad: When the employment relationship is no longer beneficial to either party, and the prospects for reviving it are dim, it may be time to call it quits.
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.
Burnout and depression have overlapping symptoms, including low energy, trouble with sleep, and lack of focus. Despite this overlap, burnout and depression are different. Burnout can usually be resolved by taking time away from the activities that cause you stress.
When a person reaches a phase of burnout, they may be unable to complete their responsibilities at a job or at home. The inability to take care of day-to-day obligations will lead to increased stress and eventually to a mental breakdown.
Intrusive memories
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
Quiet quitting refers to doing the minimum requirements of one's job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. As such, it is something of a misnomer, since the worker doesn't actually leave their position and continues to collect a salary.
Others may note an odd change in behavior when this type reaches burnout as they can start to become increasingly irritable, cynical, and uncooperative.
Chronic anxiety is common to cases of burnout. Early on, the anxiety may be experienced as nagging feelings of tension, worry, and edginess, which may interfere with your ability to attend and concentrate. Physically, your heart may pound, and your muscles may feel tight.
Burnout can be accompanied by physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and sleeping difficulties. It is important to recognize and treat burnout early, and with psychological counseling and support, most people begin to feel better and recover quickly.
Physiological Recovery
It might sound silly, but getting enough sleep is the most important step. The research is very clear: seven to eight hours of sleep reverses emotional exhaustion and increases energy levels. Track how much sleep you get on average, and make a plan to increase it to the proper amount.