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Have you ever heard of an emotional hangover? While you may not know what that is, I guarantee you’ve experienced it throughout your life, especially if you are highly sensitive!
How do you feel in the middle of January? The New Year is well underway and the holiday season is now behind you then. I’ve been paying much more attention to my body and how energy impacts me. And I’ve noticed that every January I spend at least the first couple of weeks feeling almost like I’m hung over. Now let me say that I’m not really a big drinker. In fact, I typically only drink 1-2 times a year, if that. This is because I’m very sensitive to alcohol. Drinking one drink gives me a hangover that can last up to three days. And it’s just not worth it to me to feel yucky for so long! So I haven’t had a legitimate hangover in quite a while. But I have had an energetic hangover.
There are a lot of things about the holiday season that can impact the energy of someone who is highly sensitive. November and December are always busy months. And a sensitive person may not have as much alone time as needed to decompress. It is also a time when there’s a large focus on social gatherings. We may love our families and friends, but those gatherings are still stressful. So after the new year, it is not uncommon for those who are sensitive to feel a bit of an emotional hangover.
More than just the holidays
Emotional hangovers happen when there has been some kind of good or bad event that has taken place which has brought out big emotions. When this happens you may find that you’ve hit your threshold for being able to process the emotional energy. You have absolutely no more capacity for handling any energy of any kind. It is also known as an emotional hangover. You can experience an energy hangover after events like the holiday season (which may be why so many sensitives feel the need to hibernate each January).
But it can also be caused by other events such as parties, weddings, vacations, giving birth, moving, concerts, spending a day at a theme park, and being in other large spaces with a lot of people. And it can even happen when you deal with challenging events such as arguments, job loss, divorce, death of a loved one, having to resolve conflict, having to provide emotional support for others, or dealing with energy vampires.
Any event that is emotionally taxing to you can lead you to experience an emotional hangover. I’ve certainly experienced this plenty in my life through the years. And it can be daunting to face…unless you know what to look for, and how to manage it when it happens.
Here are some signs you may have an emotional hangover
You feel exhausted
You aren’t just tired, you are exhausted to the point that you just want to sleep…or curl up on the couch and do absolutely nothing. It’s likely you want very little external stimulation at this point. You may not even feel like binge-watching anything on television. Your brain has had enough and you may need some silence. When I get overstimulated to this point, I don’t even want to listen to music. I just want absolute quiet.
You have a foggy brain
When this happens it is because your brain is so overstimulated that attempting to think logically is next to impossible. Your brain just feels foggy. And trying to think feels like moving through mud.
You’re having trouble getting anything done
When you’re exhausted and your brain is not wanting to cooperate, it is definitely difficult to accomplish much. It’s definitely better to put away that long to-do list now!
You are grumpy
Let’s face it when you have an emotional hangover it can make you downright grumpy, especially when you have to deal with others! You are already overstimulated, so adding on any additional stimulation from interacting with others can lead you to respond negatively to them.
You’re depressed or anxious
If you are feeling a bit blue or somewhat anxious without a solid reason for it, those feelings may be coming from an emotional hangover.
Feeling sick
There are times when you have an emotional hangover that you just feel downright yucky. You feel like you may be coming down with something. You might get congested or even have body aches.
Feel less able to process stress
Trying to process additional stress when in the midst of an emotional hangover is tough. You simply don’t have the mental or emotional capacity to process any additional negative stimulation.
You have muscle tension
When you have an emotional hangover, you are continuing to hold emotional energy in your body. This contributes to a level of stress all its own and may lead you to tighten muscles without even realizing it.
Getting over an emotional hangover
You can usually get over an emotional hangover in a day or two. Longer events such as the holidays or more traumatic events such as the loss of a job or the death of a family member will require significantly more time to recover from. There are things you can do to support your body so that it can heal more quickly.
Things you can do to get over an emotional hangover
Rest
I can’t tell you how important this is…particularly for those who are highly sensitive! We live in a society that promotes always being busy. And it can be easy, even through the challenging times to push through and try to get things done anyway. But this can actually make things worse in the long run. Listen to your body. Give it some time to do absolutely nothing.
Get plenty of sleep
Getting good sleep is so important for your body. Even when you aren’t dealing with something like an emotional hangover, you need sleep. And yet we’ve been taught not to prioritize sleep. But it’s when you sleep that your body heals. So get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Nap during the day if you need to. Make sure you are going to bed at a decent time as well and try to keep your bedtime consistent.
Eat good food
Eating a lot of fast food or junk food is a great way to add additional stress to your body. The body needs nutrients that nourish and reduce stress. So eating whole, healthy foods is a great option at those times when you have an emotional hangover. Include as many fresh fruit and veggies as possible. And limit the things that your body is sensitive to. For me, that includes things like sugar and caffeine.
Get some exercise
Now, I’m not talking about getting out and doing a marathon or CrossFit every day. But doing as least some gentle exercise every day can help to support your body. Moving the body helps to get energy moving…and that can help your body detox that old emotional energy right on out of you! Try walking, yoga, rebounding, or swimming to get that energy moving!
Do some breathwork or meditate
Deep breathing regularly is a great way to calm the nervous system. It also helps to get the energy in your body flowing. Find a quiet time when you can just sit and do some deep breathing exercises. The nice thing is that you can do this pretty much anywhere. You can practice meditation with or without deep breathing. This calms the nervous system and can help you move through an emotional hangover more quickly.
Support your body with supplements
There are some herbs, vitamins, and amino acids that are a great support for your body when going through an emotional hangover. Adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha and Rhodiola help your body to adapt to stress. They can help you manage any additional stress more easily and can even help to give you more energy. Nervine herbs such as skullcap, lemon balm, and chamomile are calming to the nervous system. They can help you feel more relaxed.
Get out into nature
I talk about this a lot…for a reason! Nature is incredibly healing for sensitives. And spending 20-30 minutes in nature (or more) helps to calm the nervous system and shut off your stress response. Go for a hike, or go and sit in a park and enjoy the green space for a while. It can help!
Ground your body
When you practice grounding (or earthing) you are connecting your skin with the earth. For many people, this means going barefoot outside and allowing direct contact with the bare earth. Grounding daily has been shown to lower stress and inflammation. And it may improve sleep as well.
Put down your phone
How often do you scroll social media or watch videos on your phone? This could be adding additional stress to your body. So give yourself a day or two when you limit phone use.
Do some energy work
There are plenty of different energy healing techniques that can help get the emotional energy that is lingering in your body out more quickly! Reiki, Qigong, aromatherapy, sound therapy, and EFT (emotional freedom technique) are a few things that you can try that may help you recover more quickly.
The biggest thing is to make self-care a priority while your body is healing. And give yourself some grace!
I will say this. We were all thrust into a massive emotional event when we were hit by the Covid pandemic in 2020. Life changed for everyone in very big ways. And there was so much uncertainty and fear. So we all collectively went or are still going through an emotional hangover now. And a big one! It’s one of the reasons why self-care is SO important. And empaths have felt that energy even more strongly!
By all means, if you are struggling and need additional support, please get some professional help! There is no shame in going to talk to a professional therapist. And it’s even okay if you need to take some medication to help with extreme anxiety or depression for a while. In some of my darkest times talking with a therapist has helped me a lot. I’ve also had times when I’ve taken a prescription anti-anxiety medication to help me through some difficult weeks.
The good news is that emotional hangovers don’t last forever. You can help speed up the process by making yourself a priority for a couple of days. Doing so will help you to get past feeling blah more quickly.
