If you find yourself struggling to decide what to wear each morning, you might be experiencing emotional exhaustion, according to a prominent clinical psychologist. This common daily dilemma could signal deeper mental strain that precedes full burnout.
Understanding Emotional Exhaustion
Dr Julie Smith, a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Hampshire and over 4.9 million TikTok followers, recently appeared on ITV's This Morning to discuss this important mental health topic. Speaking with presenters Cat Deeley and Dermot O'Leary, she clarified that emotional exhaustion represents an emotional state rather than a standalone syndrome, but serves as a crucial early warning sign of impending burnout.
The Morning Dread and Decision Paralysis
"Emotional exhaustion is that feeling you get in the lead-up," Dr Smith explained. "That sense of dread in the morning... All the things you used to do absolutely fine and in your stride suddenly feel like you can't cope with them."
She highlighted how this manifests in everyday life: "A lot of people talk about this inability to concentrate, which impacts the ability to make even small decisions, like not being able to think of what to wear." This decision paralysis over seemingly trivial matters often indicates deeper emotional depletion.
Beyond Simple Stress
Dr Smith emphasised that emotional exhaustion differs significantly from ordinary day-to-day stress. The World Health Organisation recognises burnout as a state of "physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion" resulting from chronic workplace stress that hasn't been successfully managed.
Escapism and Avoidance Behaviours
Expanding on how emotional exhaustion manifests, Dr Smith noted that many people experience overwhelming urges to escape and avoid responsibilities. "So you'll procrastinate over things that you would normally just get on with and so things build up, which increases the overwhelm," she said.
This avoidance often leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms: "That feeling of everything being so stressful... So you'll numb it out with food, substances or alcohol. Whatever you do to numb emotion will ramp up so anything that's addictive becomes more of a problem."
The Stressor Fish Tank Metaphor
Dr Smith uses a powerful metaphor to explain how stressors accumulate: imagine stressors as ink poured into a fish tank surrounding you. While holidays might provide temporary relief by placing you in a fresh tank, returning home means re-entering the same stressful environment.
Identifying Unsustainable Patterns
When stress begins affecting health, Dr Smith recommends examining what aspects of life feel unsustainable. "Some things are just non-negotiable, but other things we can adjust and claim back small parts of our lifestyle," she advised.
"Often what we do in therapeutic scenarios is we formulate and we look at 'okay, it's really difficult to do this but how am I contributing to that stress with the standards I am holding myself to'."
Managing the Manageable
While acknowledging some situations as "non-negotiable," Dr Smith suggests focusing energy where it creates movement: "push it where it moves," meaning tackling more manageable stresses first to gradually reduce the overall burden.
Physical Health Consequences
Prolonged stress triggers hormone releases that dramatically increase heart attack risks and promote weight gain, potentially leading to obesity-related diseases. The most common physical manifestations of chronic stress include:
- Chest pains
- Headaches
- Muscle aches
The Cortisol and Adrenaline Response
Stress causes excessive cortisol release from adrenal glands, disrupting regulation of blood pressure, metabolism, fertility, and sleep-wake cycles. Simultaneous adrenaline surges create the "fight or flight" response when we perceive threats.
Together, these hormones constrict blood vessels, forcing the heart to work harder, potentially causing:
- Heart palpitations
- Chest pains
- High blood pressure
- Muscle and head pains
Healthcare System Concerns
Recent policy directions have raised concerns among health professionals. Last year, proposals suggesting GPs should refer patients to gyms or job centres rather than providing sick notes prompted warnings from healthcare leaders about minimising burnout's serious effects.
Validating Real Experiences
Lisa Sharman, head of education and training at St John Ambulance, expressed concern about public discourse: "When public language suggests people are exaggerating or being written off, it can make some individuals feel even less safe to speak up."
She emphasised: "It's not always burnout, per se, but it's exhaustion, emotional overload, or feeling unable to cope. And those are really real experiences, they're not just buzzwords, so we can't dismiss them as such."
Sharman offered hope: "Burnout is often an early warning sign that something is wrong, but if it's recognised and addressed early, people can and will recover sooner."
The pressure to maintain normal functioning while experiencing emotional exhaustion risks allowing manageable stress to escalate into serious mental health conditions like anxiety or depression, creating a snowball effect that becomes increasingly difficult to interrupt without proper recognition and intervention.
