When working your way through life, it is easy to feel drained if you’re too emotional. Whether you are experiencing stressors due to your job, relationships, health, or other parts of life, these stressors strongly impact your emotional well-being. Unfortunately, people get so caught up in personal fitness, job promotions, or perfect relationships that they neglect their emotions.
It is essential to identify why emotional drainage is happening so we can take the first step to healing and feeling better. Often, recognizing the causes behind negative emotions can allow us to change our habits, lifestyle, and thinking patterns for the better. Being emotionally drained could happen to anyone at any time, as there are triggers that can lead to this happening. Read on to discover the many reasons you have felt emotionally drained.
13 Reasons You Feel Emotionally Drained
1.     Your Work Life Causes You To Feel Emotionally Drained
Countless studies are showing that certain jobs impact emotions stronger than others. Experts have found that emotionally demanding careers such as teachers, healthcare workers, and activists have a high chance of negatively impacting employees’ emotional well-being.
If your job requires you to tap into your emotions to perform the necessary tasks, that can strain them and make it harder to connect with positive emotions outside your workplace. Consequently, this can affect your home life, close relationships, and satisfaction with your daily routine.
2.     You Are A Member Of An Unhealthy Or Toxic Work Environment
Although the last point mentioned that certain work environments are more emotionally taxing than others, any workplace can become emotionally draining if the atmosphere is stressful and toxic.
In extreme cases, some workplaces even develop abusive relationships between supervisors, employees, and colleagues. Suppose you feel like you are often being devalued at work, being asked to do tasks outside your job description, being asked to stay overtime, or being physically or emotionally abused by those at your workplace. In that case, those are clear reasons for emotional exhaustion.
3.     You Are Experiencing Instability In Employment
If you are not currently employed, that can also affect your emotional well-being. Job insecurity is a stressful part of life, no matter who you are. Studies show that the issue of job insecurity increases significantly due to uncertainty.
Uncertainty is enough to emotionally exhaust anyone, let alone if job insecurity accompanies it. This results in emotional withdrawal from family life. It can also impact your self-worth and mental wellness. Unfortunately, most times, job instability is out of our hands. Because of this, it is essential to learn strategies to deal with emotional exhaustion if you are experiencing job insecurity.
4.     You Are Facing Financial Strain Or Poverty
This is similar to the last point but worth mentioning on its own. Sometimes even our jobs are insufficient to pay the bills and manage other financial obligations. If you are constantly falling into debt or drowning in a sea of bills, that can make you feel helpless, stressed, and emotionally drained. It can be challenging to get out of poverty, and it might feel like an impossible goal. However, there are still things we can do and strategies we can learn to avoid the anguish that comes with being emotionally drained for this reason.
5.     You Experience Health Problems When Emotionally Drained
It is well known that when experiencing health problems, we often feel physically drained. But the neglected part of this conversation is the toll physical and psychiatric health problems can take on our emotional wellness. It is common when experiencing health problems to have difficulty functioning like we normally would. Things like going out and socializing, getting enough sleep, and being there for our loved ones can be challenging and sometimes impossible. This is a very valid reason for feeling emotionally drained.
6.     You Are Going Through Turmoil In Your Interpersonal Relationships
Relationships can be the most beautiful part of life. Unfortunately, they also have the potential to be one of the most stressful parts of life. This is exacerbated if the relationship in question is a romantic one. When disagreements or fundamental differences occur between spouses or partners, that can create a tremendous amount of emotional distress. Sometimes when we are focused on family life, raising children, and completing housework, we forget to work on the emotional side of marriage. This can lead to both parties feeling emotionally drained as that part of them is left unfulfilled.
7.     You Do Not Have Any Time To Yourself
If you live a very demanding life, managing your time in a way that allows you to devote time for yourself can be challenging. Sometimes it might even feel selfish to spend time on yourself, but in reality, alone time improves your life and positively impacts those you interact with. When we have time for ourselves, it gives us the space to do the hobbies we love and to truly relax. However, when this time is taken away, it prevents us from adequately processing and dealing with our emotions.
8.     You Are Not Getting Enough Sleep, Causing Emotionally Drained Feelings
Any doctor will tell you that sleep is essential for all humans to function at their best. Unfortunately, many of us lose sight of this advice and do not prioritize sleep. This happens a lot for those who work long hours, have young children, or have sleeping disorders such as insomnia. When we are physically exhausted, it impacts the whole of our body. There are many correlations found between physical exhaustion and mental or emotional exhaustion.
9.     You Are Not Eating A Healthy And Nourishing Diet
It seems strange to say that the foods we eat have anything to do with emotions. But studies show that what we’re eating when we’re eating, and our relationship with food can have a significant impact on our emotions. If you frequently grab an affordable, fast food order and eat it in the car on the way home, your relationship with food could make you feel worse overall. Throughout history, humans have loved sharing food with others, preparing it ourselves, and eating healthy foods that will make us feel better. If you feel emotionally drained, try slowing down and enjoying a meal with loved ones. It might surprise you how much of a difference it makes!
10. You Spend An Unhealthy Amount Of Time On Social Media
While social media has only been around for the last few decades, researchers agree that it can negatively impact emotions and overall well-being if not used in moderation. Social media can affect our self-confidence, social abilities, and general anxieties. In addition, social media is a fascinating place to explore.
For example, if you are scrolling through pictures, news, or videos, you might be exposed to happy stories, sad stories, and information that makes you angry simultaneously. If you are already struggling with feeling emotionally drained, taking a break from screen time might make you feel better.
11. You Are Going Through A Life-Changing Event
Whether moving to a new city, starting a new job, or breaking up a relationship, these significant life changes can exacerbate stress. When we disrupt our routine and have to wrap our minds around change, we are most susceptible to feeling emotionally drained. This can happen even if you are happy and positive about your change. To try to balance these emotions during high-stress changes in your life, do your best to plan and make sure you have plenty of time to take care of yourself in ways that will ease the transition.
12. You Are Taking On Too Many Things At Once
It is good to keep a full schedule with various activities in your daily life. But knowing how much is too much for you to take on can be challenging. Committing to too many things at once can create inner conflict and emotional turmoil. For example, let’s assume you are working full-time, doing extra-curricular activities, volunteering in the community, caring for loved ones, and pursuing schooling full-time. If you notice it is hard to relax at the end of the day or feel energized in the morning, it might be helpful to cut back on one of these activities. That does not mean you need to stop doing what you like, but perhaps consider part-time schooling or only volunteering once a week.
13. Grieving The Loss Of A Loved One Causes You To Feel Emotionally Drained
Tragically, a loss is something we all must work through at some point in our lives. The death of a loved one is a very common trigger and reason for becoming emotionally drained. Losing someone we care deeply for can make us feel empty, devastated, and unsure of how to proceed with daily life. In addition, we might find it challenging to experience essential emotions such as happiness and joy when dealing with grief. However, the negative emotions associated with this life event can be more than draining. This is why it is so important to learn healthy coping mechanisms to work through grief, and in some cases, reaching out to a professional could be very beneficial.
Final Thoughts On Some Reasons Why You Feel Emotionally Drained
Now that we know the reasons and triggers behind emotional exhaustion, taking the next step to learning how to overcome this feeling is essential. It is vital to take action as soon as possible, as emotionally drained people are typically in a constant state of stress. Stress can wreak havoc on the body and mind, and nobody should go through it daily. If you are currently struggling with feeling emotionally drained, don’t worry about reaching out to a loved one or healthcare professional or do independent research to learn how to overcome this feeling.
