There are plenty of reasons why people develop energy-draining behaviors, such as mental health conditions, certain attachment types, and past trauma. Some people — including empaths — are more susceptible to being emotionally drained than others.
Here are some telltale signs that your friend may be mentally draining. Your relationship or friendship is emotionally or physically exhausting, and you experience anxiety, fatigue, or frustration when you talk or hang out with your friend. You regularly make sacrifices to make sure your friend's needs are met.
When the demands on a person exceed their personal resources and their perceived ability to cope, it can result in feeling emotionally drained. Ways to recover from feeling emotionally drained include exercise, a healthy diet, and seeking professional help.
People who are emotionally drained often feel angrier and more irritable than usual. You may start to experience mood swings or find yourself snapping at others. Even minor inconveniences can cause severe frustration. This behavior can damage relationships and lead to social withdrawal.
There are a few reasons why people might engage in trauma dumping. For some, it might be a way of seeking validation or attention. Others may feel that they need to unload the burden of their experience onto someone else. Still, others may not know how else to cope with their feelings surrounding the event.
While venting can be helpful, Emotional Dumping can violate boundaries, create resentment and cause us to be stuck in cycles without awareness. For many people on the receiving end, Emotional Dumping is a form of connection that can leave us feeling drained, unseen, or resentful.
Most of the time, trauma dumping is not purposefully abusive or manipulative. It's more common for a dumper to be so involved in talking about their traumatic experience that they are unaware of how their story is impacting their listeners.
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.
Emotional instability refers to a pattern of behavior characterized by intense, unpredictable, and sometimes rapid changes in mood, emotions, thoughts, and feelings.
If you're highly self-conscious or socially anxious, worrying about being perceived as a “toxic person” might lead you to under-share your needs and to a lack of connection with others. On the other hand, oversharing may be a trauma response or a sign that you are ready for or need support.
What is Toxic Venting? Toxic venting feels like an attack on someone's character. Whether you are the one venting, or you're listening to someone else do it, this communication makes the other person out to be “the bad guy.” This type of bad-mouthing becomes an intense form of gossip.
Overwhelming feelings of anger, guilt, anxiety or fear. Heightened startle response. Dreams or nightmares about it. Lowered self-esteem.
Signs of Emotional Dumping
You feel like your friend or loved one does not listen to you or take your advice. Your feelings are ignored despite being communicated. You feel more like a therapist than a friend or member of the family. Your conversations feel toxic and weigh heavily on your mind.
: to express (a strong emotion, such as anger) in a forceful and open way.
If your friend continues to trauma dump, practising calming breathing techniques can help you to feel recentred and calmer in the moment. It can also be helpful to remove yourself from the situation or conversation if you feel like things are having a negative effect on you. Set boundaries.
Social exhaustion can also be called introvert burnout or introvert hangover. Although it's not a medical diagnosis, it is a valid experience that introverts and extroverts can face. It can be an emotional and physical response to social overstimulation that leaves you feeling drained and exhausted.
Being around a negative person can cause you to feel depressed or sad as well. Research even confirms that negativity is contagious. 5 Communicating negativity in social interactions, even through facial expressions, can pass that negativity on to others.