EYM ~ Break Away before you Drown

Dead weight ~ The weight of an inert person or thing.

"the net was a dead weight on his shoulders"

• a heavy or oppressive burden. 

• "a profound loneliness, an oppressive emptiness."  

Opressive weighing heavily on the mind or spirits; causing depression or discomfort.

• "the past was just so much dead weight, excess baggage"

• the total weight of cargo, stores, etc., that a ship carries or can carry at a particular draft. 

Synonyms: overwhelming, overpowering, unbearable, unendurable, intolerable,burdensome