Nervous exhaustion is a special psycho-emotional state that occurs as a result of high intellectual or emotional stress, as well as stress. This condition can be either a symptom or a precursor of depression, or be an intellectual disorder, manifested by various clinical symptoms, of which there can be a large number, while memory, cognitive abilities, physical condition, etc. suffer.
Nervous exhaustion significantly affects the quality of life of an individual: he is not able to work fully, communicate with other people, enjoy life and relax. This disorder develops under conditions of monotonous work with a significant load in a short time, which significantly depletes the human nervous system.
What is nervous exhaustion? Nervous exhaustion also refers to psycho-emotional states and disorders such as asthenic neurosis, neurasthenia, nervous fatigue, and chronic fatigue.
Signs of nervous exhaustion
Let's look at the main signs of nervous exhaustion.
Irritability
The most common sign. Irritability occurs unmotivated and without reason. A person is made nervous by friends, family members, co-workers, passers-by and personal habits. Clear symptoms of emotional exhaustion are short temper and nervousness. The patient instantly “explodes”, loses control and adequate reaction to sources of irritation. After an outburst of aggression, a person feels lethargic and exhausted.
Headache
With nervous exhaustion, headaches of a compressive nature occur. There is a feeling as if tight leather belts are encircling your head. The main foci of pain are concentrated behind the eyeballs and in the temples.
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Low concentration
Problems arise with concentration, which negatively affects work activity. A person loses the ability to concentrate on performing basic tasks and becomes distracted. Thoughts are abrupt and constantly jump from one to another.
Sleep disturbance
A person with this symptom has difficulty falling asleep. Before going to bed, your head is filled with negative thoughts, and at night you have nightmares. Sleep becomes superficial and weak.
Increased sensitivity
Sensory perception is heightened. Even quiet sounds hurt the ears, and moderate light is perceived as too bright. The level of sentimentality increases, the regular melodrama brings tears. The person becomes touchy.
Anxiety and low self-esteem
Unfounded anxieties and fears appear. Even the simplest things and phenomena scare a person. There is an obsessive fear of sudden death or incurable disease. The patient looks for physical and intellectual flaws in himself, and ultimately loses self-confidence.
Fatigue and weakness
Symptoms of nervous fatigue in the body are characterized by the presence of constant fatigue that does not go away even after a long rest. Waking up in the morning, a person already feels tired. Constantly plagued by apathy, muscle weakness and fatigue even after minor physical exertion.
Decreased sexual desire
Sexual desire decreases. Men experience erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, and women may experience vaginal itching.
Psychosomatic disorders
Heart rhythm disturbances, colic, skin rashes, joint pain, and arterial hypertension occur. Chronic diseases are getting worse. Allergies, problems with nails and hair appear, appetite decreases, and the patient’s weight drops sharply.
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Online test for signs of nervous exhaustion, nervous breakdown and depression in women
a scale for recognizing depression that determines changes in behavior over a certain period of time (usually a month) and the Beck Questionnaire for recognizing a depressive state. The online subjective test for symptoms of nervous exhaustion assesses fatigue, mental exhaustion and energy depletion. If a woman feels unwell and realizes that she is mentally exhausted, or, conversely, everyday stress that causes deviations in physical health does not indicate psychological exhaustion, the test results will indicate the absence of depression or will make a disappointing, but quite treatable diagnosis: nervous exhaustion.
In the world of modern speeds and high information loads, any person should make it a rule to undergo such tests from time to time: they will promptly indicate the symptoms of a developing disease and will not allow nervous exhaustion to reach a chronic phase.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis of psychological disorders is based on the explanations of the patient himself or his loved ones. Often the patient’s own behavior does not seem wrong to him and it becomes difficult to convince him of the need for treatment.
The main signs of mental disorders are two opposing conditions:
- Prolonged depression, which is accompanied by indifference to everything around.
- Bewildered and fussy excitement with senseless and inconsistent activity.
In any case, the patient believes that he is at the peak of his capabilities and failures lead him into severe depression, which cannot go unnoticed in his immediate environment.
Consequences of a nervous breakdown
If the symptoms of the disease are not detected and stopped in time, the consequences of nervous exhaustion will not be long in coming. Problems with the functioning of the heart, digestive organs, high blood pressure, migraines - this is the price that a workaholic or a person susceptible to any personal problems pays for inattention to his physical and psychological health.
An unhealthy psychological background, weakness and fatigue with exhaustion of the nervous system become the cause of the emergence and exacerbation of phobias, anxiety and even suicidal attempts.
