内耗

內耗

nèihào

noun

Meanings

1 internal friction
2 mental drain
3 overthinking and self-exhaustion

Characters

inner; internal

to consume; to waste

Literally 'internal consumption' — energy wasted fighting yourself mentally

Examples

别内耗了，想太多没用。

Bié nèihào le, xiǎng tài duō méi yòng.

Stop overthinking; worrying too much is useless.

精神内耗比身体累更可怕。

Jīngshén nèihào bǐ shēntǐ lèi gèng kěpà.

Mental exhaustion from overthinking is scarier than physical tiredness.

我每天都在内耗，什么事都做不好。

Wǒ měitiān dōu zài nèihào, shénme shì dōu zuò bù hǎo.

I'm mentally drained from overthinking every day and can't do anything well.

Tips

culture

内耗 originally meant organizational infighting or wasted resources. Around 2021-2022, young Chinese people repurposed it to describe psychological self-consumption — anxiety, overthinking, and emotional exhaustion from worrying without taking action.

usage

精神内耗 (mental internal friction) is the full phrase. Often used when someone wastes energy on anxiety, self-doubt, or indecision instead of actually doing something.

Stroke Order

内 nèi

耗 hào