Why Are We So Mentally Tired?

It’s summer. The sun is out, the kids are out of school, people are having barbecues, going to the lake, and finally getting some of that sweet vitamin D.

So why do so many of us still feel mentally exhausted?

Your life may actually be going pretty well. Fantastic, even. Yet somehow, you still feel mentally and emotionally exhausted.

I believe one of the biggest reasons is that we are too connected to everything happening everywhere.

Before smartphones, we got the news in smaller amounts. We listened to the radio, read the newspaper, or watched the evening news. We knew what was happening, but we were not carrying every breaking story, tragedy, argument, and crisis around in our pockets all day.

Now we know everything about everything, immediately, all at once.

We hear about the war, the murder, the fraud, the fire, the latest court ruling, rising prices, political arguments, and whatever terrible thing happened ten minutes ago. Then we read the comments and watch thousands of people argue about it. Before we even process one thing, we swipe to the next. Of course we are tired.

Other than technological advances, the world has not changed nearly as much as we think it has. There has always been war, crime, greed, corruption, tragedy, natural disasters, and people doing terrible things. The difference is that we now have access to all of it in the palm of our hands.

We are exposed to more suffering, anger, conflict, and bad news before breakfast than previous generations may have consumed in an entire week. Then we wonder why we feel on edge or emotionally worn out.

You keep hearing that you need to disconnect. Put the phone down. Stop scrolling. Limit the news. Take a break from social media.

There is a reason you keep hearing it.

For many of us, constant connection is one of the primary sources of stress in our lives, and the problem is not going to go away until we commit to changing it. There is no magic pill that will allow us to consume the same amount of noise, outrage, fear, and tragedy while somehow feeling peaceful.

At some point, we have to stop.

That doesn’t mean you stop caring about the world. It means you stop giving the entire world unlimited access to your mind.

Turn off notifications. Stop checking the news every hour. Put your phone down during dinner. Stay off social media before bed. Go outside. Take a walk. Work in the yard.

When something truly matters to you, do something about it however small. Donate. Volunteer. Help a neighbor. Contact someone who can make a difference.

Doing something reminds us that we are not completely powerless, and that alone can help alleviate some of the mental exhaustion.

We cannot fix everything happening in the world, but we can control how much of it we consume and where our time, energy, and attention go. Sometimes the answer really is that simple.