A serious problem is the deterioration of social contacts : the patient’s increased irritability leads to conflicts with family members, friends, and colleagues, which only aggravates the feeling of guilt and leads to an increase in psychological tension. In some cases, a breakdown leads, alas, to drug or alcohol addiction, which has become traditional in modern times: a person tries to find relaxation and rest from accumulated fatigue and from a difficult life situation that causes constant discomfort.
Forms of nervous exhaustion
Doctors define three forms of the disorder. Let's tell you more about them.
Hypersthenic form
As a rule, it is from this stage that nervous exhaustion begins. Symptoms manifest themselves in the form of asthenia, irritability, loss of strength, and sleep disturbance. Even ordinary physiological phenomena are perceived inadequately. Patients avoid intense lighting, harsh sounds and interaction with people. There are complaints of abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and tinnitus. People with this form of exhaustion experience a loss of concentration, resulting in a decrease in the amount of work performed and its quality.
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Irritable weakness
At this stage, the exhaustion of the body intensifies, and acute irritability appears. Short periods of intense expression of feelings are replaced by outright indifference and silent irritation. for a person to fulfill his work responsibilities . Insomnia occurs, light and minor sounds interfere with sleep.
Hyposthenic form
The hyposthenic form is a consequence of severe depletion of the central nervous system. A disorder at this stage is characterized by constant bad mood, sudden changes, increased tearfulness and anxiety. There is complete apathy and lack of initiative . The general mental state resembles depression.
Anxiety, depression
A common symptom of mental exhaustion is constant worry. The most ordinary things cause anxiety. Simply discussing your work with your manager can raise concerns about possible dismissal. This condition in itself provokes stress.
A person suffering from moral and emotional exhaustion often experiences tearfulness and depression. His self-esteem is declining. He loses faith in his strength and considers himself a failure. Worry about imaginary or real failures leads to high fatigue and sleep disturbances.
Nervous exhaustion in children
According to statistics, up to 30% of school-age children are susceptible to nervous exhaustion.
The main causes of nervous exhaustion are:
- psychological trauma;
- excessive pressure from parents and teachers;
- weakening of the body by diseases;
- prolonged separation from family;
- change of place of residence and study;
- family problems and so on.
The risk group includes children who are required or who themselves strive to achieve high results in school, sports, extracurricular activities, and all this at the same time. Children who seek approval from others for their actions are also susceptible to the disorder. Symptoms of nervous exhaustion are the same as in adults (adjusted for age and child physiology).
What to do if a child is mentally exhausted? First of all, do not imagine yourself, a parent or relative, as a great doctor, but turn to qualified specialists and child psychologists (if you are not one yourself). Most likely, the established family structure will have to be reconsidered and, like parents, we will have to work on ourselves - yes, it is not easy, but only a change in the child’s environment can give impetus to positive changes in his health.
I need very few reasons...
Moral exhaustion periodically occurs in mentally healthy individuals, but its systematic occurrence requires a more thorough diagnosis.
Neurasthenia occurs due to:
- Genetic predisposition;
- Character traits;
- Prolonged physical or mental fatigue;
- Domestic violence;
- Vitamin deficiency;
- Constant conflicts.
Moreover, just one reason is enough to trigger an endless cascade of chemical reactions leading to neurasthenia.
Causes of nervous exhaustion
The main cause of nervous exhaustion is an imbalance between activity and rest . If a person spends more physical and mental energy than he receives from rest, the vital forces of the body dry up. Emotional and physical overload, bad habits, regular lack of sleep, stress, irregular nutrition and negative emotions, infections greatly deplete the nervous system.
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Ideally, a person needs an alternation of mental and physical activity with relaxation and rest. Activity should be replaced by quality and varied rest. If a person ignores these rules for a long time, the likelihood of developing nervous exhaustion increases.
When you can't do without a doctor's help
Stress accompanies a person to varying degrees throughout his life. The nervous system reacts equally to positive and negative stimuli: the adrenal glands begin to actively produce adrenaline and cortisol. Depression or aggression is the body’s reaction to a malfunction of the nervous system. The average duration of a depressive state is 2-3 weeks.
By observing changes in one's own behavior, a person can provide primary assistance to himself. If you pay attention to proper nutrition in time, start taking vitamins and soothing medicinal decoctions, you can recover without additional help from a psychotherapist.
If the means used do not help and no changes for the better are observed within a month, you should urgently seek the help of a specialist. There are many methods of psychological therapy that help to get out of a depressive state without resorting to the help of powerful antidepressants.
Balance of rest and work
Hard work is good and commendable, but work and other important tasks always exist, but health can be irretrievably lost.
