Feeling mentally drained or fatigued is something that we all will have to cope with at some point in our life.

There are a number of very obvious causes, usually physical and biological ones, that most people will understand as the underlying cause of feeling emotionally or mentally drained. These are factors such as a stressful job, lack of sleep, poor diet, relationship woes and serious medical conditions. We all connect these things to fatigue and chronic tiredness.

However, what if these things do not apply to you particularly? Or what if you have addressed these issues in the past and still have issues with feeling mentally drained all the time?

It could be that some of the things outlined below are the less obvious causes of your mental fatigue.

Constantly in Front of Screens/Device Addiction

Do you spend a lot of time on your handheld devices? Even if you are just glued to your phone or tablet for games, social media platforms or email, you could be doing more damage than you think. All of these handheld devices that we all use on a daily basis emit blue light. Blue light is more than a little harmful.

In fact, it can be particularly problematic for the natural body clock, or Circadian rhythm, in your body. This is how your body knows when it is time to wake up and when to go to sleep. If you have a bad habit of going to bed with your phone to check emails and Facebook or just texting your friends, this may be the reason why you are feeling mentally drained.

There is another factor except for the blue light. These handheld devices provide your brain with too much stimulation all the time, which in itself causes exhaustion.

If you want to stop this being a problem, turn off your phone and other favourite devices. Keep it somewhere else other than by your bed.

Toxic People

It’s not just your devices and phones that could be causing you to feel mentally drained. The people you either have to or choose to spend time with could also be causing you fatigue. There has been a wealth of psychological research that suggests, for instance, that criticism and insults can be around 5 times more powerful than compliments and other forms of positive communication.

Therefore, in order for your relationships to be healthy and helpful, you need to have a high percentage of positive interactions. This is why it is so hard to maintain relationships.

If you spend a lot of time with toxic people, then you will eventually suffer for it. Even if you only spend a little bit of time with incredibly negative and toxic people, you can suffer hugely.

Toxic personalities that you need to be wary of include:

  • People who make a point of avoiding responsibility
  • People with self-destructive tendencies
  • Overly critical people
  • Emotional vampires (those people who drain you of all your emotions until you are running on empty)
  • People who are prone to jealousy
  • People who are too concerned with image and people’s perception of them

Noise Pollution from Busy Cities

As you saw, a mental drain may have to do with your bad habits with device use. Toxic/negative people you spend time with on a regular basis may also be to blame. Still, the city you live and/or work in may actually be part of the root cause of your mental fatigue.

It is incredibly hard in our modern world for most of us to find complete peace and quiet. The countryside may have once been an escape from the hustle bustle. But you are probably still exposed to the buzz of modern appliances and devices such as computers, etc.

So it goes without saying that if you are commuting to or living in a busy city, that you are going to be exposed to a constant barrage of noise. From the moment you wake to the second you fall asleep, there are noises all around.

No need to say that all this noise pollution can be annoying and irritating. However, there is actually evidence that supports the fact that it can cause real physical issues. Studies show that aircraft and road traffic noise, for instance, play a role in increasing the risk of people suffering from hypertension or high blood pressure.

In fact, the results of a recent study conducted involving the noise generated from aircraft arriving and departing from London Heathrow proved there was a definite correlation between this noise and many health conditions. In the areas surrounding the airport, there was an increase of death by cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and even stroke. There was also an increase of admissions to hospital.

Final Words

It is clear that there are very obvious reasons for feeling mentally drained, such as those related to your diet and sleeping patterns. However, there are less obvious causes that you should be aware of.

Hopefully, this article has given you a little insight into what could be causing your mental drain and can help you pinpoint solutions.

References:

  1. https://www.health.harvard.edu
  2. http://assets.csom.umn.edu
  3. https://www.goalcast.com
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Gary Hynous

    Hello Valerie, There are, from my experience,other types of people/personalities that i find emotionally/mentally draining. One type that I have encountered is a “poor me” kind of person. They talk about their problems over and over without making any effort to deal with them. The second type is the person who wants,at all costs, to convert you to their way of thinking. This is especially true of religious zealots who talk incessantly about their beliefs and try to make you a convert.
    I try to avoid both types as they do tend to bring you down.

  2. Fahad Shoaib

    I love this kind of topics. This is a great article

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