Women Who Are Slowly Losing Their Mental & Emotional Bandwidth Usually Have 9 Exhausting Habits
Bricolage / Shutterstock Anyone who’s under a lot of pressure can end up reaching a state of emotional exhaustion. And with so many expectations placed on most women, it’s not surprising that many often feel like they’re at the end of their rope.
When a woman has little mental and emotional bandwidth left, she'll start acting differently to compensate for the energy and strength she's losing. This frequently means they develop some pretty sad habits that usually just make things worse.
Women who are slowly losing their mental and emotional bandwidth often develop these exhausting habits
1. Going out of their way to keep everyone else happy
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Women with hardly any bandwidth left turn into extreme people-pleasers who would put the average person who tries to keep everyone happy to shame. Other people are always their priority, whether they’ve actually asked for their help or not.
They do whatever it takes to avoid conflict, even when it becomes toxic. These women are determined to give the impression that they can do it all while also being universally liked. That’s not sustainable behavior, though, and it won’t be long before they realize that’s part of why they feel so drained.
2. Worrying so much about small choices that they don’t do anything at all
Life is full of really difficult choices, so most people welcome the chance to make some easier ones. Others get stuck in a cycle of anxiety that makes them feel like pretty insignificant things can determine the course of their whole life.
It’s easy to see how that would leave a woman feeling like she has nothing left to give. Unfortunately, obsessing over decisions can make someone feel unable to move forward at all, which just makes everything even worse.
3. Never crossing anything off their to-do list and then feeling guilty about it
If you’ve ever looked around your house and seen all of the things you needed to do, but then felt so overwhelmed you couldn’t actually do any of them, you know exactly what these struggling women are going through.
One of the hallmarks of being overwhelmed is feeling stuck and unable to get anything done. People may be totally aware of what they need to do in these situations, but they can’t pull together enough strength to accomplish anything. It’s a vicious cycle because it’s not their fault they can’t get things done, but they also feel guilty about it.
4. Constantly replaying the past in their head
Women who are losing their bandwidth often fall into a dangerous pattern of rumination. They spend tons of time going over conversations they’ve had in the past or the way people acted around them, as if thinking about it more will fix the problem or tell them something they didn’t already know.
But rumination isn’t helpful. It just makes it harder for these women to keep functioning in the present moment, which goes on to add even more to their mental load. Nothing productive can come from wishing you could change something that already happened.
5. Thinking of something bad that could happen whenever they try to relax
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There’s a pretty good chance that women who feel totally on edge aren’t spending a lot of time relaxing. Still, even if they did take a moment to pause, it wouldn’t be very effective because every worst-case scenario would keep running through their head.
When someone who’s already feeling anxious tries to relax by basically telling themselves they have to, it leads to even more anxiety. They can’t turn off their racing thoughts that easily, which makes getting any rest feel nearly impossible.
6. Feeling isolated but never spending time with the people they love anyway
Feelings of loneliness and isolation are becoming more and more common, and they put people’s health at risk. This is why it’s so important for everyone to socialize in any way that they’re able to.
That’s a problem for women with very little bandwidth, though. Even if they feel lonely, they probably won’t reach out to anyone because it takes effort to make plans and follow through with them. The idea sounds nice, but it’s too much for them to actually handle.
7. Giving up on their hobbies
Hobbies play a huge role in people’s mental and physical health, but when times get tough, they’re usually the first thing to go. It just doesn’t feel necessary to do something because you enjoy it when you’re on autopilot.
There really are times in life when it feels impossible to take the time to read or crochet, but turning that into a pattern isn’t good. Hobbies add so much to women’s lives, and they shouldn’t feel like they have to give them up so they can take care of everyone else.
8. Barely reacting to things they felt strongly about before
Instead of feeling anything from excitement to disgust when the situation calls for it, women who feel drained often won't do anything. Someone could tell them they won the lottery, and they’d probably just shrug and keep on doing whatever they need to.
Feeling totally disconnected like this is a sign that someone is becoming apathetic, which happens a lot when people are struggling with their mental health. It’s not surprising these women would find themselves in this position, but that doesn’t make it any less sad.
9. Making their self-care as simple as possible
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Women aren’t usually thinking about self-care when they’re close to crisis mode. Self-care really describes everyday actions like getting dressed and feeding yourself more than planning a spa day, though, so you can’t just stop when things get hard.
To get around that, they go back to basics. Their meals are all microwavable, their outfits are easy to put together, and they let their desk stay messy instead of cleaning it up. It really is the path of least resistance. Sometimes that’s all people can handle, but it shouldn’t become the norm.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