In addition, in a state of nervous exhaustion, a person’s performance decreases sharply . Therefore, if you are still a workaholic and focused on the highest results, you just need to know what to do when you are nervous and find a balance. Otherwise, you risk losing two important things: health and high work results.
What to do?
Make a plan for your work and rest schedule. It is necessary to clearly understand that work must alternate with rest breaks. During working hours you should take short breaks. For every hour of work, it is advisable to take a 5-minute break. During this time, body functions are restored to the required tone, fatigue decreases, and at the same time the working spirit does not decrease. It is better to fill pauses in work with actions that are different from your usual work activities. If a person is engaged in physical labor, then the best option would be quiet rest and passive relaxation. If mental work predominates, movement, for example, walking or light gymnastics, is rational.
Filling five-minute breaks with smoking or surfing websites is not suitable. Rest should be different from main activities and be useful.
It is best to combine a lunch meal with a walk. To draw up a plan, use ordinary paper diaries, in which a list of to-dos for the day is entered, indicating the start and end time of a specific action. But it is more convenient to use special applications for mobile devices and personal computers, which will not only take into account and remind you of the need to start or complete tasks, but also keep useful statistics of tasks and actions. Having a daily routine will help you cope with the chaos that drains your energy and help you develop good habits of taking breaks from work and going to bed on time.
Recommendations from psychologists: the need to give yourself the opportunity to rest
To cope with the symptoms of mental exhaustion, it is important to remember to get plenty of rest. Often workaholics suffering from this disorder justify themselves with the help of folk wisdom - “Time for work, time for fun.” Psychologists advise not to forget that if there is no fun, then you will not be able to complete the task. Either the strength will completely run out, or the body will become so exhausted that the person will get sick or “pay” with an anxious-depressive state. Therefore, rest and entertainment should not be perceived as something that interferes with work; rather, this pastime is the key to the successful performance of one’s duties.
It’s completely normal to be tired in the evenings and on weekends. Fatigue is an indicator of the need to rest. If signs of moral and physical exhaustion are detected, the best way to recuperate is a vacation. After great stress (for example, the threat of dismissal from work, serious family conflicts), it is recommended to rest for at least 10 days.
Normalization of sleep
A person spends a third of his life sleeping, and this is not without reason. Sleep is an important physiological process that ensures the restoration of the body and immunity. During sleep, the brain systematizes the information received during the day and consolidates memory.
What to do?
In order for sleep to fulfill its function, on average it must last at least 8 hours. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania conducted the research. The study found that people who slept 4 and 6 hours a day for two weeks had significantly decreased cognitive function, decreased reaction time, creative thinking, and memory loss. However, the group that slept 4 hours a day had slightly lower scores than the group that slept 6 hours.
Scientists have made several conclusions. The first lesson is that sleep deprivation tends to accumulate. Second, sleep-deprived participants do not notice a decrease in their performance. Third, the optimal sleep duration is 8 hours .
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Getting ready for bed should start at 21-00. At this time, the brain prepares to fall asleep and produces the hormone melatonin (regulator of circadian rhythms). By this point you should have completed all your work. You need to stop telephone conversations, correspondence on social networks, watching news, talk shows and films. In other words, you need to give up any sources of information and anxiety that prevent your brain from calming down and getting ready to rest.
For those who find it difficult to refuse a movie or book at night, it is important to remember that the content of these sources of emotions and information should not be negative. Films and books can have a calm, positive plot and should not cause a storm of emotions, especially negative ones. Everyone has their own biorhythms, but research shows that the psyche and body rest best when a person goes to bed before 24-00.
Physical exercise
A common cause of nervous exhaustion is physical inactivity , so physical activity is an important element in the treatment of exhaustion. But physical activity must be dosed, because exhaustion means a tired body, and incorrectly chosen loads will worsen the situation.
What to do?
You can start with light exercise in the morning and walking or cycling in the fresh air in the evening. Water procedures are suitable for relieving tension: swimming, contrast showers, aromatic baths. As your body strengthens, move on to more intense exercise - your own body will tell you how to treat overwork, you just need to listen to it.
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Diet
We are what we eat. Therefore, if you want your psyche and body to be healthy, you need to eat right : a rational and balanced diet during nervous exhaustion will become the basis for maintaining health and effective recovery from stress.
What to do?
In order for the body to effectively resist stress and other negative influences, you need to properly organize your diet and regimen.
Breakfast is required. Nutritionists say that breakfast is the most important meal for the body.
- Eating food in the morning activates protective functions in the body. It is breakfast that helps to gradually reduce the volume of dinner and reduces harmful snacks during the day to zero.
