What causes fatigue? Fatigue is usually caused by stress, anxiety, depression, viruses — such as the flu or COVID-19 — or sleep problems. Some medications may also cause you to feel fatigued.
Most of the time fatigue can be traced to one or more lifestyle issues, such as poor sleep habits or lack of exercise. Fatigue can be caused by a medicine or linked to depression. Sometimes fatigue is a symptom of an illness that needs treatment.
Becoming tired is sometimes a coping mechanism that your body uses to prevent you from experiencing severe stress. Tiredness motivates you to take a break and rest rather than exposing yourself to more anxiety, which could become even more overwhelming.
Turns out there is a scientific explanation, besides stress and changes in my personal life. When you're lacking any sort of physical activity and your body stays in the same position for long periods of time, its ability to take in oxygen decreases and you will notice a huge drop in energy levels and motivation.
There could be a variety of reasons why you are still tired after sleeping for 8 hours. It could be due to poor sleep quality, lifestyle factors such as stress, poor diet, and lack of exercise or an underlying health condition.
There are three types of fatigue: transient, cumulative, and circadian: Transient fatigue is acute fatigue brought on by extreme sleep restriction or extended hours awake within 1 or 2 days.
Reasons for fatigue in females include high sleep debt, being out of sync with your circadian rhythm, your menstrual cycle and period, pregnancy, menopause, hormonal contraceptives, poor diet, lack of exercise, stress and anxiety, medication side effects, and medical conditions like thyroid issues or anemia.
What Is Mental Exhaustion? It's kind of like physical tiredness, except it's your mind instead of your muscles. It tends to show up when you focus on a mentally tough task for a while. You might also feel this kind of brain drain if you're always on alert or stressed out.
Physical and behavioral symptoms usually accompany emotional changes as well, hence, random body and muscle aches are the most common indication of mental fatigue. If you feel an onset of a headache coming, in addition to other signs of burnout, there is a good chance you may be suffering from mental exhaustion.
It is caused by factors that can include stress from significant life events, or changes to your sleep schedule. Or it could be secondary insomnia, which is linked to health conditions like mental health issues, other sleep disorders, illness, or pain — and it can be acute or chronic.
Could a sudden increased need for naps indicate a health problem? If you're experiencing an increased need for naps and there's no obvious cause of new fatigue in your life, talk to your doctor. You could be taking a medication or have a sleep disorder or other medical condition that's disrupting your nighttime sleep.
not having a regular bedtime routine, which includes consistent sleep and wake times. taking long daytime naps. looking at phone or computer screens before going to bed. having a sleeping environment that is too hot, too bright, or too loud.
Some conditions that cause fatigue include thyroid disorders, iron deficiency anemia, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, and COVID-19. Some other causes of fatigue may involve your diet, sleep, and levels of stress. Lifestyle changes can often improve feelings of fatigue in these situations.
Thyroid. An overactive or underactive thyroid can often be the underlying cause of fatigue, particularly in women. This hormone controls your body's metabolic rate i.e. how food is converted to energy.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis, also called chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS, is a long-term condition with a wide range of symptoms. The most common symptom is extreme tiredness. ME/CFS can affect anyone, including children. It's more common in women, and tends to develop between your mid-20s and mid-40s.
Sleep debt, also called a sleep deficit, is the difference between the amount of sleep someone needs and the amount they actually get. For example, if your body needs eight hours of sleep per night but you only get six, you have accumulated two hours of sleep debt.
Sleeping a lot isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sleep is important. Not getting enough sleep puts you at risk for health problems, from heart disease to obesity to diabetes. However, sleeping a lot all of a sudden when you didn't before might be a reason to look closely at what is going on with your health.
There are also a number of common health conditions that can lead to ongoing tiredness. Just a few include diabetes, anemia, depression, anxiety disorder, food sensitivities, hypothyroidism, hepatitis C, obstructive sleep apnea, heart disease, and nasal congestion.