Therapist Blames ‘The Great Exhaustion’ For Why So Many People Barely Care About Anything Anymore
dabyki.nadya | Shutterstock There's been a drainage of energy in society, and it goes beyond burnout. Maybe you've stopped going to group outings, cranked up the screen time numbers on your phone, or let your hobbies be pushed to the back burner.
A "quiet hum," as therapist Simone Saunders described it, is like a noise in the back of your head that won't silence. You could also call it "The Great Exhaustion," and it's putting us into a state of sluggishness. It's getting harder and harder to care about anything.
A therapist said 'The Great Exhaustion' is setting our habits and energy back, making us feel consistently 'meh.'
It seems like nothing is bringing the same amount of satisfaction as it used to. The feeling doesn't correlate to depression, but you're also not happy. We're living in a state of gray.
For one therapist, Simone Saunders, the experience can be described as being too tired to do anything, living in a perpetual state of weariness, which she coined as "The Great Exhaustion."
If this term resonates with you, you're probably experiencing symptoms like a lack of interest in the news or your social life, your text messages and emails piling up, or general numbness. The activities that you used to love have now become lackluster, and your bed has seen more of you than anyone within your circle.
This veil of gray is the sign of the times as we teeter on the brink of a recession and become more technology-dependent. Research found that since 1990, mental health diagnoses have increased by 95.5%, with 1.2 billion people having a disorder as of 2023.
The medical term for this widespread numbness is anhedonia.
Anhedonia, not synonymous with apathy, is the inability to experience joy. While it is not directly correlated with depression, it can be a precursor or product of the disorder.
Olha Savyuk | Shutterstock
The condition comes in two forms: social and physical. Social anhedonia is categorized by symptoms including withdrawal from loved ones, creating plans without the intent to follow through, and difficulty expressing emotions. With similar ties to the social counterpart, physical anhedonia may include disinterest in activities like eating or even listening to your favorite songs.
There is no singular cause for this state of numbness. It may be a result of disorders such as anxiety or depression, but it can also be due to chronic illness or even a major change in your life. But the biggest culprit in all of this is stretching yourself too thin.
We are living in an age of burning the candle at both ends, and it's starting to affect us.
This burnout we collectively feel is a direct result of working too much without any well-deserved free time. The state of the world has become hectic, and it's started to show up in the number of tasks we must take on. This isn't exclusive to our careers, either. It's at home, school, in our families, and in our relationships.
The fatigue we are experiencing is no shock when looking at the numbers: 68% of Americans admitted to working while on vacation, with 45% of those individuals creating tension in their personal lives as a result.
When you overwork your body, it can exhaust you not only physically but emotionally, so that your brain shuts down the second it's overwhelmed. Even during happy moments when you're rewarded with success, you'll feel very little relief.
"Maybe you hit a milestone, and instead of it feeling celebratory, it's kind of like, 'Okay, what's the next thing that I gotta do?" Saunder described. Wiring our brains to constantly keep pushing, even when we need rest, has drained importance from the tasks that rejuvenate our bodies.
The best way to combat 'The Great Exhaustion' is by addressing it.
It's hard to change habits when they're unnoticed. One of the best ways to liven up our days again is to address that something is off. The age-old saying the first step to healing is acceptance, holds serious weight.
Saunders noted that this veil has gone unobserved for some time now, and its worsening global ennui. "Everyone's kind of experiencing [it], but nobody's really talking about [it]," she asserted.
Taking notice of the negative habits that have snuck into our everyday lives, as well as the lack of emotion we may or may not have experienced, will allow us to take further steps towards fulfillment.
Mikael Blomkvist | Pexels
When fixing your emotional regulation, it should come as no surprise that sleep should be a top priority rather than a reward. Making sure your sleep schedule is consistent and healthy will allow your body to feel refreshed and ready to take on the bigger problems. This also goes hand in hand with nutrition and exercise, things that are so often seen as wants, but are really needs.
Allowing yourself to step back to rest is not selfish; it's necessary. The sooner you take a much-needed self-care day, the sooner you can rid yourself of the plague of "The Great Exhaustion." We all need color in our lives, not dull gray.
Gabrielle Mattes is a writer working towards a Creative Writing degree. Her focus is lifestyle, wellness, human interest, and relationships.
