 Hey, Psych2Goers. Have you ever felt like you had nothing left to give at one time or another? But what happens if the state of depletion becomes all we know? Feeling emotionally drained can affect people from all walks of life. We live in a society that prides itself on productivity and achievement at all costs. It's no surprise that emotional exhaustion becomes normalized in this context. So here are six signs that you're emotionally drained. 1. You're tired of pretending. Do you often hide your true feelings? Do you feel like you're constantly wearing a mask around others? Managing our emotions is essential to putting our best self forward when it comes to performing well at school or doing our jobs well at work. Sociologist Arlie Haaschild coined the term emotional labor to explain this concept. We engage in this phenomenon every time we suppress or introduce emotions to fulfill the requirements of our jobs, school projects, or other social roles. A study discovered that surface acting was related to emotional exhaustion. Surface acting is a form of emotional labor as it requires us to fake emotions in the workplace or in school. The constant state of acting in ways we do not feel can be emotionally exhausting and can even reduce our capacity to handle daily assignments and work demands. 2. You lack the motivation to do things, even your passions. Are you working very hard to get that promotion at work or to get into graduate school? While striving for these goals is important, how often do you find yourself abandoning other dreams, hobbies, and self-care practices in the process? When you reach a point of emotional exhaustion, passion projects may lose their appeal. You become hyper-focused on achieving external goals and forget the importance of taking a breather from all that workload. This could be anything from meditation or reading a book that has nothing to do with your occupation or school. Taking a break is a good sign that you're taking care of your well-being when you rediscover your energy for play and creativity. 3. You feel stuck in your current life situation. Do you feel like you lack the energy to make changes, no matter how important they are? Or are you stuck at a job that you hate or in an unhealthy relationship you don't know how to leave? You know that you need to make a change, but just the thought of all that work required to shift your life in a different direction is overwhelming. Feeling stuck is often a sign that you need to process your priorities and feelings. However, the way to feeling emotionally drained can hinder your ability to develop new insights or solutions for yourself. You may even tell yourself that being stuck is your only option and that things can't improve. It's not true. Or your sleep patterns have changed. Do you always feel tired or the need to sleep excessively? You may notice that your sleep patterns are all over the place. Maybe you're stuck in a cycle of ruminating about your mistakes or your to-do lists, rendering you sleepless. Insomnia can develop into serious health concern issues on its own. In fact, insomnia is often linked with other emotional and mental disorders. Losing sleep can make it difficult for your body and mind to recover from the stress of everyday life. When sleep problems become chronic, it can be even more challenging to recover from emotional drainage and fatigue. 5. You feel overloaded with responsibilities You feel like you're being pulled in way too many directions. One study found that juggling the demands of school, work, and family often drained the resources and energy required to thrive in all roles. Heavy workloads can leave to work-family conflict. Unsurprisingly, those who experienced greater work-family conflict also felt more emotional exhaustion. 6. You feel like you're losing control Emotional exhaustion or burnout puts you in survival mode. You don't have the energy dedicated to regulating your emotions. This can lead to irrational anger or emotional outbursts that may seem to come from nowhere. You might take your anger or frustration out on your loved ones, which can lead to dysfunction and conflict in your relationships. These responses of chronic stress often highlight your need for self-care or other spiritual practices like meditation or prayer. Every one of us is vulnerable to emotional exhaustion. Recognizing the signs can be the first step to knowing when we need to rest and reset. Have you experienced any of these signs, or do you know anyone around you who might be experiencing them? Do let us know in the comments below. If you found this video helpful, please like this video and share it with those who you think might benefit from it. Don't forget to subscribe to Psych2Go for more content, and thanks for watching. We'll see you in the next video.