Picture the scene: you’ve just got home from a stressful day at work – the third such day that week. From meetings to urgent tasks and everything in between, you’ve been juggling a hundred and one things on top of your usual day-to-day responsibilities. 

That 5k run you had planned for after work suddenly seems impossible. Your body feels heavy, and your eyelids feel droopy. All you can do is make some dinner before you crash onto the sofa for the rest of the evening.

If you’re someone who tends to deal with a lot of stress, you can probably relate to the above scenario. When that exhaustion hits, it hits hard – and it can take a lot of rest to recuperate.

But why is this? While many of us struggle with these feelings of stress-induced tiredness, the relationship between stress and energy is often discussed purely in terms of the disruption it can cause to our sleep, rather than the effect it can have on the body as a whole.  

On the surface, it makes sense that stress can make you feel tired – it’s kind of like when you work out too hard and your body feels drained afterwards. But what is happening inside the body when we’re stressed to trigger this crash in energy?

Dr Sarah Bateup, a cognitive behavioural therapist and chief clinical officer at the mental health support platform Oliva, explains that while the human body is primed to deal with small episodes of stress – the kind of things we run into on a day-to-day basis – it’s when we experience chronic, prolonged stress that our bodies begin to suffer.

“Chronic stress can cause harmful psychological and physiological effects to start creeping in,” she explains. “This is because when we feel stressed the body produces chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol, which can cause the heart to beat faster, the body to tense up and stop the body’s wider systems (including our digestive and immune systems) from working as they should.” 

This, of course, is the fight or flight response – the state our body enters into when presented with a stressful situation. From an evolutionary standpoint, the fight or flight response served to keep us alive by providing us with the energy needed to fight or run away from predators. And, as Dr Bateup points out, there’s nothing harmful about experiencing this normal response to stress.

The problem, however, is that the fight or flight response is only designed for short-term situations and requires the body to work pretty damn hard. So when that response happens multiple times a day, the toll of that exertion begins to add up, leaving us feeling fatigued.

“In this stressed and tired state, it also becomes more difficult to relax, exercise and find the energy for activities we enjoy – yet these things are exactly what’s needed to combat stress,” Bateup adds. 

While you can try your best to minimise the daily stress you experience, sometimes stressful situations are unavoidable. So how can you best deal with the tiredness and exhaustion that comes from experiencing prolonged stress?

Alongside trying to address what’s causing you stress in the moment, looking after yourself is your next best bet.

Dr Harriet Leyland, clinical advisor at the healthcare management app myGP, explains: “Ensuring you set aside time to do the things that you enjoy and adopting a healthier lifestyle by eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep can enhance your resilience to stress by boosting your physical and mental health.”   

The usual stuff you’d do to reduce your stress levels will also help – anything that, as Dr Bateup puts it, helps to put an end to the “vicious circle” of stress and exhaustion.

“It’s important to find some quiet time and safe space away from your stressors where you can re-engage with the activities that help,” she explains, adding that this time can be found by carving out a half-hour period in the morning or just before bed.

In the long term, she says, therapy can also help. “Therapy isn’t limited to people with mental health conditions. There are countless different types of therapy designed to help people with countless different needs – stress and stress-induced tiredness included.” 

It’s completely normal to feel exhausted after a few days of high stress, but taking steps to address your lack of energy is important if you want to look after your wellbeing long term.

When you’re feeling drained, it can be hard to think about, let alone make, positive changes – but taking small, actionable steps to improve your wellbeing can make a big difference. 

Images: Getty