People With Low Mental & Emotional Energy Usually Say 9 Things In Casual Conversation
YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV / Shutterstock When your mental and emotional energy is low, you're likely to feel overwhelmed and drained by the daily stressors in your life. Someone who feels chronically depleted by anxiety and hefty responsibilities may try to push themselves to keep going, but you'll often hear them say things that hint at the fact that they may not be able to power through much longer.
We often hear how important it is not to push ourselves too hard physically to prevent injuries, but we don't always remember that the same concept applies to our emotional health. If someone is saying these things even in the most casual of conversations, there's a good chance their inner battery is just about at its limit.
People with low mental and emotional energy often say these things during casual conversations
1. ‘I’m fine, just tired’
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Saying you're fine, just tired reveals a lot more about what is going on than you may intend to. Although you're admitting to feeling tired, you're still doing your best to act like it’s not a big deal.
When someone says this, they’re obviously not fine. Saying that they are is meant to reassure anyone who might be concerned, while still letting them avoid the difficult emotions they don’t want to deal with. It’s easy to see that someone who says this is probably struggling more than they’re letting on
2. ‘I don’t really care’
By expressing indifference, people make their true emotional state pretty clear. They might feel genuine apathy about the subject at hand, or this could just be their way of saying they don’t have the energy to share their opinion at the moment.
This is even more significant if the person who says it actually does care about the issue deeply. If they’re always ready to defend their beliefs on pretty much any topic but have completely checked out, they may be drained to a dangerous extent.
3. ‘You choose’
It’s not always a big deal when someone tells someone else to make a decision about something simple, like what movie they’re going to watch. But when they give up on making any choices themselves, it’s probably because they don’t have the energy left to think things through.
Making choices can be so overwhelming that it actually causes decision fatigue. This means that the more choices you make, the less capable you feel of making more.
4. ‘I haven’t had time to even think about it’
We usually think about procrastination in terms of putting off a project until the last minute, but it can also describe the way people put off processing their emotions or figuring out their next step.
Procrastination is actually caused by problems with emotional regulation because it’s a way to avoid feelings we don’t want. Someone who has no mental and emotional energy left might find this appealing. Thinking about hard things would take up energy they don’t have, so they would avoid it instead.
5. ‘I think I’ll stay home’
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Some people think canceling plans to stay in when they thought they would have to go out is a dream come true. Anyone who’s lacking in energy definitely falls into that category.
Spending time alone at home is a great way to recharge. It sounds like it would make someone feel even worse, but it could be exactly what they need to get back on track, so homebodies don’t deserve any judgment.
6. ‘Just give me a second’
Asking for a breather might seem like a red flag to someone who’s known for going non-stop, regardless of the circumstances, but someone who is lacking energy might be giving themselves exactly what they need by saying this.
Regular breaks are absolutely essential for replenishing energy, even though our culture says they’re bad because they get in the way of productivity. There’s a good chance someone who says this is feeling overwhelmed, but they’re also taking steps to get to a better place.
7. ‘What was I saying?’
If someone is running out of mental and emotional energy, they probably got there after going through a lot of stress. That kind of stress makes it harder to remember things, especially when it’s combined with exhaustion.
It’s totally possible that someone would forget something pretty simple when they’re in that state. Mishaps we’re all familiar with, like forgetting what we’re saying or not remembering where we left something, could be even more common for them.
8. ‘Let’s talk about it later’
We'd all rather avoid having hard conversations sometimes, but this happens even more frequently when someone has no energy left. Those discussions stir up uncomfortable emotions, but they also take up energy.
A deep conversation requires a very different kind of effort than what’s needed for small talk. When people feel drained, they’ll know that it’s not the right time to get into that. They’re actually doing the other person a favor by putting it off for a time when they feel more capable, though.
9. ‘I’m taking it one day at a time’
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People rarely use this phrase when they feel like they’re doing well. They usually say it when one day feels like all they can focus on, which is a big sign their energy is depleted.
If they really do have this mindset and it’s not just something they’re saying, it could be a good thing for them. The best way to make big changes in life is often to break them down into small steps, so this could be their way of working on turning things around for themselves.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
