After 40, stress physiology changes. Recovery slows. Hormonal responses linger longer. Sleep disruption compounds more quickly. Cognitive fatigue accumulates across weeks instead of days. Entrepreneurs, in particular, face chronic cognitive load: constant decision-making, emotional responsibility for teams, financial pressure (from investors, shareholders, and stakeholders), unpredictable stress cycles that follow you home to your family.
Touch fatigue, or what many parents call being "touched out," happens when your body and brain have reached their limit on physical contact. From the moment you wake up, little hands tug at you, babies nurse, toddlers climb into your lap, and someone always needs something from you. By evening, even a loving hug can feel like one more demand on a system that's already running on fumes.
Emotional exhaustion is that feeling you get in the lead-up. That sense of dread in the morning... All the things you used to do absolutely fine and in your stride suddenly feel like you can't cope with them. A lot of people talk about this inability to concentrate, which impacts the ability to make even small decisions, like not being able to think of what to wear.