I Just Learned There Are 8 'Types' Of Mental Load (And No Wonder We're All So Exhausted)

Parents editor at HuffPost UK

Whenever we speak about the mental load, it can be easy to assume it’s all those invisible day-to-day tasks, typically picked up and carried out by women, that help keep a household running smoothly.

But actually, the mental load is so much more than that – and it’s really no wonder so many of us are feeling burnt out and exhausted.

In her new book Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load To Do Less And Be More, Dr Leah Ruppanner noted popular coverage of the mental load “often reduces it to its smallest parts, using it as a shorthand for making lists or a synonym for household management”.

And while the mental load does include a lot of that work, it’s also “bigger and more complex”, said the sociologist, who described it as “a heavy alloy of emotional and mental elements that drags down every aspect” of our lives.

Through her research into the mental load, Dr Ruppanner has identified not one, not two, but eight different types of mental load work. These are:

This is described as the “invisible work” carried out to ensure our home, work and daily lives run smoothly – AKA what most of us probably........

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