What is the difference between mentally and physically tired

How is mental exhaustion different from stress, depression, burnout, or physical exhaustion? When should you go to a wellness specialist?

Mental exhaustion is a type of overuse injury. Rather than overstressing a muscle group, mental and emotional exhaustion come from overstressing your mind. This is especially true for stressors that require increased cognitive load or reduce resources. For example, completing a challenging project with many moving parts and tradeoffs may need project management skills and political savvy increased load. Traveling for work may leave you feeling jet-lagged reduced resources.

But many stressors involve both. Taking care of a sick family member may involve coordinating medical care and interpreting unfamiliar terms while managing emotions increased load. But you may also be getting less sleep reduced resources. Over time, increased responsibility and stress plus poor self-care can result in mental exhaustion.

Here are 7 common causes of mental and emotional exhaustion :. Chronic stress The most common cause of mental exhaustion, chronic stress keeps your brain — and body — on high alert all the time. Over time, this begins to wear away at your well-being. Chronic stress can lead to empathy or compassion fatigue. It can become difficult to muster an emotional response to the constant strain.

Uncertainty The human stress response was designed to work efficiently in the face of short-term stress think fight-or-flight. Work stress Stress at work can take many forms. It can arise from a values mismatch, difficulty managing tasks and priorities, or a high-demand, risk-oriented job. Physical exhaustion, which is an extreme state of unrelenting fatigue that leaves you physically drained, is a side effect that can be brought on by mental exhaustion.

A review of 11 studies noted that mental exhaustion impairs physical performance and can make even simple tasks or exercise feel considerably more physically taxing and demanding. The terms mental exhaustion and burnout are often used to refer to being overworked or related to stress in the workplace, but mental exhaustion can be caused by a long period of persistent stress in any area of your life.

There are lifestyle changes and techniques you can use at home to help you cope with stress and alleviate the symptoms of mental exhaustion. Babysitting, cleaning, and running errands are other responsibilities you can outsource. 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.

Taking a walk on your lunch break or taking in a movie with a friend once a week can do wonders for your stress levels. Moderate exercise, such as a brisk walk, is enough. A cross-sectional study of Swiss police and emergency response service corps found that exercise was associated with enhanced health and protected against stress-related health problems.

The participants of the study also felt better prepared to cope with chronic stress. Based on results, moderate exercise was better suited to reduce stress than vigorous exercise.

Relaxation techniques are scientifically recognized to lower stress and anxiety. A 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. Sleep is necessary for your emotional well-being. Aim to get the recommended eight hours of sleep each night. Develop a bedtime routine and stick to it, such as doing some light reading for a few minutes before turning in at the same time every night.

A set of three studies published in showed that people who practice gratitude and gratitude exercises enjoy:. Seeking professional help for mental exhaustion is important. Causes of mental exhaustion. Stress vs. Physical exhaustion vs. When to see a doctor. Exposure to air pollutants may amplify risk for depression in healthy individuals.

Costs associated with obesity may account for 3. Related Coverage. How to recognize and cope with emotional exhaustion. Medically reviewed by Dillon Browne, PhD. Burnout: Facing the damage of 'chronic workplace stress' Burnout is a common occurrence among modern day workers. Can foods help fight fatigue? Medically reviewed by Grant Tinsley, PhD. Why do I feel both tired and dizzy? Medically reviewed by Daniel Murrell, MD. Comprehensive study finds link between air pollution and mortality Read here about the link between air pollution and mortality that a major study found.

Now, as we mentioned before, the more tired you are, the less control you have over your body. And, the less control you have, the bigger the odds are that you will hurt yourself.

After all, there is a good reason why most sports injuries happen at the end of the game. It is quite easy to become careless once you become tired enough.

People often attribute physical exhaustion to exercising. After all, in the modern world, exercising is the most common way in which we engage our muscles. So, what happens when we exhaust our bodies during exercise? Well, even when it comes to something as straightforward as working out in a gym, there are different things that can occur if we become truly exhausted.

Physical exhaustion can leave a person feeling surprisingly happy. Unfortunately, mental exhaustion is a bit harder to define. This is because it can come in many different shapes and forms. Alongside that, different people can experience it in different ways. So, defining it is often treacherous. But, for the sake of this article, we are going to say that being mentally exhausted is not being able to withstand the mental strain under which you currently are.

One of the most common causes of mental exhaustion is sleep deprivation. This happens when a person doesn't get the necessary amount of sleep for a prolonged period of time. Due to this, their nervous and hormonal systems malfunction which can lead to quite a few detriments to their overall well-being. So, do yourself a favor and ignore any modern gurus that say that hours of sleep is enough. When we talk about mental exhaustion, we don't often consider emotional exhaustion.

But, if any of you have had a particularly difficult relationship with a loved one , you probably know what we are talking about. Almost all of us will at some point in our lives be emotionally exhausted.