17 Tips to Recover From Feeling Emotionally Drained

What Does It Mean to Feel Emotionally Drained?

Feeling emotionally drained or exhausted can leave individuals worn out. While these experiences do not always warrant a mental health diagnosis, they can impact marital and other relationships, family life, finances, and health.^2,3 Individuals may struggle with low engagement in work/life activities and physical symptoms like fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, and reduced appetite.

Signs of feeling emotionally drained may include: ^2,3

• Feeling negative, hopeless, or helpless about your situation
• Feeling unable to resolve your issues
• Mental exhaustion and low energy levels
• Reduced work performance, including absenteeism and poorer results
• Impaired functioning in other important areas of life and general feelings of inefficacy
• Low motivation and concentration
• Increased emotional reactivity
• Irritability, frustration, anger, anxiety, and stress
• Apathy

17 Tips to Recover From Feeling Emotionally Drained

Recovering from emotional exhaustion is possible by understanding your difficulties, developing better coping skills, employing stress management techniques, and modifying how you perceive your situation. These changes can help you achieve success and combat emotional overwhelm.

Here are 17 tips to help you recover from feeling emotionally drained:^1,3

1. Build Awareness Around Your Emotional Exhaustion

If your emotional energy is low, the first step toward change is building awareness of your symptoms. In doing so, you can feel ready to explore and enact solutions. Consider sitting down and examining what stressors leave you feeling emotionally drained. Make a mental note or inventory of these challenges and plan to address them.

2. Reach Out to Your Social Network for Support

Your family and friends are your support system. Draw on them for a fun distraction, a deep discussion, or quality time together. Give them a call, send them a message, or set up a date/time for you to connect. Knowing you have someone to encourage you and your efforts toward positive change can significantly improve your outlook on life.

3. Get Enough Sleep & Rest

Feeling emotionally drained and unable to cope with life stress may indicate the need for more relaxation. Try to get a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night if you can. Take your permitted breaks at work, end your shift at a designated time, and decompress afterward. Everyone needs rest, especially when recovering from stress and emotional overwhelm.

4. Get Sufficient Exercise & Nutrition

Exercise and mental health are connected, and fostering the mind-body connection is important when feeling emotionally drained. Additionally, eating a healthy diet can provide an energy boost when your resources are low. Prioritize regular physical activity and a diet rich in complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein.

5. Use Relaxation Techniques

Practice deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, yoga, journaling, and any other relaxation methods that help you feel calm, especially when emotions are heightened due to stress and fatigue. These strategies can help reprogram your stress response, relax your body, and promote emotional regulation.

6. Focus on the Present

Alongside relaxation strategies, staying in the moment will help when feeling overwhelmed by anticipated stressors. Focus on what you can do now to fix your situation instead of what may happen in the future. Your stress will pass with time and is not a constant fixture in your life.

7. Practice Gratitude

You can shift your perspective from one of despair to one of hope when you consider the positive things in life. Examine your health, social, financial, family, and spiritual lives. Appreciate the joy you find in these aspects, and lean into this gratitude when feeling emotionally drained.

8. Focus on What You Can Control

You may feel powerless when feeling emotionally drained, especially if you have no control over your situation. However, focus on how you can use available resources and time to improve your symptoms. Trying to change something outside your control only exacerbates stress. Devote your emotional energy to something you know can prove successful in the long run.

9. Adopt a Neutral Perspective

Sometimes, we inflate the severity of a problem when we feel overwhelmed. Considering the situation from a more neutral standpoint may help you feel less stressed and more capable of addressing the issue effectively.

10. Remember Your Strengths

We tend to forget what we are capable of when suffering from sheer exhaustion. Take a moment to think about your skills, abilities, positive qualities, and strengths. You might be surprised by your ability to overcome obstacles.

11. Use Positive Self-Talk

Consider how far you’ve come in your recovery from emotional exhaustion. Look back on your successes and praise yourself for these efforts. Doing so may help redirect your attention toward overcoming your obstacles rather than feeling overcome by them.

12. Limit Substance Use

People may turn to substances to cope when feeling emotionally drained. However, this will make them feel worse and less able to handle their issues. Limit substance use as much as possible to remain clear-minded and focused on addressing your concerns.

13. Delegate Tasks Where Possible & Ask for Help

Determine what responsibilities you can delegate to reduce stress. Ask a trusted loved one if they can help by taking on laundry, doing the dishes, grocery shopping, or babysitting. Getting support can help reduce overwhelm and allow time for rest.

14. Implement Assertiveness & Conflict Resolution Skills

Setting boundaries with others who may contribute to emotional strain is essential. Learn to say “no” to whatever makes you uncomfortable or clashes with your values. Use effective conflict resolution by objectively focusing on the issue, avoiding criticism and defensiveness, taking responsibility when appropriate, and working collaboratively toward solving the problem.

15. Build in More Time for Hobbies & Leisure Activities

Prioritize activities that renew and rejuvenate you. Having positive outlets for creativity and self-expression will help reduce emotional and physical exhaustion, enabling you to handle stressors more easily. Consider exploring the arts, joining a hobby club, attending a local class, or reading. Any activity that brings you joy is a positive addition to your routine.

16. Talk to Your Doctor About Your Concerns

Let your doctor know about your experience when feeling emotionally drained. You may need time off from work to recover, and your doctor can fill out a medical form to support your request. They can also provide insight into coping strategies and techniques to improve your overall physical health.

17. Seek out Support From a Mental Health Professional

Having a safe space to talk about your concerns and learn coping skills is important for getting back on track in your life. Contacting a therapist when you first recognize signs of burnout can also help you avoid mild or high-functioning depression. You can use an online therapist directory to locate a provider specializing in stress therapy.