What Exactly Is Mental Exhaustion? Symptoms, Causes & How To Manage

Here's everything you need to know about mental exhaustion.

Psychologist Sheva Assar, Ph.D., defines mental exhaustion as a state of significant mental fatigue that negatively affects cognitive processes as a result of prolonged stressors. "[It's] often accompanied by negative changes in our thinking styles, concentration, and memory, as well as different forms of emotional and physical distress," she says.

Simply put, the brain isn't meant to fire on all cylinders and handle extreme mental stimulation constantly without meaningful rest in between. 

When you're experiencing mental exhaustion, experts say here are some signs you may notice: 

Assar says to look out for some of these signals: 

Psychologist Carolyn Rubenstein, Ph.D., and Assar share some signs to look out for:

If you're mentally exhausted, you may begin to feel:

Other behavioral signs include:

According to Assar, mental exhaustion can be challenging to identify since it progresses so gradually. But unlike other mental health struggles, mental exhaustion is when your brain operates at lower levels due to ongoing, unmanaged stress. Once you take a substantive break and incorporate regular rest into your life, the mental exhaustion typically goes away as well. 

"When you are experiencing normal stressors, they are often time-limited, [meaning] you are able to identify a time that you'll be able to experience some relief and identify what would be most helpful to you in the moment," Assar says. As a result, stress feels more manageable and it's easier to return to homeostasis once the situation passes. However, Assar says, mental exhaustion is an overwhelming feeling with limited opportunities for relief. Since you feel too emotionally fatigued to change things, you may feel out of control or trapped in your situation. 

Anxiety is a symptom of mental exhaustion, but it's not the primary feature of the condition. Mental exhaustion consists of feeling cognitively overworked. On the other hand, anxiety is a normal response to triggers and stress. If it's pervasive, it may also show up as an anxiety disorder. 

Burnout is an occupational phenomenon from feeling overwhelmed with job responsibilities, whereas mental exhaustion can occur from any stressful situation as long as it's persistent. "Mental exhaustion is one component of burnout, but burnout consists of other elements like cynicism and detachment [along with] a decreased sense of accomplishment." Rubenstein notes. 

"Mental exhaustion is seen a lot with depression, but it is not the same," Rubenstein differentiates. "Depression is a mood disorder, which is a cluster of symptoms experienced consistently for at least two weeks. Mental exhaustion is a symptom that can come and go." 

There are many potential chronic causes of mental exhaustion but it includes pandemic anxiety, relentless work obligations, little to no work-life balance, financial worries, domestic responsibilities, dissatisfaction with one or several areas of your life, and major life events. 

"Your mind is constantly taking in content that is either stimulating or negative. This can be draining to your emotional and cognitive processing, as well as interfere with healthy habits like sleep," Assar says. Taking a break from the never-ending content and screen time will help regulate your neurotransmitters and reduce stress. 

"Our sleep quality can have a significant impact on energy, cognitive processing, emotional well-being, and more! Consider taking time each night to engage in activities that are relaxing to you on a holistic level and will help you in being able to sleep," Assar says. This can look like putting away electronics an hour before bed and intentionally using that time to recharge with journaling or a mindfulness exercise.

According to Assar, this can look like engaging in a deep breathing exercise, taking a walk around the neighborhood, doing a light stretch, or checking in with oneself. "Taking a few minutes between different activities and tasks can help you experience some separation between the tasks, refocus your attention on the new tasks at hand, contribute to feelings of motivation and positive emotions, as well as giving your mind and body some time to rejuvenate." 

"Dedicate time each day for you to engage in self-care such as regular exercise, connecting with at least one person a day, [doing] a gratitude practice, or being outside in nature," Assar recommends. These refreshing activities can boost good chemicals in your body, which helps alleviate symptoms. "It is important to take a holistic approach to improving mental exhaustion by focusing on a combination of self-care and effective emotional/physical coping skills on a regular basis." 

"Making a to-do list of all the things that are contributing to your stress or that you need to complete can provide some relief," Assar says. "It can be relieving to identify and visually see what you need to do to reduce your overwhelm." It doesn't have to be goals related to productivity either; you can make a to-do list for relaxation so it's prioritized in your life. 

"Mental exhaustion is often overlooked as just a normal part of life, but it can feel anything but 'normal,'" Rubenstein says. "Work on reducing draining activities and increasing refueling activities. It's important to replace what is exhausting you with fuel that energizes you." These activities can look like cozying up to a new film, dancing to your favorite music, calling a friend to catch up, or ordering delicious food for the evening. If you're looking for more immediate results, removing the stressor will offer the most relief. It's easier said than done, but it will help with your health in the long run. 

On top of focusing on what you can control, it's imperative to also center self-care in your life. Set aside mindful time whenever you can to cultivate stillness and breathe into the present moment. All of these micro-moments eventually add up. Mental exhaustion makes it hard to maintain healthy coping skills, but Assar says it'll be a needed practice to take on so that symptoms don't intensify and lead to burnout. 

If a loved one is experiencing mental exhaustion, she encourages being a reassuring presence for them. Let them know you're there and that they can always reach out to you if they need someone to talk to. "You can also discuss the benefits of professional support and help to reduce the stigma that a person may have in relation to mental health treatment."

Although it's easy to wave away mental exhaustion in the moment, it can have debilitating long-term effects. You don't have to feel like you're always in an emotional malaise—things can get better by incorporating rituals into your schedule where you don't have to be "on" and you can just be. Paying attention to your emotional state in all of its nuance and focusing on preventive self-care will help improve your mental health.