Everyone wakes up in a state of fatigue sometimes. You have slept poorly or for only a few hours, and so on. But what if you sleep poorly during extended periods of time? When do we consider something to be a fatigue? And, most importantly of all, what can we do about it?
Symptoms being fatigued: how do I recognize fatigue?
First of all, you can identify fatigue at the hand of its symptoms. Pay attention! Not all symptoms occur in everyone and sometimes the symptoms of being fatigued might differ from person to person. Despite this, there are some general symptoms which can form an indication. Being fatigued can thus express itself as follows:
- Having issues falling asleep
- Having trouble sleeping through the night
- Being agitated
- Frequently relying on autopilot
- Mood swings, often paired with crying fits
- Higher level of stress
- Memory problems
- Concentration problems
Being fatigued: how does fatigue affect your body?
As you could see in the symptoms above, being fatigued can have a large influence on your body. The higher level of stress, too, can have several physical consequences, such as heart palpitations, sweating more easily, muscle tension,... which in turn can lead to trouble sleeping. It can thus be so that being fatigued leads to some sort of vicious cycle, which is difficult to break out of.
Being fatigued: how does fatigue affect your mind?
Not only your body, but your psychological wellbeing, is affected by being fatigued. Because our deep sleep makes it so that we are mentally refreshed when we wake up, we will see that this is more difficult for people with fatigue. They often find it difficult to focus and they also frequently suffer from mood swings, in which a sad, agitated mood occupies most of one's day.
Being fatigued: the treatment!
Being fatigued can be treated in different ways. For some it might be useful to go see a doctor and ask for sleep medication. However, medical advice should be asked for here, since sleep medication only may be used for a certain period of time and tends to have side effects. Furthermore, it is possible that you must increase your dosage after some time, as you get used to the medication. Since the cause of being fatigued usually is psychological, we recommend that you also look for psychological support to deal with your being fatigued. Looking for psychological help has two advantages:
- You learn to deal with your current situation of being fatigued: you break out of the vicious cycle of fatigue and its symptoms. Psychological support helps you to deal with the entire package of consequences and symptoms of being fatigued.
- You learn to recognize being fatigued and to be fatigued in a healthy way, as well as to treat symptoms; you prepare for possible future episodes of fatigue in order to live a more balanced life.
15 Minutes 4 Me is an online self-help program, developed by doctors and psychologists, which guides you every day from home in treating your being fatigued. The program can be followed combined with a medical treatment from your doctor. Learn today how you can deal with being fatigued in a healthy and efficient way!
Being fatigued: the test!
Discover our free test here, which can give you an indication of fatigue. Also, the free test indicates the possible consequences of fatigue and what you can do in order to deal with the fatigue!