- Avoid unhealthy snacks on the go and overeating.
- Another component of good health and restoration of strength is drinking enough fluid . For good health, drink at least 1.5-2 liters of water per day. Coffee and tea, juices, sweet soda, and alcoholic drinks are not included in this amount. In addition, caffeine-containing drinks (tea, coffee, energy drinks) and alcohol deplete the body's energy reserves. Treating exhaustion with energy drinks, coffee and alcohol is like treating myopia by squinting. It is better to avoid the consumption of these drinks.
- The main part of the diet should be foods that increase the body's adaptive properties and contribute to its rapid recovery. Such products include nuts, fresh berries, vegetables and fruits, fatty fish, baked or steamed, wholemeal bread and dairy products, vegetable oils, cereals, honey, herbs.
- Vitamins for nervous exhaustion and complex treatment of the disease help neutralize the symptoms. In addition to the B vitamins necessary for the nervous system (thiamine, choline, niacin, B2b B6), the body requires regular intake of macro- and microelements, amino acids, vitamin E, and biotin.
- It is recommended to reduce the consumption of fatty, salty, sweet foods and exclude mushrooms, fried and smoked meat, sausages, legumes, and canned food from the diet.
- Additionally, fill the pauses between meals with special decoctions and teas. At the same time, those whose activities require increased concentration should avoid drugs with a sedative effect .
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Treatment of nervous exhaustion with folk remedies
At the first symptoms of the disease, it is quite possible to independently restore the psychological balance of the body :
- Essential oils of orange, lavender, peppermint, cinnamon, sage, patchouli, and maritime pine will relieve excessive anxiety and tension.
- Some flowers, for example, geranium, will help improve the ecology of a residential or office space - its medicinal components will be useful for the body as a whole and for the nervous system in particular.
- “What kind of herbs should I drink for nervous exhaustion?” – many who are not fans of drug treatment try to make do with natural remedies. In the fight against overwork, infusions of rose hips rich in carotene and vitamin C, chamomile that calms the nerves (and the addition of honey will also save you from insomnia), a decoction of calamus rhizome that is useful for depression of the central nervous system, and tincture of Rhodiola rosea.
Drug treatment of nervous system exhaustion
For the prevention and treatment of nervous exhaustion, the use of pharmaceutical products is acceptable. But at the same time, it is important to remember that pharmaceuticals come in different forms and what medications to take to treat nervous exhaustion should be advised by a medical specialist.
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If vitamin complexes and natural preparations (valerian, chamomile, lemon balm) can be used more or less calmly, then other drugs are used only as directed and under the supervision of a doctor. In some cases, droppers will be effective in restoring a severe psycho-emotional state - for nervous exhaustion, this method turns out to be very effective.
How to process the results?
Processing the results
Each item must be scored from 0 to 3. The total score can range from 0 to 63, the lower it is, the better the person’s condition.
The results are interpreted as follows:
- from 0 to 9 – no depression;
- from 10 to 15 – mild depressive state;
- from 16 to 19 – moderate;
- from 20 to 29 – average depression;
- from 30 to 63 – severe form of depression.
If you notice symptoms of depression, you must consult a doctor immediately. As for treatment, it can be done both with the help of psychotherapeutic methods and with the use of medications. Read tablets for sinusitis and sinusitis on our website.
See a psychologist for support and treatment for depression
Your surroundings
No matter how unique, strong and independent you are, your environment still affects you. Conduct an audit of your social circle; perhaps among your loved ones and acquaintances there are those who are called energy vampires, those who “get on your nerves.”
Perhaps the loss of strength directly depends on those with whom you interact.
Often, these people are of little use and communication occurs as a result of habit or contrived obligations. If this is the case, then try to communicate less with such people. Choose your environment .
The difference between nervousness and irritability
Irritability is a negative emotional state that occurs in response to inconsistency with expectations of events, situations or people's behavior. The degree of expression depends on the nature of the individual, the learned norms and rules of behavior in the process of education.
Are you ready to stop thinking about your problem and finally move on to real actions that will help you get rid of your problems once and for all? Then perhaps you will be interested in this article .
A person who is able to manage emotions restrains irritation and shows restraint and tolerance towards others.
Sometimes irritability becomes a personality trait, a character trait. In this case, a person loses self-control, breaks down - tension in communication, conflicts arise, and the implementation of any activity is destabilized. An irritated person expresses dissatisfaction and hostility towards others in words and actions, displays causeless anger, short temper, resentment, and aggressive actions.
Men are more likely to show irritability. Women of any age are prone to nervousness.
